Concepts
Health psychology/Defence mechanisms · Immature

Projection

What it means

Attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings or impulses to another person.

Worked example

A man with unconscious anger insists his wife is the angry one; a tempted partner accuses the other of cheating.

In the exam

A man who is himself harbouring an urge to be unfaithful becomes convinced, without evidence, that his wife is the one having an affair.

What settles it

Projection puts YOUR feeling onto ANOTHER person. Displacement keeps the feeling as yours but aims it at a safer target.

Classically confused with

Displacement

Source: AMBOSS