Projection as a personal defense mechanism, or why we see ourselves in others

The world of human relationships is complex and, unfortunately, does not always bring us joy. There are often moments that cause resentment and bitterness, irritation or disappointment. These are difficult feelings that I would like to get rid of, and a person has unconsciously learned to protect his psyche from excessive overload and negativity. S. Freud was the first to study and describe the mechanisms of psychological defense, determining that one of the most ancient and primitive mechanisms is projection.

Types of projection

The manifestations of projection in our lives and in relationships with other people are varied. Usually there are 4 main types:

Attributional projection is based on the individual attributing the motives of his behavior to other people. Usually these are motives condemned by society or unacceptable by the person himself. (“Greedy!” shouts a child to a peer who does not want to treat him to candy). The complementary projection is in some way the opposite of the attributive one and manifests itself in attributing to oneself qualities that are opposite to those that are rejected. (“I am strong and brave, and you are just a coward and a weakling!”). Rational is justifying one’s mistakes and failures by blaming others for some shortcomings, weaknesses, or unprofessionalism. (“The project would have been successful if such mediocrities and lazy people had not worked on my team.” “We would have had an ideal marriage if the husband had cared more about the family.”) Autistic projection is the projection of one's needs into the external world. It is well illustrated by the saying: “A fisherman sees a fisherman from afar”

A hungry person first of all pays attention to food, and a woman who has experienced her husband’s betrayal sees only traitors and traitors among the men around her. She simply doesn't notice others.

Often, in human behavior and his perception of the world around him, different types of projection interact. This is especially true for people who lack self-confidence and are burdened with complexes and feelings of guilt.

Rear projection

In addition, there are two more types: forward and backward projection in psychology. Accordingly, if in the case of direct projection a person attributes to others certain, most often negative, qualities that he himself possesses, then in the case of the reverse version everything is different. The individual begins to attribute to himself those thoughts and qualities that he would really like to possess. Thus, the husband of an artist can also consider himself an artist, even if he has no talents.

Thus, projection is one of many psychological defense mechanisms that, depending on the situation and the ability to introspect, can either cause us great harm or improve our mutual understanding with other people.

What is projection

Do you know how a projector works? It transfers the image from film to the screen. Also, a person often transfers and projects his feelings, thoughts, desires onto others. Most often these are unpleasant thoughts and desires. Shame and guilt are difficult experiences, and a person strives to get rid of them so as not to traumatize his psyche. Moreover, he not only takes his sins and dark thoughts out of his consciousness, but imparts them to other people. This way it’s easier for him - he doesn’t need to blame himself, because others are no better, and even worse.

Thus, the most jealous are always husbands who themselves are not averse to cheating on their wife. But since they have similar thoughts and desires, then women should have them too? And this has its own, albeit perverted, logic. And a wife who accuses her husband of spending extra money on “his whims and toys” is not very thrifty herself. She really wants those shoes or that blouse, but her husband is no better than her. And when judging our neighbors or colleagues, we remember first of all those unpleasant qualities that are inherent in ourselves.

You will say: this is bad, and I never do that. No, don’t indulge yourself in illusions, everyone does it, and you too.

How it works

The protective mechanism of projection is inherent in all people and is formed in early childhood. It is born from the prohibitions that society dictates to us. In the process of upbringing, ideas about good and bad, about what is permissible and what is unacceptable are formed and consolidated in the mind. A child very early begins to understand that showing aggression, offending the weak, insulting other people, and taking away toys is bad. The older a person gets, the more prohibitions society dictates to him. They create conditions for negative experiences, because even wanting the forbidden is bad and unacceptable. And a person strives to protect himself from these unpleasant emotions, to get out of the internal conflict between what is desirable and what is acceptable. So the well-known reaction arises: “It’s your own fault!”

Projection is one of the oldest types of psychological defense, and its mechanism is simple. It always works like this:

The individual feels discomfort, shame, and irritation, caused by forbidden desires and his behavior that is incorrect, from the point of view of social norms.
In an effort to get rid of negative emotions, a person takes unacceptable desires and impulses beyond the boundaries of his consciousness.
He attributes these motives to other people so that he himself would not be so ashamed, because “everyone is like that, everyone does it.”

