What is the definition of displacement

What Is Displacement in Psychology?

Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author and educational consultant focused on helping students learn about psychology.

What Is Displacement?

Displacement is a psychological defense mechanism in which a person redirects a negative emotion from its original source to a less threatening recipient. A classic example of the defense is displaced aggression. If a person is angry but cannot direct their anger toward the source without consequences, they might «take out» their anger on a person or thing that poses less of a risk.

What Is a Defense Mechanism?

Defense mechanisms are unconscious strategies people use to cope with unacceptable feelings. Unlike the conscious coping strategies that we use to manage daily stress, defense mechanisms operate on an entirely unconscious level.

Defense mechanisms are one way the mind unconsciously attempts to reduce anxiety and restore emotional balance. Psychological defenses operate without conscious awareness to help cope with threatening people, things, or environments. While people might not be aware of these feelings and urges, they still influence behavior and can cause anxiety.

When people use displacement, the mind senses that reacting to the original source of frustration might be unacceptable—even dangerous. Instead, it finds us a less threatening subject that can serve as a safer outlet for these negative feelings.

History of Displacement in Psychology

Sigmund Freud’s daughter Anna Freud was one of the first psychologists to make a list of defense mechanisms (which she knew was incomplete). Displacement was not on her original list. Researchers later introduced the idea of displacement as an important ego defense mechanism.

Signs of Displacement

Defense mechanisms are very common and are usually a normal aspect of daily functioning. Displacement as a defense helps us channel emotions and urges that could be considered inappropriate or harmful to more healthy, safe, or productive outlets.

When used appropriately, defenses such as displacement protect us from negative feelings, help minimize disappointment, protect our self-esteem, and manage stress levels. Displacement can protect us from anxiety by hiding things that are stressful or unacceptable to us and helping to preserve our sense of self.

Defense mechanisms like displacement can be unhelpful if people rely on them too heavily, or when they lead to problematic behaviors and interactions with others. Overuse of these mechanisms may contribute to psychological distress and poor functioning.

Displacement serves as a way to redirect feelings, but it also has the potential to cause harm. There are several factors that influence how and when displacement occurs.

Young children are more direct about expressing their feelings. Therefore, they are more likely to express their negative emotions toward the original target (regardless of the appropriateness of the response).

For example, a 4-year-old child is likely to simply yell at a parent when they are upset. On the other hand, a 14-year-old might displace their frustration with a parent by fighting with a younger sibling.

Intensity

Highly upsetting urges or feelings might result in greater displays of emotion toward the substitute target. For example, an inappropriate urge (such as the desire to hit someone) might be expressed as a highly charged emotional outburst (such as yelling at a spouse).

Frequency

Most people have experienced taking out their negative emotions on a secondary target. While displacement can be a normal response, it can cross the line into maladaptive or even abusive behavior. If a person relies on displacement as a defense mechanism to deal with all of their emotional upset, it is less likely to be helpful and may cause harm.

Types of Displacement

Displacement can manifest in a couple of different forms. It can be displayed as anger toward a less threatening target, or it can occur in a more adaptive form known as sublimation.

Sigmund Freud believed that sublimation served as an important source of creativity and inspiration.

Sublimation involves displacing unacceptable sexual urges toward non-sexual activities that are productive and socially acceptable, like work and creativity. Sublimating provides a constructive outlet for unacceptable urges.

How It Works

Imagine that you were reprimanded by your manager at work. Venting your anger or frustration directly to your boss would not only be unwise, but it might even cost you your job. Instead, you withhold (or suppress) your emotions until the end of the day.

As soon as you get home, you may unleash your anger on your unsuspecting roommate or find yourself overreacting to a triggering event like your children misbehaving. More often than not, the triggering event is relatively insignificant. It’s your reaction that is out of proportion—even over the top.

The anger you were feeling at your boss is released, but in an indirect way. The consequences of yelling at your roommate or scolding your children are likely to be less severe than if you had taken out your frustration at your boss or coworkers.

The object or person that becomes the subject of displaced feelings can vary but is usually chosen because it is less threatening (or even powerless).

If you’ve ever taken out negative feelings on a friend, family member, or even a complete stranger when you were upset about something else, then you have used displacement as a defense mechanism (even if you weren’t aware of it).

