Psychology - projection (defense mechanism)?

Question

An ill-prepared college professor, when asked a difficult question, says, “No one knows the answer to that question.” This is an example of which defense mechanism?

a. Regression
b. Displacement
c. Reaction formation
d. Projection

I think the answer is D. because projection is the attribution of one’s own undesirable characteristics to other people. The teacher is suggesting that other people don’t know the answer either and are at fault also. It is less threatening this way. I don’t know if I am correct though. What do you think?

Answer 1

Logically it's a case of over generalization. He's never seen an answer to that, therefore nobody has produced an answer to that.

If he were a scientist, and his job was to research these things, then I would say that he was projecting his own lack of knowledge onto everyone else in the field. Since he's a professor, though, and his job is to instead collect and provide that information to others, I'd say that he was displacing the blame for that knowledge being unavailable onto the people whose jobs it is to actually determine that information.

Answer 2

D-