What is Projection?

Contents

Projection

Projection, is a term coined by Sigmund Freud, and used by Carl Jung, but often in modern day use, it has a different nuance applied, and this relates to our collective need to avoid addressing the core issue.

In modern usage, “projection” sits in the same family as with Jung’s own usage, but his emphasis was somewhat broader and more developmental than the way the term is usually used now.[1][2]

Modern usage in brief

In contemporary psychology, projection usually means a defense mechanism where a person unconsciously attributes their own unacceptable feelings, traits, or impulses to someone else.[3][1]

Examples: accusing others of hostility when you are angry; calling someone “selfish” when you can’t admit your own self-focus.[4][2]

This usage was first formulated in psychoanalysis (Freud, then Anna Freud) as one of the classic ego defenses that protect against anxiety and preserve a preferred self-image.[5][1]

Jung’s understanding

Jung accepted the basic Freudian idea, that projection as attributing inner content to outer objects, but he extended it in two key ways.[6][7]

Inevitable and necessary: Jung stressed that projection is not only a pathology; it is an “inevitable and necessary” phase of psychological development. We initially discover what is in us by “seeing” it out there, especially in strong attractions and aversions.[6]

Window onto the unconscious: For Jung, projections are a “window” into the unconscious and especially the shadow (disowned, unacceptable parts of the personality) and other archetypal contents. By tracking intense reactions to others, you can find material that actually belongs to you.[8][6]

He distinguished passive, automatic projections (e.g., idealization, falling in love) from more active forms, and he saw the work of individuation as gradually withdrawing projections and integrating what was previously seen only in others.[9][6]

Relationship between Jung and modern usage

Shared core: Both Jungian and modern mainstream definitions agree that projection involves attributing inner material to others, often as a defense against anxiety or dissonance.[2][6]

Modern focus: defense and distortion: Contemporary clinical writing tends to focus on projection as a “maladaptive defense” that distorts perception and damages relationships if overused.[10][1]

Jung’s added layer: developmental tool: Jung adds that projection is also a “developmental tool”: it’s how we first encounter our own shadow and archetypal patterns, and recognizing and withdrawing projections is central to becoming more whole.[7][6]

The modern term does rest on the same basic mechanism Jung pointed to, but Jung’s frame is less “this is just a problem to eliminate” and more “this is both a defense and a guide that is dangerous if unconscious, but invaluable if recognized and withdrawn.”