Projection:
A gateway to new realms
What is Projection?
That which remains unconscious, Carl Jung wrote, gets projected on to another person. For example, Pete may blame his wife for having given up his dreams of traveling the islands with a surfboard, unaware of his own unconscious desire for a stable lifestyle. Debbie may blame her husband for their decision not to have children, unaware of her own fear of such responsibility.
Projection is an automatic process where someone ascribes unconscious thoughts or qualities to another person. We carry the seeds of all qualities within us. Yet, many qualities remain unconscious, in that they are unacknowledged, repressed, or incompatible with our self-image. As a result, the unconscious is both attracted to and repulsed by those qualities, and tends to detect them in others. Becoming aware of our projections ultimately opens the way to growth and transformation.
The Difference between Description and Projection
Projections get cast onto persons with a suitable hook, that is, those who embody the qualities we project. Remember the film Chocolat? The whole town, and in particular the mayor, projected their repressed sensuality on to the woman in red shoes, Juliette Binoche, who carried the projection well.
What, then, distinguishes an accurate description from a projection? When heat and emotion accompany an observation, it’s more than mere observation. Awe and admiration, or disgust and hatred indicate projection. The emotion of projection stems from our having disowned a part of ourselves we now glimpse in another. When we disown qualities in ourselves, we often do so out of fear, because those qualities were not acceptable in our family or sub-culture. Later in life, there is often a desire to evoke that lost part of ourselves. Thus, the underlying fear or desire provide the emotion of projection.
For example, if we were taught to blend in and not to act big, later in life we may be drawn to some people and bothered by others who have big personalities.
Projecting Desirable and Undesirable Qualities
When we consider desirable qualities such as creativity, sensuality, or leadership as incompatible with our self-image, they often get projected onto others, with the result of adulation, infatuation, and falling in love. For example, Maria sees herself as extraverted and gregarious, and may become infatuated with someone who is more quiet and self-contained.
When we judge certain traits to be unacceptable and incompatible with our self-image, we may project them on to someone we don’t want to be like, and develop an aversion towards that person. For instance, John sees himself as kind and generous, unfamiliar of his own sense of entitlement and greed, and thus detests others he sees as greedy.
Often, we prefer to hide or ignore attributes we view as negative such as aggressiveness or selfishness. Yet, having such qualities accessible in moderate doses can be crucial for survival and fulfillment. No quality is negative in itself. Harm results only when a trait becomes excessive or displayed inappropriately. For example, a small dose of aggressiveness allows one to take a stand, to have boundaries, and to defend oneself from harm. A small dose of selfishness allows one to survive and to enjoy the fruits of life.
Benefits and Problems of Projection
All impassioned, “almost-magical” relationships between people involve projection. The value of projection is that it releases energies that have been dormant. The release of energy felt in infatuation and in loathing may lead one to realize that that which inspires or disturbs us, is in us as well. Becoming aware of our projections may lead to our awakening to a new world that is unfamiliar to us, such as a world of creativity, sensuality, solemnity, light-heartedness, even greed, and toughness. For instance, the familiarity with our own ability to be tough can alert us and help us deal with other’s excessive aggressiveness. Without awareness of our own potential to be aggressive, we become victims to every bully, including the unconscious bully within us.
If projections remain unconscious, however, they can wreak havoc in our lives. Take the mayor in the film "Chocolat." He upholds a strict moral attitude forbidding himself and others sensuality, which is symbolized by eating chocolates. In the end, however, he wantonly succumbs to his repressed desire and devours as much as he can in a state of mad delirium. The repression of his own sensuality is so severe that it gets the better of him. Had he acknowledged his own sensuality, he would have feared it less, and it would have been less of a danger to him.
Projections that remain unconscious block our ability to be perceptive and objective about ourselves and others. Sooner or later the person placed on a pedestal won’t be able to live up to our expectations. Worse, projected qualities of those we admire and those we detest remain inaccessible for personal integration and growth.
What can we do with our Projections?
Many marriages are ruined, because a man sees his mother in his wife and a woman sees her father in her husband, neither ever recognizing the other’s reality. If handled properly, however, marriage can encourage growth and transformation.
To grow within a partnership requires opening oneself up to unknown emotions and qualities while retaining adequate ego strength not to be devoured by them. Our task is to take back the projections and restore the contents to the owner—ourselves. Taking back projections opens a person to new realms that demand the courage to explore.
We need to refrain from demanding that our partners do what we must do for ourselves. For example, let's assume we see our partner as being too frugal, and wish he would be more generous. First, we could learn about and develop some frugality ourselves. Not only do we grow, but our interaction regarding the subject will be more effective if we are coming from a moderate position, rather than from the another extreme. When we understand the merits of frugality, our requests that our partner loosen up his or her spending a little is communicated with more compassion.
When we take back projections, we no longer worship or detest others, because we recognize the seed of their qualities in ourselves. Negative qualities become positive qualities when they are present appropriately in moderation. Moreover, our own world of experience and understanding expands, and our relationships deepen.
Jung, C.G. (1961). Memories, dreams, reflections. New York: Vintage.
Jung, C.G. (1981). The development of personality in R. F. C. Hull (Trans.) The collected Works (vol. 17). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1954)