A student who is nervous about giving a presentation convinces himself that the audience won't care about what he says anyway. What defense mechanism is this? Repression Rationalization Projection Denial

<br />## Step 1<br />The problem presents a scenario where a student is nervous about giving a presentation and convinces himself that the audience won't care about what he says anyway. This is a classic example of a defense mechanism, which is a psychological strategy that individuals use to cope with reality and maintain their self-image.<br /><br />## Step 2<br />The defense mechanism in this scenario is rationalization. Rationalization is a defense mechanism where an individual tries to justify their behavior or feelings with logical, rational, or acceptable reasons, even if these reasons are not the true reasons.<br /><br />## Step 3<br />In this case, the student is using rationalization to cope with his nervousness about the presentation. He convinces himself that the audience won't care about what he says, which is a way of justifying his nervousness and making it seem less significant.<br /><br /># Answer: <br />B. Rationalization