Introjection

Introjection

Introjection is a psychological process where the subject replicates in itself behaviors, attributes or other fragments of the surrounding world, especially of other subjects. Cognate concepts are identification, incorporation and internalization.

According to the psychoanalyst Freud, the ego and the superego are constructed by introjecting external behavioral patterns into the subject's own persona.

Introjection is also the name of a defense mechanism, which handles threats from the outside that can potentially cause anxiety by infolding them into the internal world of the subject, where they can be neutralized or alleviated. More specifically introjection means incorporating attributes, attitudes or qualities of an absent person of high significance (for example, an absent working mother or a recently deceased relative) into oneself.

One example often used is when a child envelops representational images of his absent parents into himself, simultaneously fusing them with his own personality.

Individuals with weak ego boundaries are more prone to use introjection as a defense mechanism.


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  • INTROJECTION — INTROJECTI Terme utilisé en psychanalyse et introduit en 1909 par Sandor Ferenczi («Introjektion und Übertragung» «Introjection et transfert» , in Jahrbuch für Psychoanalyse , vol. I). Pour cet auteur, et en première approche, l’introjection… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Introjection — L introjection est un concept psychanalytique opposé à celui de projection. On doit ce concept à Sándor Ferenczi qui l élabora en 1909, écrivant son fameux article Transfert et introjection. Sommaire 1 Introduction 2 Le Moi 3 Introjection et… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • introjection — 1866, from INTRO (Cf. intro ) + stem abstracted from PROJECTION (Cf. projection). In philosophical and psychoanalytical use, from Ger. introjektion …   Etymology dictionary

  • introjection — introjekcija statusas T sritis Kūno kultūra ir sportas apibrėžtis Psichinis vyksmas: kito žmogaus ar žmonių grupės standartų ir vertybių perėmimas: vaikai perima tėvų požiūrį, paauglys vertina tai, ką veikia jo bendraamžiai. kilmė lot. intro –… …   Sporto terminų žodynas

  • Introjection (psychanalyse) — L introjection est un concept psychanalytique élaboré entre 1909 et 1912 par Sándor Ferenczi dans son article Transfert et introjection. L introjection est un processus qui met en évidence le passage fantasmatique du dehors au dedans. Le concept… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • introjection — noun see introject …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • introjection — /in treuh jek sheuhn/, n. Psychoanal. an unconscious psychic process by which a person incorporates into his or her own psychic apparatus the characteristics of another person or object. [1865 70; INTRO + (IN)JECTION] * * * …   Universalium

  • introjection — noun The process whereby ideas of another are unconsciously incorporated into ones own psyche …   Wiktionary

  • introjection — A psychological defense mechanism involving appropriation of an external happening and its assimilation by the personality, making it a part of the self. [intro + L. jacto, to throw] * * * n. (in psychoanalysis) the process of adopting, or of… …   Medical dictionary

  • introjection — n. unconscious incorporation of attitudes or ideas into one s personality (Psychoanalysis) …   English contemporary dictionary

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