Isolation (psychology)

Isolation (German: Isolierung) is a defence mechanism in psychoanalytic theory first proposed by Sigmund Freud. While related to repression the concept distinguishes itself in several ways. It is characterized as a mental process involving the creation of a gap between an unpleasant or threatening cognition, and other thoughts and feelings. By minimizing associative connections with other thoughts, the threatening cognition is remembered less often and is less likely to affect self-esteem or the self concept. Freud illustrated the concept with the example of a person beginning a train of thought and then pausing for a moment before continuing to a different subject. His theory stated that by inserting an interval the person was "letting it be understood symbolically that he will not allow his thoughts about that impression or activity to come into associative contact with other thoughts." As a defense against harmful thoughts, isolation prevents the self from allowing these cognitions to become recurrent and possibly damaging to the self-concept.

A wide range of studies supports the conclusion that people defend themselves against threats by mentally isolating them. Repressors have been shown to process information in a rushed, shallow, or minimal fashion. When presented with some negative information, they will often generate spontaneous happy thoughts or feelings, minimizing its impact. Depressed people process information much more thoroughly, whether it is good or bad. This high level of processing develops strong associative links with similar information. When a depressed person tries to avoid a damaging cognition, they often think of some other negatively affecting thought. Evidence from human and animal studies shows that isolation prompts sensitivity to social threats and motivates the renewal of social connections.

One study showed that people would remain satisfied with their performance in the face of negative feedback as long as they could keep the feedback isolated from performance standards. The researchers would present the standards either before the performance, or after the performance but before the feedback, or after both the performance and the feedback. The people who received the standards early recalled them as well as the others, but simply ignored it. They managed to isolate their feedback from the standards thereby minimizing the threat to their self-esteem. Those who received the standards later were less satisfied with their performance, unable to avoid their lack of success as compared to the norm. This form of isolation has been referred to as trivializing.

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