That is why “old maids”, preoccupied with their “wrong” thoughts and desires, fight so energetically against the “debauchery” of youth. And a drunkard, in moments of sobriety, angrily stigmatizes his alcoholic neighbor.

The projection mechanism also adds fuel to the fire of interethnic conflicts, because most often representatives of one nation accuse their enemies of sins inherent in themselves. And the more of these sins, the more aggressive people become. Most often we blame those whom we ourselves have offended. Why? So as not to be ashamed and not to feel guilty.

The people who most loudly accuse officials of theft are those who themselves would not mind warming their hands, but do not have this opportunity. And by rejecting their own desires, these accusers project them onto those who have such an opportunity.

Projection and empathy

Projection is not only associated with shameful thoughts and antisocial desires

The process of transferring emotional states underlies such an important socio-psychological phenomenon as empathy. Empathy in psychology is understood as a person’s ability to experience the same feelings as his partner

This is compassion, empathy, which is based on personal emotional experience. It is this experience that the individual transfers to other people, imagining how they should feel in a situation familiar to him. Therefore, the suffering or joy of another can only be understood by one who himself suffered and rejoiced.

Without the ability to project your emotional experience, mutual understanding is impossible. Although the projection does not always reflect the objective state of affairs. We can empathize with a person, think how bad he feels, because in a similar situation it was very difficult for us. But this does not mean that that person is really suffering. People are different, and the circumstances in which they find themselves are also different. But the more emotionally close individuals are, the more accurately they understand each other’s condition.

Pros and cons of projection

The method of projecting thoughts, experiences and actions onto other people has its advantages and disadvantages. There are only 3 advantages:

Helps to cope with internal problems, get rid of negative thoughts and unpleasant feelings. If you leave everything as it is, a person will face stress, which sooner or later will develop into depression. And it’s not far from psychosis.
The second benefit concerns empathy. Essentially, in the case of empathy, the two concepts are similar. If it were not for empathy and projection, the world would consist of rude, insensitive egoists.
Like other types of psychological defense, projection prevents trauma to the psyche by strong experiences.

What can you say about the shortcomings?

A person does not fully understand the real state of things. He sees only what he wants.
The actions and words of others are assessed inadequately, according to their own, sometimes incomprehensible, logical reasoning.
By transferring one's own problems onto loved ones, problems arise in relationships.
Behind projection, a person hides his sins and negative character traits. He does not seek to get rid of them, to change his personality for the better.

Remember the disadvantages of projection when trying to transfer your feelings and experiences to loved ones. Don't try to find faults in them.

Peculiarities

As a result of the projection

different people will predict different emotional states in the same animal

As a defense mechanism, projection allows a person not to feel responsible for his own shadow contents (unacceptable feelings, desires, motives, ideas, etc.) by perceiving such feelings as someone else’s.

.
A negative consequence of such protection is the desire to correct
the external object onto which something negative is projected, or
to get rid
of it altogether in order to get rid of the feelings “caused by it.” In order for the projection mechanism to be activated, it is necessary to have in the perceived object features (if we talk about people) or properties (if we talk about an object) that could cause an unconscious reaction in the observer. In most cases, the unconscious reaction is associative: the subject notices something similar to what (or whom) he saw before. This, for example, can explain some reminiscences. However, there are cases when the projected content does not reflect the content of the personal unconscious, but is the result of a projection of the collective unconscious, and then the projection becomes numinous. Also, a projection becomes numinous when its source affects extremely important aspects of the personality, which gives the projection extreme value (even to the point of fanaticism). Therefore, any object onto which any content of the unconscious has been projected always has the property(s) that served as the reason for this. C. G. Jung called these properties hooks.

Projection is one of the main defense mechanisms in paranoid and hysterical personality disorder.

But this same mechanism underlies empathy: a person cannot directly sense the internal state of another person, but can empathize by reacting to various manifestations of this state. As a result of the action of projection, these reactions are perceived as a direct sensation of someone else's state. In most cases, such empathy increases mutual understanding between people.

It also underlies the personification (“animation”) of objects and forces of nature, and the “humanization” of animals. For example, phrases such as “calm sea”, “troubled sea”, “the storm was angry”, “faithful dog”, “independent cat”, “unhappy horse” are the result of attributing to external objects one’s own reaction to them.

