Psychological projection

Psychological projection (or projection bias) can be defined as unconsciously assuming that others share the same or similar thoughts, beliefs, values, or positions on any given subject. According to the theories of Sigmund Freud, it is a psychological defense mechanism whereby one "projects" one's own undesirable thoughts, motivations, desires, feelings, and so forth onto someone else (usually another person, but psychological projection onto animals and inanimate objects also occurs). The principle of projection is well-established in psychology.

An illustration would be an individual who feels dislike for another person (let's say Bob), but whose unconscious mind will not allow him to become aware of this negative emotion. Instead of admitting to himself that he feels dislike for Bob, he projects his dislike onto Bob, so that the individual's conscious thought is not "I don't like Bob," but "Bob doesn't seem to like me."

Peter Gay describes it as "the operation of expelling feelings or wishes the individual finds wholly unacceptable – too shameful, too obscene, too dangerous – by attributing them to another." (Freud: A Life for Our Time, page 281)

The concept was anticipated by Friedrich Nietzsche:

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

- Beyond Good and Evil

Psychological projection is the subject of Robert Bly's book A Little Book on the Human Shadow. The "Shadow" - a term used in Jungian psychology to describe a variety of psychological projection - refers to the projected material.

See also

• counterprojection
• introjection
• transference
• scapegoat

External link

• What is Projection?