TITLE:
Defence Mechanisms among Cancer Patients
AUTHORS:
Bassam Yousef Ibrahim Banat, Fadwa Halabiyah, Husun Edkadek
KEYWORDS:
Defence Mechanisms, Copying Strategies, Cancer Patients, Palestine
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.6,
June
18,
2026
ABSTRACT: This study addressed the prevalence of defence mechanisms among patients during their journey with cancer. The study approached the literature as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, which addressed both theoretical and applied research. The significance of this recent study is that it is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to deal with this theme, which in turn encourages other researchers to work on further research on this important topic. The study used the quantitative approach, in a cross-sectional study, using the sampling survey method. The questionnaire is appropriate for the exploratory nature of the research. Prevalence of defence mechanisms among cancer patients was evaluated using an index of a 20-item scale that was developed by the research team, and was administered to five hundred seventy-nine cancer patients in the West Bank, who were selected using the purposive sampling method and stratified. Findings revealed that (69.8%) of the patients had moderately employed unconscious defense mechanisms during their journey with cancer, mostly, denial, repression, displacement, rationalization, and sublimation. The study’s findings confirmed the value of employing unconscious defence mechanisms in decreasing the psychological distress among patients during their journey with cancer.