Negative manifestation of projection

However, in most cases, projection in psychology is considered a defense mechanism that exists in order to protect a person from various shadow, repressed, hidden aspects of his personality. As a result of this mechanism, a person may not feel responsible for the feelings and thoughts that he unconsciously attributes to others. It would seem that this is an effective and reliable option for protection, but its negative result is that a person begins to try in some way to correct the object on which he is projecting his emotions, or to get rid of it altogether, just so as not to see and feel these emotions . Moreover, in reality, the object may have absolutely nothing to do with the emotions or thoughts of the individual who is actively projecting them.

For example, people often do not see their own shortcomings, although they notice them in others with amazing attention. A greedy person can see only greed and stinginess everywhere; one prone to theft will believe that everyone around him is nothing but thieves and crooks. Good advice from psychologists works here: to understand your shortcomings, you should take a closer look at what you criticize the people around you for. Interestingly, the same mechanism works in the case of positive character traits, which we also often do not notice in ourselves.

How to find out the projection?

1. Projection is always irrational. You can be sure that the person is extremely vile, although you have never communicated with him. You will not be able to give clear arguments for this.

2. Projection loves a lack of information. Communication on the Internet contributes to the birth of projections, as does communication on the telephone.

3. Usually the projection is negative. We usually experience discomfort when talking to a person on whom we are projecting something.

But there is also a positive projection, when we find it difficult to accept our own positive qualities. There is no need to explain why this case is less common...

As you can see, there are many projections. But they all have the same essence - bringing something internal to the outside and perceiving it as external.

By observing yourself and the people around you, you can identify such projections, which means you can better understand yourself and your interlocutor. Use this tool and you will be able to avoid unnecessary conflicts and achieve your goals faster.

Projection on animals

We all know situations when it seems that completely human emotions are written on the face of a cat or puppy. What’s interesting is that different people in the same situation can attribute directly opposite feelings to a cat, which the animal, of course, does not actually experience. This is proof of the operation of the projection mechanism, when we personify, “humanize” various objects of living and inanimate nature. Expressions like “loyal dog” or “furious wind” do not reflect the actual qualities of the objects being described. They only talk about our emotions, our perception of them.

Projection mechanism

In simple terms, projection in psychology is a defensive reaction. It develops in childhood. The basis for its formation are prohibitions dictated by society. Day after day, information about what is good and what is bad is reinforced in the child’s mind. In the process of upbringing, parents tell him how to behave in a given situation. As a result, even very young children know that they cannot take toys from others, they also cannot fight, offend the weaker, etc.

Over time, there are more and more prohibitions. Moreover, even thoughts about the forbidden are unacceptable. This state of affairs causes a storm of emotions in an already adult person, including the spirit of contradiction. A real struggle unfolds inside him between what he wants and what is possible. The projection mechanism consists of 3 parts:

The person experiences some discomfort, perhaps shame, irritation, anger. They are caused by his attitude towards what society prohibits.
Trying to cope with negative emotions, he takes forbidden desires beyond his consciousness.
Transfers these desires to the people around him. Now a person is not so ashamed and uncomfortable, because others behave the same way as he does.

Thus, women, who are called “old maids,” direct all their strength to the fight against corrupt youth. And those who abuse alcohol during periods of sobriety talk about the bad behavior of their drinking neighbors.

It is interesting that the projection mechanism manifests itself even in such areas of life as politics and war. Residents of one state accuse their “neighbors” of the sins they themselves have committed. And the more such sins, the more furious the accusations, the stronger the aggression.

What a long way to go. Remember the times when you accused and scolded those whom you yourself offended? For what purpose was this done? To get rid of shame and guilt.

Projection from the point of view of Jungian analysis

The Jungian movement in psychotherapy places particular emphasis on the discovery and return of projection. One of the key ideas is the idea that the energy invested in projection becomes, as it were, cut off from the person, and this causes disintegration of the personality.

Carl Gustav Jung considered it a big problem to merge the unconscious person with the outside world through the process of projection. Then it becomes difficult for a person to isolate himself from the stream of events. This is often followed by alarming signals indicating a violation of his adaptation to the world.

How do Jungian analysts deal with this? They direct the client's attention so that he can recognize the mental image as an internal phenomenon and not an external one - then the value or energy invested in the image can return to the person.