Examples of Displacement

Here are a few imagined scenarios (many of which might sound or feel familiar to you) that exemplify displacement.

Recap

Displacement involves redirecting unwanted feelings onto something else that is less threatening. Unfortunately, this can sometimes involve directing negative feelings toward friends, family, or others.

Impact of Displacement

Displacement can lead to unintended consequences and even chain reactions.

Research on the validity of displacement has been mixed. For example, one older study suggested that empirical evidence poorly supports displacement. However, later research supported the theory that physical and emotional arousal states tend to carry over from one situation to the next.

For example, while you might restrain yourself in a social setting because reacting would be inappropriate, pushing your feelings down won’t make them go away. Your emotional state will stay the same. Later on, you might find yourself in a setting where you can react with fewer consequences, at which time you will unleash the feelings you suppressed.

Other studies have also offered broad support for defense mechanisms, including displacement, as being important to human health and relationships. Looking at data from a 70-year longitudinal study, a group of researchers found that psychological defense mechanisms might influence the body as well as the mind.

Participants who used adaptive defense mechanisms (including displacement) at mid-life had better physical health later in life. Mature defenses (such as sublimation) may play a key role in creating solid and supportive social relationships, contributing to improved physical health.

How to Deal With Displacement

Overreliance on displacement or any other defense mechanism can be ineffective or even problematic. If you are concerned about your use of displacement as a defense mechanism, it’s something you can address with a therapist or counselor as part of psychotherapy. It can be helpful to look at your own behavior to get a better sense of whether you use displacement in a helpful way.

Assess

One of the first steps is also one of the more difficult: observing your behavior and actions and determining whether displacement could be causing them. Displacement is not something that can be easily viewed. Often, it’s only possible to make inferences based on what you can examine of your own behavior.

At this stage, it can be helpful to work with a therapist. They can look at your behavior from an «outside» point of view and help you see things from a more objective perspective.

A therapist is able to witness (and point out) contradictions between your behavior and your words, body language, or other signals. 

For example, you might tell your therapist that you do not mind that your spouse works late nights and weekends, but your body language and your speech might suggest otherwise. As you share more about your behavior, it might become clear that when you are short-tempered with your kids in the evening, it’s really a sign of the frustration you feel with your spouse.

Reflect

Reflection is a strategy therapists can use to help you recognize when you are using defense mechanisms like displacement. With this strategy, your therapist reflects your feelings back to you in a way that encourages you to consider what you have done or said.

The goal of using the reflection technique is to reveal concealed worries or concerns that played a role in your behavior.

For example, as you are telling your therapist about expressing anger at a coworker, you might reveal one of your underlying worries—that your new manager does not recognize your talents and efforts. Rather than expressing your emotions to your boss (a threatening target), you took your frustration out on your coworker (a less threatening target).

Reframe

Once you start to recognize episodes of unhealthy displacement in your own life, the next step is to look for purposeful ways to alter your thinking and behavior. For example, if you are yelling at your spouse because you are displacing your frustrations from work, stop, step back, and take a moment to regain control.

When you find yourself engaging in maladaptive behaviors caused by displacement, try to reframe the situation and find a healthier outlet for your feelings.

Make a conscious effort to redirect your negative feelings toward an appropriate target. Alternative outlets could include writing about a situation and how you felt, participating in a sport or physical exercise, or engaging in a productive hobby.

A Word From Verywell

Like other psychological mechanisms of defense, displacement can be a normal and healthy way of coping with unconscious negative emotions. However, overly relying on displacement as a way to handle negative feelings can be unhelpful and even destructive—particularly if you take your frustrations out on defenseless people around you.

It can be hard to recognize our own displacement, if you are concerned about how you use this defense mechanism, therapy can help you see when your actions, words, or behaviors are really a defense mechanism. Once you learn to recognize displacement, you can take steps to challenge the defense mechanism and find more effective ways to cope.

Distance and Displacement

Discussion

definitions

I’ve got to assume that everybody reading this has an idea of what distance is. It’s one of those innate concepts that doesn’t seem to require explanation. Nevertheless I’ve come up with a preliminary definition that I think is rather good. Distance is a measure of the interval between two locations. (This is not the final definition.) The «distance» is the answer to the question, «How far is it from this to that or between this and that?»

