The Psychology of Projection

[April Vee]

With so much projecting out loud going on around,it occurred to me to post this thread

"Attributing one's own undesirable traits to other people or agencies, e.g., an aggressive man accuses other people of being hostile."

Basic Human Psychology 1: Neurosis, Projection and Freudian Projection

According to Sigmund Freud, projection is a psychological defense mechanism whereby one "projects" one's own undesirable thoughts, motivations, desires, and feelings onto someone else. It is a common process that every person uses to some degree.[3]

To understand the process, consider a person in a couple who has thoughts of infidelity. Instead of dealing with these undesirable thoughts consciously, he or she subconsciously projects these feelings onto the other person, and begins to think that the other has thoughts of infidelity and may be having an affair. In this sense, projection is related to denial, arguably the only defense mechanism that is more primitive than projection. Projection, like all defense mechanisms provide a function whereby truth about a part of themselves that may otherwise be unacceptable is shielded.

Compartmentalization, splitting and projection are ways that the ego continues to pretend that it is completely in control at all times, when in reality human experience is one of shifting beingness, instinctual or territorial reactiveness and emotional motives, for which the "I" is not always complicit. Further, common in deep trauma, individuals will be unable to access truthful memories, intentions and experiences, even about their own nature, wherein projection is just one tool [4].

Psychological projection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While everybody uses it to "some" degree,some use more than their fair share. Obviously sites like this are fertile breeding grounds,but lets put them aside and concentrate on other personal experiences ya might wanna share.

 

[Madge Bumstead]

Love all things psychology!

 

[Shirley Martin]

With so much projecting out loud going on around,it occurred to me to post this thread



Basic Human Psychology 1: Neurosis, Projection and Freudian Projection



Psychological projection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While everybody uses it to "some" degree,some use more than their fair share. Obviously sites like this are fertile breeding grounds,but lets put them aside and concentrate on other personal experiences ya might wanna share.

Too deep for me.

 

[April Vee]

Ya I hear ya Shirley