Projection is the attribution of one’s own mental contents to other people, animals, natural phenomena or one’s own organs.
Often projection is expressed in forming an opinion about another person by attributing to him one's desire, anxiety or belief.
When does the projection effect occur
The projection effect is a defensive reaction of the human psyche, described by Sigmund Freud.
The Austrian psychoanalyst noted that in cases where an individual wants to protect himself from negative emotions, he endows the people around with his negative qualities.
What is projection in psychology examples
Feeling fear and mistrust, some attribute bad intentions and the most negative traits to new neighbors belonging to a different culture and nationality.
All of these are examples of the action of a personality defense mechanism called projection.
How to understand that you have a projection
How to recognize manifestations of projection:
- Speech contains a lot of value judgments and interpretations, assumptions about what other people feel and experience.
- Judgments are formed despite a lack of information.
- There is a desire to predict the actions and words of other people.