It is important to understand that there is a big difference between projection and error. Here's how Jungian analyst Maria von Franz writes about it:

“The difference between a projection and an ordinary error is that the error can be easily corrected by receiving correct information and subsequently dissolves, like the morning fog in the first rays of the sun.”

Experience shows that getting rid of projections is a much more complex process than correcting erroneous judgments.

Empathy and intuition

In psychology, projection is the basis of empathy. The ability to do this is considered the norm by psychologists. Empathy is feeling for another person by projecting your own personal experience.

Without experiencing physical pain, we can feel the pain of another person. We can feel his personal tragedy, empathizing and supporting. Sensitive people are more prone to empathy.

The same is true with intuition. This is also a projection of experiences and feelings onto another person.

We recommend: Understanding and mutual understanding

Have you often wondered how your mother can sense your condition from a distance? How can a person, located thousands of kilometers away, know what is happening in your soul? The connection between souls in love can also be explained. They feel each other as if they were one - amazing, right?

Projection

Projection is the attribution of one’s own qualities, feelings and desires to another person. This happens unconsciously, i.e. a person, carrying out a projection (for example, being greedy, knowingly believes his business partner to be equally greedy) is absolutely sure that the other person really possesses these qualities.

Projections can be both positive and negative. In the first case, a person assumes positive qualities or feelings in another, in the second - negative ones.

This property of the human psyche, inherent to one degree or another in all people, was described and studied in detail in psychoanalysis, and then in other, later areas of psychotherapy.

Although even before that it was noticed by many writers and served as a theme for creating comedic characters who find themselves in ridiculous situations because of their fantasies about other people.

For example, the hero of Gogol’s play “Marriage”, experiencing panic horror before starting a family, but nevertheless finally deciding to take this step, asks his servant: “Have you been to the tailor?... Didn’t the tailor ask why the master needs a new caftan? Didn’t he say that the master wasn’t going to get married? ...Have you been to the shoemaker? Didn’t he ask why the master needed shoe polish - was the master planning to get married? etc. He projects his attitude towards this event onto everyone else, considering it equally significant for them.

Other examples of comic situations of this kind can often be found in folk tales and anecdotes. Psychotherapists use many of them in their work with clients.

The projection is perfectly illustrated by the eastern parable about the merchant and the parrot, recorded by the modern German psychotherapist N. Pezeshkyan. It sounds like this. “An eastern trader had a talking parrot.

His appearance brought the parrot into terrible excitement. He crackled, flapped his wings and suddenly said: “Did you also knock over a bottle of oil and get a slap on the head? That’s why you have no hair now!”

Of course, projection gives a certain comfort to a person and protects him from unpleasant experiences. After all, it is much calmer to consider someone else to be the culprit of all your failures than to admit not very flattering character traits in yourself.

In addition, there is always a temptation to shift responsibility for your troubles to someone else. However, in order to get rid of your problems, you first have to admit your own imperfections.

He kept nodding his head and finally said: “Because you constantly change nests, nothing will change. The smell that bothers you comes not from the nests, but from you.”

This is an example of negative projection. But even in the case of its positive version, situations can be created that are just as anecdotal for external viewers, but sad for their participants. Here's another parable. One elderly couple was celebrating their golden wedding. Over breakfast, the wife thought: “For fifty years now I have been trying to please my husband.

I always gave him the top half of the crusty bread. But today I want this delicacy to be mine.” She buttered the top half of the bread for herself and gave the other half to her husband. To her great surprise, he was very happy, kissed her hand and said: “My dear, you have given me great joy today.

How often does a person assume that his loved ones love the same thing as he does, without even thinking to ask them about it! At the same time, he projects onto them his good attitude towards something and tries with all his heart to please them, often encountering a reaction that is very unexpected for himself.

Sometimes it happens that a person projects onto someone else not a separate character trait or attitude, but a whole image, his idea of a “friend,” “wife,” “husband,” “child,” etc.

In this case, a person unconsciously creates this image in his imagination (as a rule, its creation is influenced by the stories of parents or friends about what a “friend”, “wife”, etc. should be like.

, as well as works of art and films), and then “sees” in the people around him not real people, but these images. Because of this, a person has unjustified expectations and hopes in relation to other people.

