DEFENSIVE FUNCTIONING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY ORGANIZATION IN THE LIGHT OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

This article attempts to describe borderline personality organization from the point of view of the defense mechanisms constellation. A brief theoretical review has been provided, and results of classical and more recent empirical studies in this area have been presented; the author`s own research on defense mechanisms employed by individuals with BPO has been described. The larger part of the results are in accord with accepted theoretical assumptions, namely, that individuals with BPO are characterized by a high index use of primitive defense mechanisms, and with a concomitant low index use of more developmentally mature defenses.