Psychological projection

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Psychological projection is a defence mechanism of alterity concerning "inside" content mistaken to be coming from the "outside" Other. [1] It forms the basis of empathy by the projection of personal experiences to understand someone else's subjective world. [1] In its malignant forms, it is a defense mechanism in which the ego defends itself against disowned and highly negative parts of the self by denying their existence in themselves and attributing them to others, breeding misunderstanding and causing untold interpersonal damage. [2] Projection incorporates blame shifting and can manifest as shame dumping. [3] Projection has been described as an early phase of introjection. [4]

Contents

Historical precursors

A prominent precursor in the formulation of the projection principle was Giambattista Vico. [5] [6] In 1841, Ludwig Feuerbach was the first enlightenment thinker to employ this concept as the basis for a systematic critique of religion. [7] [8] [9]

The Babylonian Talmud (500 AD) notes the human tendency toward projection and warns against it: "Do not taunt your neighbour with the blemish you yourself have." [10] In the parable of the Mote and the Beam in the New Testament, Jesus warned against projection: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." [11]

Psychoanalytic developments

Projection (German : Projektion) was conceptualised by Sigmund Freud in his letters to Wilhelm Fliess, [12] and further refined by Karl Abraham and Anna Freud. Freud considered that, in projection, thoughts, motivations, desires, and feelings that cannot be accepted as one's own are dealt with by being placed in the outside world and attributed to someone else. [13] What the ego refuses to accept is split off and placed in another. [14]

Freud would later come to believe that projection did not take place arbitrarily, but rather seized on and exaggerated an element that already existed on a small scale in the other person. [15] The related defence of projective identification differs from projection in that the other person is expected to become identified with the impulse or desire projected outside, [16] so that the self maintains a connection with what is projected, in contrast to the total repudiation of projection proper. [17]

Melanie Klein saw the projection of good parts of the self as leading potentially to over-idealisation of the object. [18] Equally, it may be one's conscience that is projected, in an attempt to escape its control: a more benign version of this allows one to come to terms with outside authority. [19]

Theoretical examples

Projection tends to come to the fore in normal people at times of personal or political crisis [20] and is commonly found in narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder or paranoid personalities. [21]

Carl Jung considered that the unacceptable parts of the personality represented by the Shadow archetype were particularly likely to give rise to projection, both small-scale and on a national/international basis. [22] Marie-Louise Von Franz extended her view of projection, stating that "wherever known reality stops, where we touch the unknown, there we project an archetypal image". [23]

Psychological projection is one of the medical explanations of bewitchment used to explain the behavior of the afflicted children at Salem in 1692. The historian John Demos wrote in 1970 that the symptoms of bewitchment displayed by the afflicted girls could have been due to the girls undergoing psychological projection of repressed aggression. [24]

Practical examples

Counter-projection

Jung wrote, "All projections provoke counter-projection when the object is unconscious of the quality projected upon it by the subject." [30] Thus, what is unconscious in the recipient will be projected back onto the projector, precipitating a form of mutual acting out. [31]

In a rather different usage, Harry Stack Sullivan saw counter-projection in the therapeutic context as a way of warding off the compulsive re-enactment of a psychological trauma, by emphasizing the difference between the current situation and the projected obsession with the perceived perpetrator of the original trauma. [32]

Clinical approaches

Drawing on Gordon Allport's idea of the expression of self onto activities and objects, projective techniques have been devised to aid personality assessment, including the Rorschach ink-blots and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). [33]

Projection may help a fragile ego reduce anxiety, but at the cost of a certain dissociation, as in dissociative identity disorder. [34] In extreme cases, an individual's personality may end up becoming critically depleted. [35] In such cases, therapy may be required which would include the slow rebuilding of the personality through the "taking back" of such projections. [36]

The method of managed projection is a projective technique. The basic principle of this method is that a subject is presented with their own verbal portrait named by the name of another person, as well as with a portrait of their fictional opposition (V. V. Stolin, 1981).

The technique is suitable for application in psychological counseling and might provide valuable information about the form and nature of their self-esteem Bodalev, A (2000). "General psychodiagnostics".