Awareness of one's projections, separation of one's own images, feelings and relationships from real people in psychotherapy is called removal (or return) of projection. A significant part of psychotherapeutic work is aimed at this.

Familiarity with one's own unconscious, its images and fantasies, awareness and acceptance of one's negative feelings and experiences allows a person to take more responsibility for his life, rather than shift it to others, and build his relationships with others more realistically.

TYPICAL SITUATIONS

We attribute our intentions to people

Let's say there's a new employee in your office that you really like. At the same time, you are not thinking about an affair: you have been married for a long time and are quite happy, and you are not going to cheat on your husband. And after a while you begin to suspect your husband of cheating: he came late, did not answer phone calls. Day by day your jealousy is becoming stronger. Most likely, in this situation, the projection mechanism worked: you will never admit to yourself that you would like to cheat on your husband, and then attribute your intentions to him.

We incorrectly “guess” other people’s feelings

We incorrectly “guess” other people’s feelings, usually attributing to them too many traits that are actually inherent to us. If you rarely refuse to fulfill someone’s request, staying late at work because of this, go to the cinema to see those films that your friends like and not you, listen to other people’s monologues about life, and so on. Most likely, you yourself are very sensitive, upset by other people’s refusals, and therefore attribute the same touchiness to everyone else. In fact, your colleagues may not even realize (or, on the contrary, they guess too well) that they are overloading you, while your friends would agree to watch another movie.

How metaphorical maps can help

Metaphorical association cards (MACs) have become very popular over the past two decades. Psychologists of various directions successfully use them for diagnosis and correction.

There are hundreds of decks of metaphorical cards: oracles, association cards, Tarot used in a psychological way... The abundance of techniques sometimes causes confusion. Many decks have an initial focus: for example, “Windows and Doors” cards are suitable for working with personal boundaries, my favorite “Archetypes and Shadows” deck will allow you to work with interpersonal problems, and it is convenient to apply “From the Chest of the Past” cards to childhood traumas. In my practice, I often work with the “Simbolon Oracle” - cards with amazing depth of images.

There are many ways to work with MAC. These include Tarot-type layouts, open work, when the client himself chooses images that resonate with him, and, of course, transformational games in which the cards carry a powerful semantic load.

Unlike standard psychodiagnostic methods, in projective methods there is no division into “right” and “wrong”. The emphasis is on the client's unique properties.

At the same time, the stimulus material and instructions are always ambiguous, which makes it possible for individual traits to emerge.

For people suffering from various forms of alexithymia, projective techniques greatly facilitate the therapy process. In addition, the process itself is perceived as safe: it seems that when looking at images and commenting on them, a person is talking about objects that do not relate to him.

The principles underlying the projective approach were described by Viktor Frankl in 1939:

Personality is a system of interconnected processes, and not a set of disparate qualities.
Each of us can be represented as a relatively stable system of dynamic processes that develop on the basis of needs, emotions and personal experience.
The system changes, “shaping, directing, distorting, changing and reshaping each situation into a system (configuration) of the individual’s inner world.” Moreover, everything that happens to us bears the imprint of our personality.

Thus, the use of projective techniques is a very effective way to diagnose and correct the projection mechanism. The so-called visual turn, implying the equivalence of visual and logical-verbal thinking, has largely contributed to the widespread popularity of both projective tests and work with the MAC.

Checklist: things to remember about projection
Projection is a normal process of mental development, which does not necessarily reflect neurotic manifestations.
Projection is a defense mechanism. This is a filter that protects us not only from negative emotions, sensations and information, but also from the influence of pathologically dangerous factors. Thanks to it, a person does not change too quickly, which could lead to a disruption in his adaptation.
Normal projection implies the presence of principles and attitudes, according to which we build the image of our “I”.
The pathological form of projection is a defense mechanism with which the occurrence of phobias is associated. In the pathological form, perception is distorted, but the illusion of control over intentions, feelings, and behavior remains.
When someone constantly projects positive or negative qualities onto us, it can lead to anxiety. We doubt whether we really have these traits, and sometimes make erroneous judgments about ourselves. Parental projections stand out especially clearly here. Recognizing their influence on your own life and neutralizing them requires reflection skills, and sometimes years of therapy.
The peak of the pathological form of projection is paranoia; clinically it is defined as a well-organized system of delusions. Thus, a paranoid person's belief that he is constantly being stalked often means that he would like to stalk others.
A healthy form of projection can be creativity. The creator projects himself into his heroes, but at the same time does not lose sight of himself. Therefore, art therapy and any form of creativity can be helpful when working with projections.