How far is it?

how far is it	possible answer	standard answer
Earth to sun	1 a stronomical u nit	1.5 × 10 11 m
66th to 86th Street in NYC	1 mile	1.6 × 10 3 m
heel to toe on a man’s foot	1 foot	3.0 × 10 −1 m

You get the idea. The odd thing is that sometimes we state distances as times.

How far is it?

how far is it	possible answer	standard answer
International Space Station	90 minutes per orbit	40,000,000 m
Chicago to Milwaukee	90 minutes by train	00, 150,000 m
Central Park to Battery Park	90 minutes on foot	00,0 10,000 m

They’re all ninety minutes, but nobody would say they were all the same distance. What’s being described in these examples is not distance, but time. In casual conversation, it’s often all right to state distances this way, but in most of physics this is unacceptable.

That being said, let me deconstruct the definition of distance I just gave you. Every year in class, I do the same moronic demonstration where I start at one side of the lecture table and walk to the other side and then ask «How far have I gone?» Look at the diagram below and then answer the question.

There are two ways to answer this question. On the one hand, there’s the sum of the smaller motions that I made: two meters east, two meters south, two meters west; resulting in a total walk of six meters. On the other hand, the end point of my walk is two meters to the south of my starting point. So which answer is correct? Well, both. The question is ambiguous and depends on whether the questioner meant to ask for the distance or displacement.

Let’s clarify by defining each of these words more precisely. is a scalar measure of the interval between two locations measured along the actual path connecting them. is a vector measure of the interval between two locations measured along the shortest path connecting them.

How far does the Earth travel in one year? In terms of distance, quite far (the circumference of the Earth’s orbit is nearly one trillion meters), but in terms of displacement, not far at all (in some respects, zero). At the end of a year’s time the Earth is right back where it started from. It hasn’t gone anywhere.

A trip to New Jersey

Your humble author occasionally rides his bicycle from Manhattan to New Jersey in search of discount そば (soba) and さけ (sake) at a large Japanese grocery store on the other side of the Hudson River. Getting there is a three step process.

The distance traveled is a reasonable 14 km, but the resultant displacement is a mere 2.7 km north. The end of this journey is actually visible from the start. Maybe I should buy a canoe.

Distance and displacement are different quantities, but they are related. If you take the first example of the walk around the desk, it should be apparent that sometimes the distance is the same as the magnitude of the displacement. This is the case for any of the one meter segments but is not always the case for groups of segments. As I trace my steps completely around the desk the distance and displacement of my journey soon begin to diverge. The distance traveled increases uniformly, but the displacement fluctuates before it eventually returns to zero.

This artificial example shows that distance and displacement have the same size only when we consider small intervals. Since the displacement is measured along the shortest path between two points, its magnitude is always less than or equal to the distance.

How small is small? The answer to this question is, «It depends». There is no hard and fast rule that can be used to distinguish large from small. DNA is a large molecule, but you still can’t see it without the aid of a microscope. Compact cars are small, but you couldn’t fit one in your pocket. What is small in one context may be large in another. Mathematics has developed a more formal way of dealing with the notion of smallness and that is through the use of limits. In the language of limits, distance approaches the magnitude of displacement as distance approaches zero. In symbols, that statement looks like this.

∆s → 0

⇒

∆s → |∆s|

symbols

What would be a good symbol for distance? Hmm, I don’t know. How about d? Well, that’s a fine symbol for us Anglophones, but what about the rest of the planet? (Actually, distance in French is spelled the same as it is in English, but pronounced differently, so there may be a reason to choose d after all.) In the current era, English is the dominant language of science, which means that many of our symbols are based on English words used to describe the associated concept. Distance does not fall into this category. Still, if you want to use d to represent distance, how could I stop you?

All right then, how about x? Distance is a simple concept and x is a simple variable. Why not pair them up? Many textbooks do this, but this one will not. The variable x should be reserved for one-dimensional motion along a defined x-axis or the x-component of a more complex motion. Still, if you want to use x to represent distance, how could I stop you?