Criticism

Some studies were critical of Freud's theory. Research on social projection supports the existence of a false-consensus effect whereby humans have a broad tendency to believe that others are similar to themselves, and thus "project" their personal traits onto others. [37] This applies to both good and bad traits; it is not a defense mechanism for denying the existence of the trait within the self. [38] A study of the empirical evidence for a range of defense mechanisms by Baumeister, Dale, and Sommer (1998) concluded, "The view that people defensively project specific bad traits of their own onto others as a means of denying that they have them is not well supported." [38] However, Newman, Duff, and Baumeister (1997) proposed a new model of defensive projection in which the repressor's efforts to suppress thoughts of their undesirable traits make those trait categories highly accessible—so that they are then used all the more often when forming impressions of others. The projection is then only a byproduct of the real defensive mechanism. [39]

See also

Related Research Articles

In psychoanalytic theory the “id, the ego and the superego” are three different, interacting agents in the psychic apparatus as Sigmund Freud summarized and defined it in his structural model of the psyche. He developed these three terms to describe the basic structure and various phenomena of mental life as they were encountered in psychoanalytic practice. Freud himself used the German terms das Es, Ich, and Über-Ich, which literally translate as "the it", "I", and "over-I". The Latin terms id, ego and superego were chosen by his original translators and have remained in use.

Psychoanalytic theory is the theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development relating to the practice of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology. First laid out by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century, psychoanalytic theory has undergone many refinements since his work. The psychoanalytic theory came to full prominence in the last third of the twentieth century as part of the flow of critical discourse regarding psychological treatments after the 1960s, long after Freud's death in 1939. Freud had ceased his analysis of the brain and his physiological studies and shifted his focus to the study of the psyche, and on treatment using free association and the phenomena of transference. His study emphasized the recognition of childhood events that could influence the mental functioning of adults. His examination of the genetic and then the developmental aspects gave the psychoanalytic theory its characteristics.

In psychoanalytic theory, a defence mechanism is an unconscious psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and outer stressors.

In psychology, displacement is an unconscious defence mechanism whereby the mind substitutes either a new aim or a new object for things felt in their original form to be dangerous or unacceptable.

In psychology, introjection is the unconscious adoption of the thoughts or personality traits of others. It occurs as a normal part of development, such as a child taking on parental values and attitudes. It can also be a defense mechanism in situations that arouse anxiety. It has been associated with both normal and pathological development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto F. Kernberg</span> Austrian psychoanalyst and psychologist

Otto Friedmann Kernberg is an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst and professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is most widely known for his psychoanalytic theories on borderline personality organization and narcissistic pathology. In addition, his work has been central in integrating postwar ego psychology with Kleinian and other object relations perspectives. His integrative writings were central to the development of modern object relations, a school within modern psychoanalysis.

In psychoanalysis, psychosexual development is a central element of the sexual drive theory. According to Freud, personality develops through a series of childhood stages in which pleasure seeking energies from the child become focused on certain erogenous areas. An erogenous zone is characterized as an area of the body that is particularly sensitive to stimulation. The five psychosexual stages are the oral, the anal, the phallic, the latent, and the genital. The erogenous zone associated with each stage serves as a source of pleasure. Being unsatisfied at any particular stage can result in fixation. On the other hand, being satisfied can result in a healthy personality. Sigmund Freud proposed that if the child experienced frustration at any of the psychosexual developmental stages, they would experience anxiety that would persist into adulthood as a neurosis, a functional mental disorder.

Egotism is defined as the drive to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself and generally features an inflated opinion of one's personal features and importance distinguished by a person's amplified vision of one's self and self-importance. It often includes intellectual, physical, social, and other overestimations. The egotist has an overwhelming sense of the centrality of the "me" regarding their personal qualities.

Projective identification is a term introduced by Melanie Klein and then widely adopted in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Projective identification may be used as a type of defense, a means of communicating, a primitive form of relationship, or a route to psychological change; used for ridding the self of unwanted parts or for controlling the other's body and mind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narcissism</span> Excessive preoccupation with oneself

Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, rooted in Greek mythology, has evolved into a psychological concept studied extensively since the early 20th century, highlighting its relevance across various societal domains.

In psychology, narcissistic injury, also known as narcissistic wound or wounded ego, is emotional trauma that overwhelms an individual's defense mechanisms and devastates their pride and self-worth. In some cases, the shame or disgrace is so significant that the individual can never again truly feel good about who they are. This is sometimes referred to as a "narcissistic scar".