Join the club

Projection in psychology (with examples)

Let's talk about projections? What it is? And why, when we are undeservedly (as it seems to us) accused of something, we can safely answer: “These are your projections!”

Let's start, as always, with an example. The driver speeds through the city, breaking every conceivable rule, swearing loudly and cutting off other cars. And then he runs into a traffic jam under the bridge.

He opens the window and shouts to some completely respectable citizen: “You learn to drive, you drive like crazy!” Here is the projection.

That is, attributing one’s qualities and properties to another, usually unconsciously.

In psychology, projection is called a defense mechanism of the psyche. Why? Because by doing so, a person relieves himself of responsibility (“we are not like that - life is like that”).

We can project more than just our negative qualities onto others. For example, a young eighteen-year-old girl can write poetry where she will describe her lover - a brutal guy, subtle and creative.

Or a jealous, loving husband constantly suspects his wife, although he himself is “in the dark.”

This mechanism is formed in childhood. For example, parents diligently said that “being angry is bad!” That is, this quality was forbidden to manifest, but this is also such an important mechanism. Therefore, it remains somewhere in the deeper layers of our psyche - we have since denied it in ourselves, but in others we notice it. As in the quote with the log and the speck.

Why are projections dangerous? Those that lead to an erroneous perception of reality. The mechanism of projections can be easily traced by the example of tests with fuzzy figures, in which their emotions are not visible or their actions are ambiguous. For example, Murray's Drawing Apperception Test (PAT).

How do you know about this? How can anyone know EXACTLY and with certainty the thoughts of another?3. And of course, projections are hidden where we SEEM that they are thinking about us. Yes, that seems to be the key word.

Maybe the boss really doesn’t like us, or maybe he had a fight with a friend and that’s why he raised his voice.

The projection is like a shadow, afraid of the light. Therefore, the main way to find out why someone is “kind of nervous” or “looking at me askance” is to ask about it. However, not in the form of a statement, like “I know, you can’t stand me.” And in the form of “It seems to me,” and of course, start the dialogue not with “You are such and such,” but for example, “I feel some kind of understatement,” that is, with OWN feelings.

Other methods of protection

In addition to projection, there are several other methods of psychological defense:

Denial is a defensive reaction that begins to develop in childhood. Its first manifestations can be noticed when a child breaks a plate, but persistently proves to the mother that it was not he who did it. Denial often occurs in people who do not want to accept a serious diagnosis. Strong psychological pressure from the outside will only strengthen the defense of the psyche, which will lead to a person’s general isolation.
Repression is a psychological defense mechanism with the help of which pressing problems are forced out of consciousness into the area of the unconscious, but this does not make the problem disappear. It takes root in the psyche, which is why the general condition does not change for the better.
Introjection is a defense mechanism by which a person immerses himself in the world of his authority. At the same time, you can find out which feelings warm him more, what he lacks.
Isolation is a mechanism by which a person divides his personality into two parts. He accepts and protects one, denies one and tries to hide it from others.
Regression is a psychological defense mechanism, when activated, a person moves to a simplified level of functioning.
Fantasy is a defense mechanism by which the subject creates an unreal reality that cannot happen in real life. This helps to cope with the thirst for your own desires.
Transferred aggression. It helps not to be offended by your loved one when he, returning from his own affairs in a bad mood, begins to take out aggression on loved ones.
Reactive education. It appears in people who do not know how to save money. Moreover, the more difficult it is for them to earn a certain amount, the faster they will spend it.

Another psychological defense mechanism is rationalization. It can be seen in the stories that students or schoolchildren write when they are late for class or fail to complete their homework.

Projection is a psychological defense mechanism that develops in any person from birth. It protects the human psyche from the destructive effects of negative emotions, experiences, and grievances. A defensive reaction distorts reality, which prevents people from assessing the situation sensibly.