As I said a moment ago, English is currently the dominant language of science, but this has not always been the case nor is there any reason to believe that it will stay this way forever. Latin was preeminent for a long time, but it is little used today. Still, there are thousands of technical and not so technical words in the English language that have Latin roots. The Latin word for distance is spatium. It’s also the source of the English word space. In this book, and many others, the letter s will be used for distance and displacement.

In uno stesso moto equabile, lo spazio percorso in un tempo più lungo ГЁ maggiore dello spazio percorso in un tempo più breve.	In the case of one and the same uniform motion, the distance traversed during a longer interval of time is greater than the distance traversed during a shorter interval of time.
Galileo Galilei, 1638	Galileo Galilei, 1638

OK, that was actually Italian. Galileo wrote to the people of the Mediterranean boot in his regional dialect, but the rest of Europe would most likely have read a Latin translation.

Spatium transactum tempore longiori in eodem motu aequabili maius esse spatio transacto tempore breviori.	In the case of one and the same uniform motion, the distance traversed during a longer interval of time is greater than the distance traversed during a shorter interval of time.
Galilaeus Galilaei, 1638	Galileo Galilei, 1638

units

The SI unit of distance and displacement is the [m]. A meter is a bit longer than the distance between the tip of the nose to the end of the farthest finger on the outstretched hand of a typical adult male. Originally defined as one ten millionth of the distance from the equator to the north pole as measured through Paris (so that the Earth’s circumference would be 40 million meters); then the length of a precisely cut metal bar kept in a vault outside of Paris; then a certain number of wavelengths of a particular type of light. The meter is now defined in terms of the speed of light. One meter is the distance light (or any other electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength) travels through a vacuum after 1 _299,792,458 of a second.

Multiples (like km for road distances) and divisions (like cm for paper sizes) are also commonly used in science.

There are also several natural units that are used in astronomy and space science.

symmetry

Let’s change how we observe the world and see how it affects distance and displacement. A symmetric operation is a change that results in no change. Quantities that are not affected by a change are said to show a symmetry. The opposite of symmetry is asymmetry and the opposite of symmetric is asymmetric.

Third, and most difficult to state in words, the chirality or handedness of the coordinate system is also irrelevant. Frequently, the x-axis points to the right and the y-axis points up (that is, toward the top of a page, blackboard, whiteboard, computer display, etc.). If we add a third z-axis, in what direction should it point: in or out (that is, into or out of the page, blackboard, etc.)? If you chose out, then you’ve made a right-handed coordinate system. If you chose in, then it’s a left-handed coordinate system.

displacement

1 displacement

2 displacement

3 displacement

4 displacement

5 displacement

6 displacement

7 displacement

8 displacement

displacement at drilling draft — водоизмещение в процессе бурения (плавучей полупогружной буровой установки)

displacement in transit condition — водоизмещение в транспортном положении (плавучей полупогружной буровой установки)

miscible displacement of reservoir oil — вытеснение нефти нагнетанием жидкостей, смешивающихся с нефтью

displacement by fault — перемещение при сбросе;

9 displacement

pace of displacement — темп замещения, темп вытеснения

a ship 5,000 tons displacement, a ship with a displacement of 5,000 tons — корабль водоизмещением в 5 000 тонн

10 displacement

11 displacement

12 displacement

13 displacement

14 displacement

15 displacement

16 displacement

17 displacement

18 displacement

19 displacement

20 displacement

См. также в других словарях:

Displacement — may refer to: Contents 1 Physical sciences 1.1 Physics 1.2 Engineering … Wikipedia

