Relationship between cognitive style and defensive style
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 1, 2026

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study in Psychological Counseling
Published on: January 17, 2025
A H Westreich1, B Ritzler, J Duncan
1Long Island University, USA.
Abstract:
This study examines psychoanalytic psychology, theories of cognitive style, and cognitive developmental psychology to examine the relationship between cognitive style and defensive style. A new set of cognitive styles of visual attention is formulated at the following developmental levels: (1) global, (2) local, (3) global-plus-local at the concrete operational level, and (4) global-plus-local at the formal operational level, 50 subjects were administered global-local sorting tasks, the Sentence Preference Test, the Embedded Figures Test, and the Defense Style Questionnaire. Analysis provided mixed support for the hypothesized cognition-defense relationship. Results suggested that the "pure" character types are not typical and that their styles of cognition and defense are positively correlated, not independent as expected. However, possible measurement problems preclude any firm conclusions at this time.
Related Concept Videos
Attachment Styles
The Influence of Cognition on Affect
Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Beck's Cognitive Therapy
Arbitrary Inference
Arbitrary inference involves making conclusions without sufficient...
Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles
