Projection: Definition (In Psychology) & Related Defense Mechanisms

By Charlie Huntington, M.A., Ph. D. Candidate
​Reviewed by Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.
Projection is a common psychological defense mechanism that we all engage in. Read this article to learn to recognize projection and other defense mechanisms in action.
*This page may include affiliate links; that means we earn from qualifying purchases of products.
It’s not just conjecture or folk wisdom: our nonverbal behaviors reveal as much about our real thoughts and feelings as our spoken words do. For today’s topic, I have a particular example of body language in mind: Have you ever seen a politician sticking their pointer finger out at their audience or a debate opponent to emphasize a point? It’s an aggressive posture, one that clearly communicates accusation; it says, “You are the guilty one; you’re at fault.”​
Perhaps you have also heard people say something like, “Whenever you point your finger at somebody, you’ve got three fingers pointing back at you.” Maybe, like me, you took some offense at the suggestion that you might be guilty of the same behavior of which you were accusing someone else.

But the psychological concept of projection suggests that there may be more truth to this than we’d like to admit. If you’re curious about what projection is and how you may be doing it, I encourage you to read on – this article will give you a firm understanding of what projection is, and how it is similar to and different from other psychological defense mechanisms.
​
Before reading on, if you're a therapist, coach, or wellness entrepreneur, be sure to grab our free Wellness Business Growth eBook to get expert tips and free resources that will help you grow your business exponentially.
Are You a Therapist, Coach, or Wellness Entrepreneur?

Grab Our Free eBook to Learn How to
Grow Your Wellness Business Exponentially!

 ✓  Save hundreds of hours of time  ✓  Earn more $ faster  
​✓  Boost your credibility ✓  Deliver high-impact content 

What Is Projection in Psychology? (A Definition)

Projection is stating that other people have certain traits or characteristics, or engage in certain behaviors, when you yourself are actually the person who acts that way or has those personality traits (Freud, 1956; Holmes, 1978). We can also project motivations onto other people. For example, I might assume that my friend has not called me back because he was hurt by something I did. However, I have no proof that any harm was caused, and in fact I am feeling upset about one of his behaviors. In this case, I am projecting my feelings of upset onto my friend.

Opposite of Projection

The opposite of projection is correctly identifying one’s own motivations, behaviors, and feelings, and recognizing that other people have their own motivations, behaviors, and feelings.​

It might even look like catching oneself in the act of projecting. To continue with my previous example, I might be able to say to myself, “I’m upset with my friend, and when I’m upset with people I tend to avoid talking to them. But I don’t know if that’s what he’s doing – there could be other reasons he hasn’t responded to me yet.”

Causes of Projection

How do we end up projecting our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors onto other people? It was Sigmund Freud (1956) who first described the cause of projection. He proposed that projection unfolds as follows:
 
First, I notice that I’m having a thought, or feeling, or doing something that doesn’t align with my values. For example, I might be eating more dessert than I’d planned to, which goes against my values of healthy eating and self-care. Next, I would become uncomfortable with this insight into my behavior, but instead of accepting that I’m doing something I don’t like, I would try to find somebody else I could point to (hopefully only in my mind, and not with my own finger!) and say that they are engaged in unhealthy eating.
 
In this way, I’m trying to deal with a situation that has thrown my self-concept, or my emotional equilibrium, off-balance (Vaillant, 2011). My brain has apparently determined that it will take less effort to blame somebody else for this behavior than deal with the negative emotions about myself that come up when I admit that I’m the one doing it. Simply put, that’s a shorter, easier path to feeling better and moving on from this uncomfortable realization.​

You might have noticed that trying to suppress a thought actually makes that thought harder to avoid. This may also explain why projection happens (Newman et al., 1997). If I put a lot of effort into not acknowledging that my eating is out-of-control, the idea of being out of control is going to be front-and-center in my brain. But rather than face that trait in myself, it’s easier to project it onto somebody else – like whoever is sitting next to me at dinner.

Projection as a Defense Mechanism

Projection is generally thought of as a classic defense mechanism (Freud, 1956). How is it a defense mechanism? First, let’s consider the characteristics of defense mechanisms (Vaillant, 1977). Defense mechanisms are psychological actions that (1) reduce the distress of negative emotions or cognitive dissonance, (2) aren’t apparent to the person doing them, but are often obvious to anybody observing that person, and (3) can be adaptive, but often contribute to mental health challenges.​

As you can probably see by now, projecting something negative onto somebody else can reduce the negative feelings that come with associating that negative thing with the self (Holmes, 1978). In this way, projection is clearly a defense mechanism – it defends the self from having to accept something undesirable in the self.

Projection: Conscious or unconscious?
Projection is typically an unconscious behavior. How many times have you seen two children accusing the other of having cheated in a game? It is likely that one child did impulsively cheat, but since it would be threatening to acknowledge their behavior, they instead accuse their play partner of being the cheater.
​
Finally, projection can be both adaptive and maladaptive. Some psychologists have suggested that projection is a process for making our undesirable traits more desirable (Holmes, 1978). How would we do that? By projecting something bad onto somebody good, somebody we admire. If I tell myself that even my own therapist snaps at his spouse sometimes, then I don’t have to feel as bad about my own interpersonal transgressions.

At the same time, overreliance on projection, and other defense mechanisms, is generally associated with mental health challenges (Vaillant & Vaillant, 1992). Defense mechanisms like projection, when overused, lead us to see the world unrealistically, which makes it that much harder to get by (Kernberg, 1992).

