Keith was surprised when his boss invited a coworker to lunch but did not invite him. at first, keith was convinced that he had not been invited because they wanted to discuss keith's job performance at lunch. later, the coworker told keith that the boss had taken her to lunch to tell her that she was being laid off. privately, keith was relieved because it now made perfect sense to him why he had not been invited to lunch. in this scenario, keith appears to be

Keith used a defense mechanism in the form of Intellectualization. This type of defense mechanism is usually used when a person caught in a middle of an uncomfortable and stressful situation focuses on just the facts involved and blocks its emotional aspect. An individual who uses any form of defense mechanism neglects the idea of dealing with the actual problem. The scenario above described Keith's reaction, he was jealous, anxious and he felt being left out but he conditioned his mind to think that it was just a work-related meeting.