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Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Investigation about the psychological experiences of the reproductive life cycle showed that in
critical moments special reactions may happen. These reactions seem to be defensive in nature, are
set in motion in order to promote some kind of emotional protection and are performed in two opposite
directions: a) a decreasing of the contact with aggressive impulses and b) an increasing of the
use of rationalization and denial of frustrating situations. Examples of those rearrangements were
observed at samples of: 1) pregnant women in obstetric high-risk consultation, 2) infertile couples
waiting for infertility consultations and 3) pregnant women waiting for amniocentesis results. These
data seem to be in accordance with the classical psychological points of view: a) gestation should
be considered as a period of protection, b) during pregnancy a “primary maternal preoccupation”
(Winnicot, 1958) emerges leading to the mobilization of all resources available for pregnant women
and c) along gestational development psychological changes show how flexible maternal functioning
may become. What was not expected is that in the absence of pregnancy, infertile couples should
behave very similarly to what it is observed when pregnancy is in danger or when medical problems
about the mother’s or the baby’s health arise in the horizon. Due to its “freezing” consequences upon
emotional development we propose that this kind of reaction will be designated as “stand-by reaction”.
Description
Keywords
Pregnancy Psychological dvelopment Defense mechanisms Infertile couples Stand-by-reaction
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Justo, J. (2014). A defensive "stand-by reaction" at critical moments of the reproductive life cycle. International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology, 1(4), 209-214.