Projection, Introjection, Projective Identification. Lower Defense Mechanisms Of The Psyche, Part 2

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Who has what hurts, he talks about that.

PROJECTION / INTROJECTION

According to psychoanalysts, projection and introjection are considered one of the most primitive defense mechanisms.

The origins of the formation of projection and introjection go back to early infancy, when the child still cannot separate what is happening inside and what is outside. He perceives himself, the environment and the directly caring person (more often the mother) as a whole. For example, if you sweat a lot, your baby will feel general discomfort. He will not be able to differentiate the cause of his condition, having precisely determined whether he has a high temperature, whether he is hot in the arms of his mother, or the room has become stuffy. At this stage, the protective mechanisms of projection and introjection begin to operate. A child may mistakenly perceive the processes taking place inside as external (projection), and vice versa, external processes as occurring inside (introjection).

PROJECTION

Projection is the lowest defense mechanism of the psyche, which has two sides of the coin. On the one hand, projection is the basis for the formation of empathy, the ability to understand other people by projecting their own experience on them. For example, a teenager who unwittingly witnesses an unpleasant scene of conflict between a mother and daughter at a bus stop is likely to feel empathy for the girl and anger towards the woman, projecting his experience of a difficult relationship with his mother, if any. And the woman standing at the same stop, on the contrary, recalling the morning squabble with her son, will be imbued with empathy for the mother and irritation for the girl.

On the other hand, projection provides a person with the preservation of a satisfying idea of himself, of his personal integrity by attributing his own qualities, feelings, feelings, needs to others that are unacceptable or unpleasant for one reason or another.

For example, a person not being aware of something in himself, can unconsciously accurately "read" it in other people. So, a man with homosexual traits, not recognizing them in himself, can easily catch them in others. Or a woman, being a "workhorse" and raising children alone, can zealously condemn "kept women" and "loafers", not admitting to herself that she envies the unacceptable lifestyle for her and the way of building relationships with men, but at the same time partly desired (in the sense of shifting the burden of worries onto a man).

Also, the action of the protective mechanism of projection is characteristic of people whose inner "I" is constantly under strict self-control. Such people are constantly engaged in moralizing, they can be great pedants or show hypocrisy in relation to others. Often, this entails the formation of two parallel attitudes: distrust of other people and fear of them. Own aggression is denied on the principle: "It is not me who hates him, but he hates me!" In this case, a person will perceive others as hostile and constantly “defend” against unscrupulous or dangerous “spiteful critics”. Probably, in every apartment building you can find this type of woman who is either the house committee or the eldest in the entrance. This image was masterfully conveyed by Nonna Mordyukova in the comedy "The Diamond Arm". A “social worker” from the housing office named Plyushch deliberately criticized her neighbors for their free morals and impious deeds, trying desperately to bring everyone to clean water … “Maybe there a dog is a friend of a man, but our house manager is a friend of a man.” "Our people don't take a taxi to the bakery!" “And if they don’t take it, we will turn off the gas.” "All these years he was disguised as a decent person."In citizen Ivy, repressed feelings of distrust and fear were rooted in herself and were unconsciously transferred to those around her, in response, awakening in her feelings of loneliness, isolation, envy and anger.

Projection, in its destructive form, can cause tremendous damage to interpersonal relationships. Various negative characteristics can be projected onto the partner, which can cause problems in the couple. The projected person may feel misunderstood in the relationship, and, every now and then, begin to act in response to their own negative projection. For example, a girl who constantly makes claims to her partner that he does not love her, does not appreciate, does not respect, she herself does not realize her dislike for him in connection with current unspoken claims or past conflicts from childhood (in all his words she sees criticism which is an echo of the perfectionist demands that her father always made). It is unconsciously easier for her to ascribe such feelings and demands to him and throw tantrums, causing, at least, bewilderment in him (sincerely loving her).

If the protective mechanism of projection is the main way of interacting with the outside world, then it is difficult for such a person to live without "fear and reproach." The first step in getting rid of the all-encompassing negative impact of projection is to focus the individual on the content of his claims to the world and to acknowledge his shortcomings and unconscious desires.

INTROJECTION

Introjection is the lowest defense mechanism of the psyche, in which a person "absorbs" into his inner world the views, motives and attitudes of people who are significant in his life. In early childhood, the formation of ideas about himself and about the world around a child occurs through the work of this mechanism.

How parents perceive their child, what they transmit to him, what principles they are guided by in life - that will be the basis of his self-attitude and his worldview, in general. Some learned rules, foundations, beliefs (introjects) can be transformed when interacting with other authorities for the child or with ongoing events, and some will become firmly entrenched and become part of his personality. Comprehension, processing and acceptance (rejection) of the introjected content of the psyche occurs throughout a person's life, however, for many people such "introjects" are "swallowed" whole, like porridge in childhood under the strict gaze of a mother, and work from within as certain "commands for action", being completely deliberately not reworked to match the actual reality.