Concept of projection

So, there are several basic meanings of this term. In classical psychoanalysis, the legacy of Freud, projection is a defense mechanism that indicates the presence of a certain conflict in the human psyche, which is in a depressed state. During the operation of this mechanism, a person attributes his emotions, feelings and thoughts to others. At the same time, he denies the fact that these are actually his own feelings. So, before an important report, a person may worry and think about the audience, “I am unpleasant to them,” although in fact people do not experience negative emotions towards the speaker. He himself shifts his unpleasant feelings onto them. Thus, a person perceives his own emotions and thoughts as something coming to him from the outside, to which he has nothing to do and cannot influence it.

Accordingly, in the understanding of psychoanalysts, such projection of various manifestations of one’s psyche onto others is one of the indicators of neurosis (the cause of neurosis, in turn, is internal conflicts between the conscious and unconscious components of the psyche).

On the other hand, in some psychological theories, projection is a natural mechanism inherent in the human psyche from the beginning. Thus, projection is seen not only as a manifestation of neurosis, but also as a normal process.

Projective methods in psychodiagnostics

In psychodiagnostics, projective techniques occupy an important place. They are used during pathopsychological experiments and a diagnosis is made on their basis.

Working with projective techniques is complex, and training takes a lot of time. An illiterate specialist and independent interpretation can do much more harm than good. I often hear examples of erroneous interpretations, which sometimes cause a smile and sometimes indignation.

A person who prefers shades of red is sometimes attributed to excessive activity and demonstrativeness; for a man who loves to grow flowers - erotic passion; for a child who collects knives - hidden aggression. Paradoxically, such interpretations are often themselves the fruits of the projection of specialists.

The skillful use of projective techniques opens up truly impressive prospects. Statistical and quantitative methods, standard tests are most often unable to reveal that personal and intimate thing that makes healing possible for the client. And visual thinking, which is activated during the use of projective techniques, allows one to avoid the traps of rationality: excessive influence of “reasonable reasoning” often leads to hardening and loss of hidden meanings.

Projection – psychological defense

Examples of projection from life are subjective views on the environment that are characteristic of the individual. Psychological defenses, in balance, are necessary for the psyche to compensate for traumatic events. But if defense begins to prevail, seizes mental space and becomes the dominant way of communication with the world, we are talking about neurotic behavior, and in extreme forms it manifests itself as psychotic disorders.

An example of a normal and successful use of projection is the actor’s experience of the hero’s drama, endowing him with his pain, reliving the emotions in the role. Thinking and planning actions from the angle of “what would I do if I were in his place” also includes the conscious use of this defense, if the understanding is maintained that this is just a guess. But even in this case, if you remove the element of understanding the assumption, a situation arises “to judge by yourself.” This is a common situation in cases of jealousy and suspicion in personal relationships.

A neurotic also applies psychological defense in relation to the characteristics of his own individuality. He separates from himself not only impulses, but even the physical parts of himself, the organs in which these impulses arise, endowing them with objective, in some form, existence. They become responsible for difficulties and help to ignore that these are parts of the person himself. For example, hunger can be explained by the peculiarities of the stomach, and not by one’s own natural desire. The subject creating the projection appears to be a passive object of circumstances, and not an active agent in the life of his own individuality.

Thus, in projection, the line between the intrapersonal and the rest of the world shifts in favor of one’s own benefit, which makes it possible to relieve responsibility by denying the ownership of aspects of individuality that are perceived as unattractive and offensive.

Projection is a consequence of introjects causing a feeling of contempt and a desire for alienation in the individual. A person who desires love but avoids close relationships because he believes that others will definitely betray him is a classic example of projection. In everyday speech, psychological defense is manifested in formulations when the behavior of others causes indignation and condemnation, replacing the pronoun “I” with the pronoun “you\he\she\they”. The same “white coat”. And the stronger the pressure of the impulse, the more aggressive the external attacks.

Envy is a more conscious projection, since a person already includes himself in the system of relationship with the projection. Psychological defense underlies the ability to personify inanimate objects (children are “friends” with toys), or animals, communication with which is built on an emotional level.

Pathological manifestations of projections

The above described phenomena that accompany a person in everyday life almost constantly. Psychologists say that such a defense mechanism most often works in rather vulnerable and anxious people. However, projections can occur in various mental disorders, such as paranoia, phobia or mania. In these cases, projections can become aggravated, lead to more or less strong manifestations of delirium, a person can hallucinate, and cannot distinguish reality from the manifestations of his psyche.

