What is Projectio? Psychoanalytic Terms
Projection is a word that gets tossed around a lot in common discourse and everyday language. Yet, the word has a specific understanding and meaning within the field of psychology and psychotherapy in particular. Though the word does not originate from the psychoanalytic movement, our modern understanding and usage stems from its use in psychoanalysis.
When we think of projection, we think of speculating and forecasting into the future. This is only one definition and usage for the word though. In public discourse it is also used to refer to when we are putting our feelings or thoughts out onto someone or something outside of us. This is like the projection or image-displaying done with a projective device onto a screen. The projector in that instance is taking an image on the inside, and casting it onto a screen for viewing. Projection in relationships functions similarly, but looks different from that of an image projector.
Used in a psychoanalytic context, projection refers to the act of attributing an emotion to another person, when it actually lies in origin with the one doing the attributing. The individual who is attributed the given emotion or feeling, in this case, does not feel or bear that emotion, and has been projected upon. It can be hard to suss out, but protection is identifiable most easily when you observe the attributed emotional state in the one accusing the other of having said emotion. Someone who is in a dispute with another individual may believe that the other person is angry and acting hostile, when observed from afar, the hostility and anger is generated from them and their demeanor.
Projection by its very nature, can be difficult to discern, and can be messy and even harder to discern when it is between you and another individual. Projection today, in common usage, often is used as a defensive maneuver ,with one person in a relationship accusing the other of projecting, leading away from intimacy and an authentic emotional encounter. Simply stating that someone is projecting is not proof of projection. It takes concerted effort to ascertain whether or not you, or another person is projecting their emotions, and requires staying in the conflict or emotional current. We have to step back and take a look at ourselves, and our inner emotional state, to see if what the other person is saying resonates– or whether what we are saying is true. It requires some level of objectivity and self-reflectiveness.
There are many kinds of projection beyond this, with the other main form being that of projective identification. While I won’t go into detail here, it’s important to understand that we can project more than just our emotions onto others, or even groups of individuals. People often project their own beliefs, values, and thoughts onto others– giving way to a form of possible identification or distancing that can result in an idealizing of a person or a group, or an Us-Them dichotomy. Projection is pervasive in this way, and can cause great disruption and harm in relationships, when not accounted for.
Hopefully this blog will help you to start to understand projection in a more psychological sense, as it is derived from the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy traditions. This is the first of a series of blogs, where I intend to move through different psychoanalytic and psychodynamic terms, in order to demystify the field and make it more accessible to those who are not practitioners or therapists. For further information, check out my recommended reading list, where I point towards books and other resources that can shine more light on this and other topics.