Final answer:
Unconsciously replacing an unacceptable or unreachable goal with a more acceptable one is called substitution. It provides cognitive ease by avoiding the anxiety of confronting the more challenging goal or desire. This is a common defense mechanism employed by the ego.
Step-by-step explanation:
Unconsciously replacing an unacceptable or unreachable goal with another more acceptable goal is known as substitution. This term describes our tendency to swap out a difficult question or problem with an easier one, because it provides a sense of satisfaction, despite potentially leading to an incorrect or inappropriate response. In the case of defense mechanisms, it involves replacing the desire to achieve a certain goal with another goal that is more acceptable or attainable.
Defense mechanisms are strategies that the ego uses to protect itself from anxiety arising from conflicting demands of the id, ego, and superego. Some common defense mechanisms include rationalization, reaction formation, regression, projection, and displacement, with each serving to reduce anxiety in different ways. For instance, rationalization involves justifying behaviors by substituting acceptable reasons for the real, less-acceptable ones. Reaction formation swaps unacceptable urges with their opposites, while projection leads to ascribing one's unacceptable feelings onto others.