In psychoanalytic theory, regression is a defense mechanism involving the reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of psychosexual development, as a reaction to an overwhelming external problem or internal conflict.

Splitting is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both perceived positive and negative qualities of something into a cohesive, realistic whole. It is a common defense mechanism wherein the individual tends to think in extremes. This kind of dichotomous interpretation is contrasted by an acknowledgement of certain nuances known as "shades of gray".

Identification is a psychological process whereby the individual assimilates an aspect, property, or attribute of the other and is transformed wholly or partially by the model that other provides. It is by means of a series of identifications that the personality is constituted and specified. The roots of the concept can be found in Freud's writings. The three most prominent concepts of identification as described by Freud are: primary identification, narcissistic (secondary) identification and partial (secondary) identification.

Psychoanalytic theory posits that an individual unable to integrate difficult feelings mobilizes specific defenses to overcome these feelings, which the individual perceives to be unbearable. The defense that effects this process is called splitting. Splitting is the tendency to view events or people as either all bad or all good. When viewing people as all good, the individual is said to be using the defense mechanism idealization: a mental mechanism in which the person attributes exaggeratedly positive qualities to the self or others. When viewing people as all bad, the individual employs devaluation: attributing exaggeratedly negative qualities to the self or others.

The concept of excessive selfishness has been recognized throughout history. The term "narcissism" is derived from the Greek mythology of Narcissus, but was only coined at the close of the nineteenth century.

Narcissistic mortification is "the primitive terror of self dissolution, triggered by the sudden exposure of one's sense of a defective self ... it is death by embarrassment". The concept has been widely employed in ego psychology and also contributed to the roots of self psychology.

In social psychology, collective narcissism is the tendency to exaggerate the positive image and importance of a group to which one belongs. The group may be defined by ideology, race, political beliefs/stance, religion, sexual orientation, social class, language, nationality, employment status, education level, cultural values, or any other ingroup. While the classic definition of narcissism focuses on the individual, collective narcissism extends this concept to similar excessively high opinions of a person's social group, and suggests that a group can function as a narcissistic entity.

In psychology, narcissistic withdrawal is a stage in narcissism and a narcissistic defense characterized by "turning away from parental figures, and by the fantasy that essential needs can be satisfied by the individual alone". In adulthood, it is more likely to be an ego defense with repressed origins. Individuals feel obliged to withdraw from any relationship that threatens to be more than short-term, avoiding the risk of narcissistic injury, and will instead retreat into a comfort zone. The idea was first described by Melanie Klein in her psychoanalytic research on stages of narcissism in children.

Narcissistic defenses are those processes whereby the idealized aspects of the self are preserved, and its limitations denied. They tend to be rigid and totalistic. They are often driven by feelings of shame and guilt, conscious or unconscious.

