Projection
In this reaction, the individual attributes to others motivations which he recognizes in himself. Thus, the dishonest or greedy person may judge others to be just like him. Projection is not only a poor judgment; it is also a false belief. The individual who employs projection perceives in other people the motives and traits about which he Is sensitive and anxious himself. The man who pads his expense account may ease his guilt by saying that it is a part of the "culture of the organization" ("everybody does it"). The young person who does not feel he is being listened to may project his feelings against "the system."One favorite whipping boy in our technological age is the computer, certainly a boon to the person who likes to lay blame on some relatively inanimate object. This is somewhat comparable to the attitude of the baseball batter who looks critically at the bat when he strikes out. Projection can be considered logical to the
person using it on the ground that it "makes sense." The extremely rigid person, unwilling to admit his lack of flexibility, may project against the person with new ideas in the belief that this person is naive, poorly informed, or irresponsible. At an extreme level, projection can be thought of as a defense mechanism for the paranoid individual who believes that someone else is seeking to injure him, when in reality he has thoughts of injuring that person.