Displacement — Dis*place ment, n. [Cf. F. d[ e]placement.] 1. The act of displacing, or the state of being displaced; a putting out of place. [1913 Webster] Unnecessary displacement of funds. A. Hamilton. [1913 Webster] The displacement of the sun by parallax.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

displacement — UK US /dɪˈspleɪsmənt/ noun [U] HR ► a situation in which people are forced to leave their jobs: »job/labour displacement … Financial and business terms

displacement — index banishment, deportation, discharge (dismissal), dismissal (discharge), disqualification (rejection) … Law dictionary

displacement — 1610s, “removal from office;” see DISPLACE (Cf. displace) + MENT (Cf. ment). Physics sense is from c.1810 … Etymology dictionary

displacement — ► NOUN 1) the action or process of displacing. 2) the amount by which a thing is moved from a position. 3) the volume or weight of water displaced by a floating ship, used as a measure of the ship s size. 4) Psychoanalysis the unconscious… … English terms dictionary

displacement — [dis plās′mənt, dis′plās′mənt] n. 1. a displacing or being displaced 2. a) the weight or volume of a fluid displaced by a floating object; specif., the weight of water, in long tons, displaced by a ship b) the volume displaced by a stroke of a… … English World dictionary

displacement — The total volume of air displaced by all the pistons in travelling from BDC to TDC, i.e., the total volume of air and fuel the cylinder can hold before compression occurs. Also called piston displacement. Also see cubic inch displacement engine… … Dictionary of automotive terms

displacement — /dis plays meuhnt/, n. 1. the act of displacing. 2. the state of being displaced or the amount or degree to which something is displaced. 3. Physics. a. the displacing in space of one mass by another. b. the weight or the volume of fluid… … Universalium

displacement — [[t]dɪsple͟ɪsmənt[/t]] 1) N UNCOUNT Displacement is the removal of something from its usual place or position by something which then occupies that place or position. [FORMAL] No barrier prevents our gradual, purposeful displacement of tradition … English dictionary

Displacement — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Displacement >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 displacement displacement elocation transposition GRP: N 2 Sgm: N 2 ejectment ejectment &c. 297 Sgm: N 2 exile exile &c.(banishment) 893 Sgm: N 2 removal … English dictionary for students

(displacement)

1 displacement

2 displacement

3 displacement

4 displacement

5 displacement

6 displacement

7 displacement

8 displacement

displacement at drilling draft — водоизмещение в процессе бурения (плавучей полупогружной буровой установки)

displacement in transit condition — водоизмещение в транспортном положении (плавучей полупогружной буровой установки)

miscible displacement of reservoir oil — вытеснение нефти нагнетанием жидкостей, смешивающихся с нефтью

displacement by fault — перемещение при сбросе;

9 displacement

pace of displacement — темп замещения, темп вытеснения

a ship 5,000 tons displacement, a ship with a displacement of 5,000 tons — корабль водоизмещением в 5 000 тонн

10 displacement

11 displacement

12 displacement

13 displacement

14 displacement

15 displacement

16 displacement

17 displacement

18 displacement

19 displacement

20 displacement

См. также в других словарях:

Displacement — may refer to: Contents 1 Physical sciences 1.1 Physics 1.2 Engineering … Wikipedia

Displacement — Dis*place ment, n. [Cf. F. d[ e]placement.] 1. The act of displacing, or the state of being displaced; a putting out of place. [1913 Webster] Unnecessary displacement of funds. A. Hamilton. [1913 Webster] The displacement of the sun by parallax.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

displacement — UK US /dɪˈspleɪsmənt/ noun [U] HR ► a situation in which people are forced to leave their jobs: »job/labour displacement … Financial and business terms

displacement — index banishment, deportation, discharge (dismissal), dismissal (discharge), disqualification (rejection) … Law dictionary

displacement — 1610s, “removal from office;” see DISPLACE (Cf. displace) + MENT (Cf. ment). Physics sense is from c.1810 … Etymology dictionary

displacement — ► NOUN 1) the action or process of displacing. 2) the amount by which a thing is moved from a position. 3) the volume or weight of water displaced by a floating ship, used as a measure of the ship s size. 4) Psychoanalysis the unconscious… … English terms dictionary

displacement — [dis plās′mənt, dis′plās′mənt] n. 1. a displacing or being displaced 2. a) the weight or volume of a fluid displaced by a floating object; specif., the weight of water, in long tons, displaced by a ship b) the volume displaced by a stroke of a… … English World dictionary

displacement — The total volume of air displaced by all the pistons in travelling from BDC to TDC, i.e., the total volume of air and fuel the cylinder can hold before compression occurs. Also called piston displacement. Also see cubic inch displacement engine… … Dictionary of automotive terms

displacement — /dis plays meuhnt/, n. 1. the act of displacing. 2. the state of being displaced or the amount or degree to which something is displaced. 3. Physics. a. the displacing in space of one mass by another. b. the weight or the volume of fluid… … Universalium

displacement — [[t]dɪsple͟ɪsmənt[/t]] 1) N UNCOUNT Displacement is the removal of something from its usual place or position by something which then occupies that place or position. [FORMAL] No barrier prevents our gradual, purposeful displacement of tradition … English dictionary