Thus, a paranoid person, obsessed with a certain idea, becomes unable to perceive responsibility for his life, for his desires and emotions. He most often shifts this responsibility onto the shoulders of his immediate circle or some mysterious enemies who ruin his life. He becomes very aggressive and although he claims that he is being persecuted, he is rather ready to persecute someone himself.

Projections do not always manifest themselves in such drastic situations, but most often they interfere with the lives of neurotics who, in one way or another, shift responsibility to others. A person in such a situation becomes a victim of his own projections and, instead of actively managing his life, passively submits to the will of circumstances.

How projection and empathy are related

It is worth noting that in psychology, projection is not always negative emotions. It often goes hand in hand with empathy. By definition, this is a person’s ability to empathize, sympathize, and experience the same feelings and sensations as the interlocutor. This is compassion that is always connected to personal experience. A person understands how his opponent feels in a given situation, because he himself has experienced a similar one. It’s not for nothing that they say that you can understand a person by walking in his shoes.

Without projection, it is difficult to achieve success in relationships with other people. However, it is not always objective. You look at the situation from your side. You think that you understand the person’s feelings. This is mistake. In fact, he experiences something completely different. After all, all people are different. You don't know what's going on inside them.

Only emotionally close people can understand each other 100%.

Positive manifestation of projection

However, projection is also the same mechanism that underlies empathy, which allows you to consciously and controlled experience the emotional state of another person. Naturally, a person cannot directly feel the same as his interlocutor, but he can react to various manifestations of the other’s experiences. This is where the projection mechanism in the individual’s psychology comes into play: he feels the feelings of another in the same way as if he were experiencing them himself. However, in most cases we are aware that these feelings come to us as if from the outside.

It is this mechanism that allows us to understand each other, thereby improving our relationships with friends and family.

Projection Detection Experiment

You will need a partner Vasily. Everyone has Vasily, I think, so if you are bored at a meeting with him (in general, he is a rather boring guy), you can try to conduct an experiment on projection.

In addition to Vasily, you will need two pieces of paper and two pens or pencils. A set for each.

Conditions: Sit opposite each other in a calm environment. Place paper and pen in front of you. Agree who leads first. Remember the rule - you can't talk about anything. In general, forget that you can speak. During the entire experiment, both participants only silently looked at each other. Let's say you are the leader.

You, as a presenter, think intensely about something for 2-3 minutes. It could be anything. You can try to suggest something to Vasily or convey a feeling to him. You can try to blow his head up with your mind. At the same time, you are prohibited from actively non-verbalizing in any way. Don’t put on a stone face, but don’t try to make Vasily understand you. Just broadcast.

Vasily’s task is to observe you and catch his sensations and feelings. They will be quite thin, so you will have to try. He should also try to catch what you are thinking about and what you are broadcasting to him. Vasily records all his guesses and feelings on paper. Maintain eye contact whenever possible.

After 2-3 minutes the roles change. Now it's your turn to read minds.

When the time is up, share with each other what you felt and thought.

The differences will almost certainly be dramatic.

Moreover, pay attention - what you “considered” from Vasily’s head is actually your own thoughts and feelings. Now you know how projection works

Desires to “catch up and do good”

Several indicators of this mechanism can be cited. For example.

A person, instead of saying: “I”, as a rule, says: “We” or “They”. There is no taking credit for your words. Do you really think so or believe that you think so?

There is a lot of criticism of everything and everyone, a desire to teach other people to behave in a certain way. “You definitely need to find a bride and one, how long can you run back and forth?!” And if we turn to the need-motivational sphere of the person who imposes this on another, then it is not difficult to understand that the search for the one and only thing is his dream and need. This happens automatically. The person who says this to another does not keep track of the fact that he is communicating a personal need that is exclusively his. But whether this same bride is needed by the one who is given such a recommendation is completely unimportant, because the adviser sincerely believes that if I want it, then everyone else wants it too, how could one not want it?!

But seriously: when a person himself learns to clearly understand and realize what he needs, then he will be able to see the needs of other people, then there will be no desire to “catch up and do good.” When we appropriate the unaccepted parts of ourselves, we understand that it is ourselves, then we can do something about it.