5: Intellectualization

Intellectualization involves dissociating feelings from thoughts in regard to a future action that is the voluntary choice of the subject. This differs from dissociation, as dissociation tends to be more about what is happening or what has happened than what will happen in future, and may not involve a voluntary choice (a person dissociates from what is done to them by an external element).

Suicide is an example of intellectualization, in which an individual sets aside their fear of death and pain as they plan to take their own life, focusing on various parameters that are practical rather than emotional (their dissatisfaction with the present, the low likelihood their situation will improve, etc.).

A less dramatic example is the student who is compelled by a parent to prepare for a career they do not want. They may wish to study art rather than medicine, but intellectualize about the prospects for the future: that there is better income and more opportunities for doctors than artists, and decide not to rebel against the parental control - ignoring the fact that they want something else, and perhaps denying that the reason is they fear confrontation with an authority figure. Such a person is deceiving himself as to the reasons for making a choice.

Intellectualization can in some cases include a great deal of effort. A person seeking to intellectualize a choice may do research on the internet, create various checklists of benefits and detriments, store it all in color-coded binders with graphical representations of data models. None of this changes the fact that they are manufacturing evidence to support an emotional choice.

A person who intellectualizes may not recognize their true motivation, but wants to do what feels right or comfortable. Or worse, they may have the sense they are motivated by lust, fear, greed, or some base emotion but wish to avoid admitting it. The process of intellectualization gives them the ability to ascribe higher motives to the choice they have already made for other reasons they wish to deny.

Intellectualization consists of repressing the emotions and expressing thoughts. A separate condition, isolation of affect, is the exact opposite: a person acts on their feelings while ignoring facts. Both involve a form of self-deceit and differ in the topic about which the subject means to deceive himself.