nonevasive expelling of certain thoughts or feelings from focal awareness, in order to turn one's attention
elsewhere. Suppression does not involve a denial of any facts, or a pretense that they do not exist; it involves the
implicit premise that one will focus on the suppressed material later, when appropriate.
For example, if a student is studying for an examination, he may have to suppress his thoughts and feelings about
an eagerly awaited vacation; he is not evading or repressing; but he recognizes that at present his attention is
required elsewhere, and he acts accordingly. Or: a man finds himself becoming angry in the midst of a discussion;
he suppresses the anger, he does not deny its existence—in order to think more clearly and to address his mind
exclusively to the issues that need to be resolved.
Sometimes, however, there is a certain danger in suppression: a man may suppress thoughts or feelings when there
are still unresolved conflicts involved that require further attention and analysis. He may do so with no intent of
dishonesty. But a suppression that is repeated consistently can turn into a repression; in effect, the suppression
becomes automatized.
Although repression is often preceded and reinforced by evasion, evasion is not a necessary and intrinsic part of the
repressive process. A person may mistakenly (but not necessarily dishonestly) believe that he can (and should)
order undesirable or painful emotions out of existence; such orders, repeated often enough, can result in an
automatized block.
However, the more a man practices evasion, i.e., the more firmly he establishes in his mind the principle that the
unpleasant or disturbing need not be looked at—the more susceptible he becomes to the instantaneous repression of
negatively charged material. In such a case, the policy of repression becomes generalized—it becomes a
characteristic, automatic response.
Emotions and Repression:
The Repression of Positives
The Freudian view of human nature has caused the concept of repression to be associated primarily with negatives,
i.e., with the repression of the irrational and immoral. But there are many tragic instances of men who repress
thoughts and feelings which are rational and desirable.