References

  1. 1 2 3 McWilliams, Nancy (2020) [2011]. "Primary Defensive Processes". Psychoanalytic Diagnosis: Understanding Personality Structure in the Clinical Process (2 ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press. p. 111. ISBN   978-1462543694. In both projection and introjection, there is a permeated psychological boundary between the self and the world. [...] Projection is the process whereby what is inside is misunderstood as coming from outside. In its benign and mature forms, it is the basis for empathy.
  2. ↑ Sigmund Freud, Case Histories II (PFL 9) p. 132
  3. ↑ Hotchkiss, Sandy; foreword by Masterson, James F. Why Is It Always About You?: The Seven Deadly Sins of Narcissism (Free Press, 2003)
  4. ↑ Malancharuvil JM (December 2004). "Projection, introjection, and projective identification: a reformulation" (PDF). Am J Psychoanal. 64 (4): 375–82. doi:10.1007/s11231-004-4325-y. PMID   15577283. S2CID   19730486.
  5. ↑ Harvey, Van A. (1997). Feuerbach and the interpretation of religion. Cambridge University Press. p. 4. ISBN   0521470498. Archived from the original on 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  6. ↑ Cotrupi, Caterina Nella (2000). Northrop Frye and the poetics of process . University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. pp.  21. ISBN   978-0802081414.
  7. ↑ Harvey, Van A. (1997). Feuerbach and the interpretation of religion. University of cambridge. p. 4. ISBN   978-0521586306.
  8. ↑ Mackey, James patrick (2000). The Critique of Theological Reason. Cambridge University press. pp. 41–42. ISBN   978-0521169233.
  9. ↑ Nelson, John K. (1990). "A Field Statement on the Anthropology of Religion". Ejournalofpoliticalscience. Archived from the original on 2017-02-14. Retrieved 2014-01-20.
  10. ↑ Babylonian Talmud. pp. Baba Metsiya 59b, Kiddushin 70a. And he who [continually] declares [others] unfit is [himself] unfit and never speaks in praise [of people]. And Samuel said: All who defame others, with their own blemish they stigmatize [these others].
  11. ↑ Matthew 7:3–5
  12. ↑ Jean-Michel Quinodoz, Reading Freud (London 2005) p. 24
  13. ↑ Case Studies II p. 210.
  14. ↑ Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (London 1946) p. 146.
  15. ↑ Sigmund Freud, On Psychopathology (PFL 10) pp. 200–01.
  16. ↑ Patrick Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1997) p. 177.
  17. ↑ Otto F. Kernberg, Borderline Conditions and Pathological Narcissism (London 1990) p. 56.
  18. ↑ Hanna Segal, Klein (1979) p. 118.
  19. ↑ R. Wollheim, On the Emotions (1999) pp. 217–18.
  20. ↑ Erik Erikson, Childhood and Society (1973) p. 241.
  21. ↑ Glen O. Gabbard, Long-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (Washington, DC 2017) p. 35.
  22. 1 2 3 Carl G. Jung ed., Man and his Symbols (London 1978) pp. 181–82.
  23. ↑ Franz, Marie-Louise von (September 1972). Patterns of Creativity Mirrored in Creation Myths (Seminar series). Spring Publications. ISBN   978-0-88214-106-0.found in: Gray, Richard M. (1996). Archetypal explorations: an integrative approach to human behavior. Routledge. p. 201. ISBN   978-0-415-12117-0. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  24. ↑ Demos, John (1970). "Underlying Themes in the Witchcraft of Seventeenth-Century New England". American Historical Review . 75 (5): 1311–26 [p. 1322]. doi:10.2307/1844480. JSTOR   1844480. PMID   11609522.
  25. ↑ The Pursuit of Health, June Bingham & Norman Tamarkin, M.D., Walker Press.
  26. ↑ Sigmund Freud, On Psychopathology (Middlesex 1987) p. 198.
  27. ↑ Paul Gilbert, Overcoming Depression (1999) pp. 185–86.
  28. ↑ Patrick Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1990) p. 142.
  29. ↑ Patrick Casement, Further Learning from the Patient (1990) p. 122.
  30. ↑ General Aspects of Dream Psychology, CW 8, par. 519.
  31. ↑ Ann Casement, Carl Gustav Jung (2001) p. 87.
  32. ↑ F. S. Anderson ed., Bodies in Treatment (2007) p. 160.
  33. ↑ Semeonoff, B. (1987). "Projective Techniques". In Gregory, Richard (ed.). The Oxford Companion to the Mind. New York: Oxford University Press. p.  646. ISBN   0-19-866124-X.
  34. ↑ "Trauma and Projection". Archived from the original on 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2008-08-16.(subscription required)
  35. ↑ R. Appignanesi ed., Introducing Melanie Klein (Cambridge 2006) pp. 115, 126.
  36. ↑ Mario Jacoby, The Analytic Encounter (1984) pp. 10, 108.
  37. ↑ Robbins, Jordan M.; Krueger, Joachim I. (2005). "Social Projection to Ingroups and Outgroups: A Review and Meta-Analysis". Personality and Social Psychology Review. 9 (1): 32–47. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0901_3. ISSN   1088-8683. PMID   15745863. S2CID   10229838.
  38. 1 2 Baumeister, Roy F.; Dale, Karen; Sommer, Kristin L. (1998). "Freudian Defense Mechanisms and Empirical Findings in Modern Social Psychology: Reaction Formation, Projection, Displacement, Undoing, Isolation, Sublimation, and Denial". Journal of Personality. 66 (6): 1090–92. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.00043.
  39. ↑ Newman, Leonard S.; Duff, Kimberley J.; Baumeister, Roy F. (1997). "A new look at defensive projection: Thought suppression, accessibility, and biased person perception". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 72 (5): 980–1001. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.72.5.980. PMID   9150580.
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