Compartmentalization: A Window on the Defensive Self

Most people hold both positive and negative beliefs about themselves. The way individuals organize, or structure, these beliefs in their self‐concepts can facilitate realistic acceptance and confrontation of negative self‐beliefs (integration), or defensive avoidance and denial of negative self‐beliefs (compartmentalization). This article focuses on the distinction between individuals with a realistic, secure self and a defensive, fragile self. We present evidence that compartmentalization is associated with several indicators of a defensive, fragile self, such as contingent self‐esteem and unstable self‐evaluations. In addition, individuals with this structure are likely to engage in defensive processes that enhance or protect the self. This model of self‐organization can provide a window on the defensive self, allowing researchers to observe the process by which individuals think about and defensively avoid negative self‐beliefs.