Displacement — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Displacement >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 displacement displacement elocation transposition GRP: N 2 Sgm: N 2 ejectment ejectment &c. 297 Sgm: N 2 exile exile &c.(banishment) 893 Sgm: N 2 removal … English dictionary for students

displacement

1 displacement

2 displacement

3 displacement

4 displacement

5 displacement

6 displacement

7 displacement

8 displacement

displacement at drilling draft — водоизмещение в процессе бурения (плавучей полупогружной буровой установки)

displacement in transit condition — водоизмещение в транспортном положении (плавучей полупогружной буровой установки)

miscible displacement of reservoir oil — вытеснение нефти нагнетанием жидкостей, смешивающихся с нефтью

displacement by fault — перемещение при сбросе;

9 displacement

pace of displacement — темп замещения, темп вытеснения

a ship 5,000 tons displacement, a ship with a displacement of 5,000 tons — корабль водоизмещением в 5 000 тонн

10 displacement

11 displacement

12 displacement

13 displacement

14 displacement

15 displacement

16 displacement

17 displacement

18 displacement

19 displacement

20 displacement

См. также в других словарях:

Displacement — may refer to: Contents 1 Physical sciences 1.1 Physics 1.2 Engineering … Wikipedia

Displacement — Dis*place ment, n. [Cf. F. d[ e]placement.] 1. The act of displacing, or the state of being displaced; a putting out of place. [1913 Webster] Unnecessary displacement of funds. A. Hamilton. [1913 Webster] The displacement of the sun by parallax.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

displacement — UK US /dɪˈspleɪsmənt/ noun [U] HR ► a situation in which people are forced to leave their jobs: »job/labour displacement … Financial and business terms

displacement — index banishment, deportation, discharge (dismissal), dismissal (discharge), disqualification (rejection) … Law dictionary

displacement — 1610s, “removal from office;” see DISPLACE (Cf. displace) + MENT (Cf. ment). Physics sense is from c.1810 … Etymology dictionary

displacement — ► NOUN 1) the action or process of displacing. 2) the amount by which a thing is moved from a position. 3) the volume or weight of water displaced by a floating ship, used as a measure of the ship s size. 4) Psychoanalysis the unconscious… … English terms dictionary

displacement — [dis plās′mənt, dis′plās′mənt] n. 1. a displacing or being displaced 2. a) the weight or volume of a fluid displaced by a floating object; specif., the weight of water, in long tons, displaced by a ship b) the volume displaced by a stroke of a… … English World dictionary

displacement — The total volume of air displaced by all the pistons in travelling from BDC to TDC, i.e., the total volume of air and fuel the cylinder can hold before compression occurs. Also called piston displacement. Also see cubic inch displacement engine… … Dictionary of automotive terms

displacement — /dis plays meuhnt/, n. 1. the act of displacing. 2. the state of being displaced or the amount or degree to which something is displaced. 3. Physics. a. the displacing in space of one mass by another. b. the weight or the volume of fluid… … Universalium

displacement — [[t]dɪsple͟ɪsmənt[/t]] 1) N UNCOUNT Displacement is the removal of something from its usual place or position by something which then occupies that place or position. [FORMAL] No barrier prevents our gradual, purposeful displacement of tradition … English dictionary

Displacement — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Displacement >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 displacement displacement elocation transposition GRP: N 2 Sgm: N 2 ejectment ejectment &c. 297 Sgm: N 2 exile exile &c.(banishment) 893 Sgm: N 2 removal … English dictionary for students

Источники информации:

• http://physics.info/displacement/
• http://translate.academic.ru/displacement/en/ru/
• http://translate.academic.ru/(displacement)/en/ru/
• http://translate.academic.ru/displacement/xx/ru/