Examples of Projection (in Psychology)

Projection can take several different forms. Here are a few that have been commonly acknowledged by psychologists, with examples (Murstein & Pryer, 1959):
​
  • Classical Projection: Instead of acknowledging something threatening in myself, I project it onto the whole world: When I drive aggressively because I’m late, I think “Everybody on the road is just out for themselves. You can’t trust anyone.”
  • Attributive Projection: Projecting onto another person, rather than the whole world: When I feel guilty for not calling my siblings more often, but instead I think, “They never take the initiative to call me; they must not care.”
  • Rationalizing Projection: “Everybody else speeds, so it’s okay for me to do it.”
 
We can also project on a group level, with psychology research suggesting that if I’m told that my favorite football team has cheated, for example, I am more likely to say that other teams cheat (Newman et al., 2005).

Projection vs Displacement

Displacement is another common defense mechanism. In displacement, we take feelings that seem unacceptable to us in a certain context and express them in a different context where it seems more acceptable (Baumeister et al., 1998). In other words, displacement differs from projection in that we do feel the original feelings – just not in the original situation.
 
For example, imagine you have a supervisor at work whose management style leaves you continually frustrated, but they become very upset and defensive whenever you try to give them feedback. Since you cannot express this frustration to its source, you might come home and find yourself irritated – for no apparent reason – with the way your child, spouse, or roommate interacts with you. You have displaced your frustration from your supervisor to somebody else in your life.

Projection vs Transference

In transference, thoughts or feelings related to something that happened in the past are expressed in a present-day, distinct situation (Freud, 1956). While this term was originally used to describe a patient’s expression of feelings toward the therapist that had their origins in previous life experiences, it can be used outside of therapy as well.
 
Transference differs from projection in that it involves the interference of the past in the present, and that the person engaging in transference is not avoiding what they are feeling. As an example, when I make a suggestion to a therapy client, and they respond as though I am chastising them and ordering them to do better, we might explore whether they are experiencing transference related to authority figures telling them what to do in the past.

Projection vs Deflection

Deflection is similar to projection, in that it involves putting a negative focus on somebody other than ourselves. But when a person deflects, they are consciously aware of the negative characteristic in themselves, whereas in projection, this awareness is not present (Freud, 1956). This is something we might do when we feel guilty or shameful about a behavior – it’s simply less painful to criticize somebody else than accept the same criticism directed at us.

Projection in Relationships

Projection can be very common in interpersonal relationships. Couples are particularly likely to engage in projection because their relationships are so complex and involve both positive and negative feelings (Klein, 1964).
 
To make that more concrete, Klein (1964) points out that our romantic partners are people that we love, but sometimes dislike or even hate, and the tension between these feelings can be quite difficult for many of us to endure. Instead of accepting the negative thoughts and feelings we have about our partners, we may instead project those negative feelings into them, making them the bad guys instead of us.
 
As you might imagine, this might take care of the initial issue – my unconscious anxiety about disliking my partner – but it then creates unnecessary conflict in the relationship (Cohen & Levite, 2012). After all, if my partner accuses me of a negative feeling they themselves are experiencing, but can’t admit, it will be very hard for me not to retaliate (Klein, 1964). Much of couple therapy revolves around helping partners identify and change these patterns in their relationship.

Projection in Narcissism

Narcissism is the characteristic of seeing yourself as perfect – and needing the world around you to confirm this belief. When a narcissist feels shame – as all humans do – they will vigorously project that shame onto other people rather than deal with thoughts and feelings that challenge their self-image (Kernberg, 1974; Kohut, 1972).

Projection and Gaslighting

Gaslighting is causing somebody else to doubt their own reality by questioning or discrediting their experience (Abramson, 2014). Often, people who gaslight others are not intentionally doing so, but are simply trying to avoid dealing with reality as it is.
 
Projection is one way that one person can gaslight another. For example, if your partner arrives late for your dinner date for the third time this month, the reality that they are forgetful or manage their time poorly may be too painful for them to acknowledge. In this situation, projecting neglectfulness onto you instead might be psychologically easier for them.
 
When this happens repeatedly in a relationship, it can be abusive. People in relationships with abusive partners can describe in painful detail how their partners made them believe they were the unreasonable, unfaithful, selfish, or inconsiderate person in the relationship by projecting these characteristics onto the abused partner (Daw et al., 2022). In fact, abusers may even try to put all the blame for a relationship ending on their partner, being unwilling to acknowledge the nature of their own behaviors (Daw et al., 2022).

Articles Related to Projection

Want to learn more? Here are some related articles that might be helpful.

Books Related to Projection

To keep learning, here are some books to explore:​​

Final Thoughts on Projection

You may be thinking, “if this is an unconscious behavior, how does anybody change it?” I have two suggestions for people interested in reducing the extent of their own habits of projection:
 
1.     Be open to feedback. Our emotions and thoughts often hold powerful sway over us. If you find yourself insisting that somebody else feels a certain way or did a certain thing, and they honestly disagree with you, consider whether you yourself are actually doing or feeling that way.
2.     Consider seeing a therapist. Therapists have been trained to watch for patterns of thinking and feeling where the evidence doesn’t quite add up. They can be helpful in gently challenging you to consider moments where you may be projecting onto others.
 
For more examples and ideas, I recommend you check out this short video with a psychiatrist discussing how to handle projection:

Video: What Does It Mean To Project? A Psychological Defense Mechanism

Don't Forget to Grab Our Free eBook to Learn How to
Grow Your Wellness Business Exponentially!

References
Are You a Therapist, Coach, or Wellness Entrepreneur?
Grab Our Free eBook to Learn How to Grow Your Wellness Business Fast!
Key Articles:Content Packages:
Terms, Privacy & Affiliate Disclosure  |   Contact   |   FAQs
* The Berkeley Well-Being Institute. LLC is not affiliated with UC Berkeley.
Copyright © 2023, The Berkeley Well-Being Institute, LLC