Psychological projection

{{Psychology}}

{{cquote|We assume of others what we know of ourselves.|||Winston Rowntree<ref>Winston Rowntree, Subnormality #186, [http://www.viruscomix.com/page553.html Virus Comix]</ref>}}

'''Projection''' (also known as '''Freudian Projection''') is the [[Psychology|psychological]] phenomenon where someone denies some aspect of their behavior or attitudes and assumes instead that ''others'' are doing or thinking so. It is usually seen as the externalisation of a person's negative traits, placing blame on an outside force such as the [[environment]], a [[government]], a [[society]], or other [[people]]. 

Projection can also extend to [[philosophy]] and [[knowledge]]. This occurs when a person or small group of people assume that everyone else is working with the same ideas and/or information that they are. When this fails to happen, however, it can lead to [[pluralistic ignorance]].

A telltale sign of this is when a speaker says that "everybody knows" something about a certain course of action, so society should [[Argument from adverse consequences|avoid an impending catastrophe]] by following the course of action that the speaker proposes.

Another common forum for projection is in internet arguments, where it is usually pathetically obvious to everyone except the projector.<ref>The problem is recognized in [http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/intelligence_analysis intelligence analysis], in the form of [http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/cognitive_traps_for_intelligence_analysis cognitive traps for intelligence analysis].</ref> In that context, the phenomenon may be called mirror-imaging.
Even when the two sides realize they are in a polarized argument, they might still blame each other for the lack of relation. This is one example of why internet arguments are often not productive.

A closely related term is '''accusation in a mirror''', which is falsely accusing the target group of the same action that one's own group is about to perpetrate. The concept has a long history with perpetrators of [[genocide]], but the term originated with the perpetrators of the [[Rwandan Genocide]].<ref>[https://www.dangerousspeech.org/libraries/guide Dangerous Speech: A Practical Guide] (April 19, 2021) ''Dangerous Speech: A Practical Guide''.</ref><ref>[https://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/r/rwanda/rwanda993.pdf "Leave None to Tell the Story": Genocide in Rwanda] by Alison Des Forges (1999) ''Human Rights Watch''. ISBN 1564321711.</ref>{{rp|76}}<ref>''Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future'' by Jason Stanley (2024) One Signal Publishers / Atria. ISBN 9781668056912.</ref>{{rp|144-145}}

== Examples ==
*An [[adultery|adulterous]] spouse may think the other spouse is sleeping around.
*[[Creationism|Creationist]]s assert that supporters of [[evolution]] are religious zealots, and [[Religion|religious]] (especially [[Christian]]) [[fanatic]]s assert that [[atheism]] [[Atheism as a religion|is a religion]] (while sometimes going so far as to say "[[Christianity is not a religion|Christianity isn't a religion]]; it's a personal relationship with Jesus").<ref group=note>This may be due to fundies having religion so deeply entwined into their minds and worldviews that a non-religious worldview is genuinely inconceivable to them. (The aforementioned "Christianity isn't a religion" loonies may or may not be an exception to this.) See our article on [[secular religion]] for more detail.</ref>
*[[Haggard's Law|Self-proclaimed]] "[[Ex-gay|ex-homosexuals]]" may state that all gays are empty, [[sin]]ful shells of human beings that [[Reparative therapy|need repairing]] so they can be good, [[God]]-fearing straights.
*The [[Media Research Center]] and any other media "watchdog" that complains about the [[liberal media]] and [[partisan]]ship while being ''extremely'' biased and partisan themselves.
*Racists who claim that [[Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white|anyone who criticises them must also be racially prejudiced]].
*Denunciation of "liberal smugness" by people showing extreme overconfidence and open disdain for minorities, scientists, and [[Anti-intellectualism|intellectuals]].
*Rare, but can actually happen if someone becomes sufficiently unhinged: a mother yelling at a childless friend about what a horrible mother the childless friend is. And, of course, the much more common case of a [[Personality disorder#Narcissistic personality disorder|narcissistic]] parent yelling at their children about how horrible the children are.
*[[Lyle Rossiter]] arguably holds a world record for this.
*[[Bryan Fischer]], who has a sufficiently severe enough case of this that [[Ed Brayton]] has named an award after him.
*[[Republican Party|Republican]] commercial organizations encourage rampant consumerism surrounding [[Christmas]], overwhelming other aspects of the festival. Then Republicans accuse American [[liberal]]s of a [[War on Christmas]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Steven W Thrasher|date=11 December 2015|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/11/conservatives-should-blame-capitalism-war-on-christmas|title=Conservatives should blame capitalism for the 'war on Christmas'}}</ref>{{efn|This goes double for [[Religious Right|the hyper-religious Republicans]] who one would ''think'' should be most in tune with the "true meaning of Christmas". (In practice, the fundies are often [[Republican Party#Ties to Mammon|just as Mammon-worshipping]] as other Republicans, cheerfully disregarding what Jesus said about that subject.)}}
*Pathological [[liar]]s.<ref group=note>Yes, this ''does'' include sociopaths and narcissists.</ref>
*[[Genocide|Genocidal]] governments will accuse their victims of being brutal, vile, verminous animals. Of course, there is nothing more brutish, vile, or verminous than the act of committing genocide.{{nofact}}
*[[Conspiracy theory|Conspiratorial thinkers]] may assume that what they think people should be doing is not being done due to a lack of “self”-control, but have controlled themselves to think of these theories of why what they think people should be doing is not being done rather than modeling it.<ref group=note>This generally leads to a lot of ranting and raving about [[sheeple]] and [[WAKE UP|waking up]].</ref> They also tend to think that the rest of the world uses the same evaluation process as they do, i.e being taught ''what'' to the think as opposed to '''how''' to think, meaning they reject based on who says it instead of if it holds up.
*Sexual harasser and predator {{wpl|Jeremy Durham}} pushed "bathroom bills" portraying transgender women as sexual predators, back when he still served in the Tennessee state legislature.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2016/04/13/republican_creeps_the_year_the_gop_war_on_women_reached_the_subway_flasher_level/|title=Republican creeps: The year the GOP war on women reached the subway flasher level|author=Amanda Marcotte|date=April 13, 2016}}</ref>
*[[Mitch McConnell]], a supporter of voter ID and other methods of [[Voter fraud|voter suppression]], claimed that Democrats did not care about "securing citizens' rights", but just "about expanding politicians' power".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.salon.com/2022/01/20/media-messes-up-coverage-of-voting-rights-biden-for-gops/|title=Media messes up coverage of voting rights, blames Biden for GOP's racism|author=Amanda Marcotte|date=January 20, 2022}}</ref>
* [[Tucker Carlson|Fucker Carlson]], in response to accusations that no right-winger can properly define “[[woke]]”, claims instead that no one can properly define [[white supremacy]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tucker-carlson-s-new-definition-of-white-supremacy-is-a-knee-slapper/ar-AA1ckFiX?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=423dd3938bf548d09e27d47fdbef5822&ei=76|title=Tucker Carlson’s New Definition of White Supremacy is a Knee-Slapper|author=Ron Dicker|date=June 9, 2023}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Argument by assertion]]
*''[[Argumentum ad verecundiam]]''
*[[Haggard's Law]]
*[[Self projection as god]]
*[[Hypocrisy]]
*[[Snow#Usage as a snarl word|Special snowflake]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{stub|psychology}}
[[Category:Genocide]]
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]

Categories: Genocide, Psychoanalysis