Projection (psychoanalysis)

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In psychoanalysis, projection denotes a defense mechanism in general - and independently of schools . The term projection encompasses the transferring and shifting of inner-psychic content or an inner-psychic conflict by mapping one's own emotions , affects , desires, impulses and properties, which may contradict one's own and / or social norms , to other persons, groups of people, living beings or objects the outside world. The "defense" consists in the fact that projection avoids dealing with content in oneself that one sees in the other.

etymology

The word projection comes from the Latin proicio , which means 'to throw' and 'to reproach'. The psychological concept of projection can also be roughly translated colloquially as (unconscious) reproach, and interpreted as a "looking into" something in a person or situation that is not there or not to the extent accused.

Delimitations

Projection is often used synonymously with the psychoanalytic term transference . However, the transfer is only a special form of projection in which unconscious desires and experiences are reactivated in a certain relationship . This is particularly true of transmission in the therapeutic setting. For example, it is most often found in paranoia - this in the sense of a personality disorder. Neurotic paranoia differs from psychotic paranoia in that the neurotic does not experience any bizarre impairment. The projection can also be found in other psychological conflicts, such as B. Individuals with histrionic personality disorder are often prone to defense by projection.

Definitions by schools

Psychoanalysis

In psychoanalysis according to Sigmund Freud , projection is understood as a defense mechanism in which one's own undesirable impulses, e.g. B. be attributed to another person (or object) in terms of feelings and desires.

"Projection is the pursuit of one's own desires in others."

- Sigmund Freud

Analytical psychology

1. Basics

According to Carl Gustav Jung's analytical psychology , projection means the attribution of possibly archetypal content that is present in one's own psyche to other people or to material objects: “Projection means the relocation of a subjective process into an object; ... in that a subjective content is alienated from the subject and, as it were, incorporated into the object ”. The subject of the projection are both "embarrassing, incompatible content that the subject gets rid of, as well as positive values ​​that are inaccessible to the subject for whatever reason, for example as a result of self-underestimation." At the same time, Jung saw projection as the general process that to see one's own in the other, because "we project our own psychology unabashedly and naively into our fellow human beings". Also all "contents of our unconscious are constantly projected into our environment"; and only if these projections were seen through as “imagines”, as “symbol carriers”, “will we succeed in distinguishing them from the real properties of the same [objects].” Jung sees the projection as a natural and always unconscious process; it "can only be described as a projection when the necessity of dissolving identity with the object has arisen" because it "has become the object of criticism, be it the subject's own criticism or someone else's criticism". Then taking back the projection is helpful for social or personal development, for which the projection may have built helpful bridges beforehand.

2. Projection of archetypal content

Jung said that “the whole of mythology is a kind of projection of the collective unconscious . ... Just as the constellation images are projected onto the sky, so similar and other figures were projected into legends and fairy tales or historical figures. "The polytheistic gods worlds correspond to Jung a projection of archetypal patterns of human primal experiences, such. B. the couple "female-male" or the "father", on gods. There are z. B. described:

  • “The mother's archetype forms the basis of the so-called mother complex”. The projection of the mother archetype onto the personal mother or other women can lead to a variety of psychological disorders, including a. the Oedipus complex described by Sigmund Freud . Jung also described numerous positive effects of the mother complex.
  • The projection of the shadow , so unpopular own characteristics, desires and actions - especially those with social norms in conflict are, or the projected ashamed for - to other people to dissociate themselves from these to. It is a defense mechanism to cope with the negative parts of one's own personality. However, this defense mechanism often leads to social conflicts, including the persecution of minorities and war.

Another form of projection involves putting one's own ideas into more powerful persons or beings in order to give them justification and emphasis. Examples of this form of projection can be found with Puritans or fundamentalists : "God wants all unbelievers to be converted".

Additional terms

Projective identification

Projective identification that goes beyond projection is the concept of a psychological mechanism that was described and further developed with Melanie Klein's school in connection with their research on defense mechanisms in early childhood. It has the effect that the person, who is the goal of the projection, begins to adjust his behavior to the expectations of the projecting person and fulfills these in the context of his manipulative behavior. In doing so, the projecting person aligns his perception of the counterpart according to his own standards, i.e. H. what fits into one's own ideas is perceived preferentially, whereas what does not fit is not or less valued ( selective perception ). Interpersonal manipulation is not only a sufficient, but even a necessary prerequisite for diagnosing the existence of projective identification. Thus provocative or seductive behavior in the person who is the target of the projection evokes those behaviors that the projecting person expects. The Kleinian school does not yet specify what triggers the desired behavior in the projectively identified, although later schools require the interactive part for definition. Some therapists see projective identification as a very archaic defense mechanism and see it only in early disorders, whereas other therapists see this mechanism also in other disorders.

