Projection and How to Recognize It

Imagine a mother criticizing her son for interrupting her during her talk. The son apologizes to her but remembers that the mother has regularly interrupted his talk. How can we explain the mother’s ironic behavior? A psychological term to explain this phenomenon is projection. Projection is a defense mechanism where one attributes their unacceptable emotions and feelings to others instead of owning them. In other words, it is an act of one applicating their thoughts and feelings to someone else. Projection occurs unconsciously, meaning that humans do not recognize that they are using this mechanism.

The projection was first reported by Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis. In his letter written in 1895, he talked about a patient who avoided confronting her feelings of shame by imagining her neighbors gossiping about her. He used projection to explain the woman’s behavior. Humans attribute their unacceptable feelings and discomfort to someone else to avoid confronting it. Projection allows this complex trait without the individual fully recognizing it. Psychologists Carl Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz later added that projection protects oneself from the fear of the unknown. They explain that projection is used to project archetypal ideas to things they don’t know to avoid confusion. However, recent research says humans project to defend their egos and reputation. Connecting this to the previous example, the mother habitually interrupts others’ talk. Instead of her recognizing and accepting that she is interrupting, she casts away to her son. Therefore, the mother criticizes her son for her own habit. This preserves her self-esteem, tolerating her difficult emotions. Attacking another person’s actions is easier than confronting one’s own behavior. Again, this process occurs unconsciously, meaning the mother does not realize she is projecting.

Recognizing projecting is extremely difficult. Especially, recognizing one’s own projection is almost impossible. Since projection is not the healthiest method to deal with emotions, it is beneficial to identify projection–several indications of projections are feeling overly defensive and sensitive to what someone has said and quickly blaming it. If these indications occur often, it is essential to answer this question: “In what ways do I act like this person?” Through this process, the use of projection will decrease gradually. Through accepting emotions and thoughts, there is no need to project to others. Arguments and blame will significantly reduce just by embracing your feelings.

To conclude, projecting is not an act to be embarrassed or to feel guilty. It exists so one’s body does not have to deal with complex thoughts and feelings. Yet, accepting thoughts might be painful at first glance but it will allow people to become flexible and tolerant. Projecting is never the optimal way to deal with one’s thoughts.