For example, a young woman considers herself unattractive, uninteresting, and unworthy of a good relationship with a man. In the process of working with a psychotherapist, it turns out that in the family she was considered ugly and was constantly compared to her older sister, who, according to her parents, was smart, quick-witted and, in addition, was popular with young people. Since childhood, Svetlana heard from her mother: “Well, who will love you like this ?! Look at your sister, it would be better to take an example from her! And it happens that two girls from the same parents are so different ?! Maybe they replaced you in the hospital? It is not difficult to guess what introjects Svetlana learned about herself with such an attitude of her mother. It was much easier for the girl to agree that she was naturally bad, that she was not worthy of a good relationship, than to assume that her mother wanted her evil or simply did not love her. This is the protective function of introjection.

A working mechanism of introjection in interpersonal relationships and in social activity can cause many negative consequences. This manifests itself in unrealistic expectations from other people or from oneself, an inability to recognize an alternative point of view, and an inability to respectfully accept the “otherness” of another.

For example, at a divorce hearing, a woman gives reasons why she wants to break up with her husband.“Igor considers his opinion to be true and undeniable! Cutlets are "correct" only when prepared according to the mother-in-law's recipe. The boy should study the violin - only this will develop the child and nothing that the son has a great craving for basketball and, at the same time, excellent data. Or, the best vacation for the whole family is a summer house! Even at work, he is often deprived of bonuses, because he considers his actions to be the most correct, in contrast to colleagues, including the boss. I'm afraid that soon he will lose his job just as he lost his family! … ". Apparently, this woman really found it very difficult to resist her husband's tough introjects, and her husband, in turn, found it difficult to refuse or revise at least some of them.

Another negative effect can be achieved with the action of the protective mechanism of introjection. When a person is deprived of the opportunity to analyze, compare, refute and prove anything, but prefers to take on faith the opinions and statements of other people. For example, Elena learned from childhood several “truths” (introjects): elders must be respected and must not be contradicted; authority figures always know best. In the children's clinic, Elena will not doubt the recommendations of an inexperienced pediatrician, even if they go against all objective circumstances, since there is an internal attitude - "the doctor knows best." Or a colleague, in the same official position as herself, but older in age, will easily manipulate Elena, throwing off her duties on her. She will often overwork, staying late at the office. It is very difficult for a woman as a whole to refuse and defend herself in front of older people, since in her perception this is a manifestation of disrespect, for which she was severely punished in childhood.

The introjection mechanism is often used in everyday life. So people who have lived a certain number of years together often become similar to each other. Spouses can adopt habits, verbal expressions, and even certain views on their partner's life. It happens that some pet owners start to resemble their pets in some way, or vice versa.

PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION

Many researchers consider projective identification as a combination of projective and introjective mechanisms.

Projective identification - mental process, which refers to the primitive mechanisms of psychological defense. It consists in the unconscious attempt of one person to influence another in such a way that this other behaves (identifies) in accordance with the unconscious fantasy (projection) of this person about the various features of the thoughts, emotions and actions of the Other.

This defense mechanism was first described by the famous psychoanalyst Melanie Klein. In early childhood, before speech appears, the child uses "affective translation" to convey his needs to the mother. projects certain feelings and desires onto the mother so that she behaves in accordance with them. Indeed, quite often, by the type of crying of a child, the mother "knows" from somewhere that the child needs to change the diaper right now, and not feed or rock her. In the future, it is assumed that a person will begin to comprehend his experience and express needs through speech, however, people with a violation of the system of emotional self-regulation continue to use the infantile "mechanism" in adulthood to convey their needs to others or get rid of emotional stress. For example, everyone knows people with the behavior of "victims" who do not directly ask for help, but complain so bitterly that soon there is a "rescuer" who is ready to do exactly what is needed. It should be noted that it is this mechanism that underlies most emotional manipulations.

A good illustration of the work of projective identification can be the interaction of a client (Vitaly) and a waiter one evening in a restaurant. The day before, Vitaly had an unpleasant conversation with the head of the department and the director of development, he was accused of constantly disrupting the work process. Vitaly, who came to have dinner at the restaurant in the evening, "seemed" that the waiter treated him unfriendly, with hostility. Unaware of his own annoyance and anger after the reprimand, he projected his feelings onto the waiter. All that evening, Vitaly unconsciously behaved with the waiter in a provocative, boorish manner, ostensibly in response to the initially biased attitude of the Garzon, which, in the end, and indeed, led to rudeness from the restaurant employee, and Vitaly "was convinced" once again that " at first glance "understands people. In the same way, in order not to recognize the validity of the accusations of colleagues and his negative feelings about this, Vitaly convinces himself of the hostile attitude of employees and the boss towards his person and himself and causes their hostility through the use of projective identification. Such a cunning unconscious manipulation helps him to relieve a little internal tension and maintain his "good" image.

Summing up, we can conclude that primitive defense mechanisms are an important basis for the formation and normal development of the human psyche. At the same time, the same mechanisms can play a cruel joke with him if they prevail in the "online mode" for most of adult life, totally reducing his criticality and preventing him from analyzing what is happening from different positions. defense mechanisms, which will be discussed in our next publications

Review article on defense mechanisms in publication

Article on inferior defense mechanisms # 1 in publication