Compensation (defence mechanism)

In general terms compensation relates to making amends for causing a loss. If I injure you in a car accident I will compensate you by paying money for the time you had off work etc.

In psychoanalysis compensation has a more specific meaning and is the name of a defence mechanism. In this sense it relates to the attempt of people to overcome some deficiency, real or imagined, by excelling in other areas. People may be said to overcompensate by going to extraordinary lengths in persuing these alternative goals at the expense of their physical or mental health.

The classic example of compensation is the short person who overcomes their lack of stature by being over aggressive. Although such tactics may or may not be linked to such motivation.

Alfred Adler made it a central theme in his individual psychology, particularlyelaborateing it in terms of inferiority complex.