Institutional defense

The term institutional defense was suggested by Stavros Mentzos . Terms such as psychosocial compromise solution and psychosocial arrangement are also used as synonyms for institutional defense (see also Annelise Heigl-Evers ). The term “ collusion ” coined by Jürg Willi is also used as synonymous .

The authors Hoffmann and Hochapfel use the term psychosocial defense . It states that civilians as well as institutions can exercise defense and compensatory functions. The meaning of the term is to be understood as contradicting each other. On the one hand, the roles offered by the institution can be used by the individual for the purpose of individual neurotic defense; on the other hand, institutions secondarily take on the satisfaction of neurotic needs. Interpersonal and institutional defense are among the defense mechanisms that are most frequently represented and also adopted by the public (see also Stavros Mentzos). It seems justified to view the institutional and interpersonal defense as sub-forms of projection, since these forms of defense are an externalization: An inner-psychological conflict is shifted into a real interpersonal and sometimes social or institutional relationship.

This similarity and the interaction of intra-individual and inter-individual balance is particularly emphasized by Jürg Willi . Erich Neumann speaks of a psychology of the scapegoat as an ethical primitive form. It coincides with the developmental stage of group identity to be followed in terms of universal history or with the developmental stage of narcissism .

This leads to a cycle of violence as external exclusion in the form of projection on the object level (e.g. xenophobia) and internal psychological separation ( shadow problem ). This shadow leads again to the projection on politics or on extremist political groups. As a result, all content that does not match the value-identical consciousness is transferred to a person or group of people who - possibly via political institutions - now becomes the target of all repressed destructive affects (e.g. axis of evil ).

literature

  • Annegret Eckhardt-Henn, Gereon Heuft, Gerd Hochapfel, Sven Olaf Hoffmann (eds.): Neurotic disorders and psychosomatic medicine. Schattauer, Stuttgart / New York 2003, ISBN 978-3-7945-2619-2 , p. 59 f.
  • Annelise Heigl-Evers , Franz Heigl : The psychosocial compromise formations as a switching point in inner-soul and interpersonal relationships. In: Group Psychotherapy and Group Dynamics. 14, 1979, pp. 310-325.
  • Karl König : Defense Mechanisms. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen / Zurich 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-45607-1 .
  • Karl König: Introduction to the psychoanalytic pathology. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-525-45788-X .
  • Jean Laplanche , Jean-Bertrand Pontalis : The vocabulary of psychoanalysis. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1973, ISBN 3-518-27607-7 .
  • Stavros Mentzos : Neurotic Conflict Processing. Introduction to the psychoanalytic theory of neuroses, taking into account more recent perspectives. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-596-42239-6 , pp. 50, 256, 259, 265.
  • Stavros Mentzos: Interpersonal and Institutionalized Defense . 3. Edition. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 978-3-518-28309-7 .
  • The concept of collusion . In: Jürg Willi : The two-way relationship, causes of tension / disruption patterns / clarification processes / solution models - analysis of the unconscious interaction in partner choice and conflict between couples. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1988, p. 167.
  • Erich Neumann : depth psychology and new ethics. Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-596-42005-9 . (Keywords scapegoat psychology : pp. 39, 40, 44, 46 and group identity : pp. 40, 61 (fn. 1), 62)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Focus.de: Comment: Why animals have no rights - and shouldn't have any, March 17, 2016, accessed February 27, 2018
  2. ↑ a b C.G. Jung (1921, 8th edition 1950): Psychological types. Quoted from GW 6: § 793.
  3. ↑ CG Jung (1916–1948): General points of view on the psychology of dreams. Quoted from GW 8: § 507.
  4. ↑ CG Jung (1935/1961): On the basics of analytical psychology (Tavistock Lectures). Quoted from GW 18/1: § 315.
  5. ↑ CG Jung (1927–1950): The structure of the soul. Quoted from GW 8: § 325.
  6. ↑ CG Jung (1936, rev. 1954): On the archetype with special consideration of the concept of anima. GW § 111-147, references see GW 9/1: § 120-22.
  7. ↑ CG Jung (1938, rev. 1954): The psychological aspects of the mother archetype. GW 9/1: § 148-198, cit. § 161.
  8. ↑ CG Jung (1938, rev. 1954): The psychological aspects of the mother archetype. GW 9/1: § 148-198; see § 184-86.
  9. ↑ CG Jung (1938, rev. 1954): The psychological aspects of the mother archetype. GW 9/1: § 148-198; see § 172-183.