Narcissistic projection is a defense mechanism through which individuals “project” or see their own negative behaviors, emotions, and traits in someone else. Projection can be performed without the narcissist's awareness as they struggle to hide uncomfortable inner conflicts, imperfections, and shortcomings.
Essentially, all narcissists tell on themselves. Projection is the process through which they reveal who they are and what they're doing. Through projection, they call you what they are. They accuse you of doing what they're doing or planning on doing.
Indeed, their sense of self-esteem and self-worth depends on how others perceive them, and they tend to deny flaws in themselves and blame others for their own shortcomings, mistakes, and misfortunes. This is called projection, and people with narcissistic tendencies are projection-heavy individuals.
Projection.
One sure sign of toxicity is when a person is chronically unwilling to see his or her own shortcomings and uses everything in their power to avoid being held accountable for them. This is known as projection.
Psychological projection is a defense mechanism that involves attributing one's own feelings, desires, or qualities to another person, group, animal, or object. For example, the classroom bully who teases other children for crying but is quick to cry is an example of projection.
After going through a traumatic event such as narcissistic abuse, it's common to suffer sudden mood swings accompanied by irritability. Or, you may find yourself feeling emotionless and like a robot. You might experience depersonalization where it feels as if everything around you is not accurate.
Projection tends to come to the fore in normal people at times of personal or political crisis and is commonly found in narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder or paranoid personalities.
Projecting personal faults is a classic form of gaslighting designed to prevent people from being able to call them out for their shortcomings. An example of narcissistic projection is accusing you of being narcissistic or self-centered, or saying you care too much about what others think of you.
Narcissistic collapse occurs when a narcissist's ability to uphold their grandiose, confident image is threatened. As a result, they often become enraged, resulting in impulsivity, intense lashing out, or harm to others.
An often effective way to point out a person's narcissism, while at the same time allowing the individual flexibility to change, is to separate the behavior from the person. For instance, instead of stating “you're a narcissist,” say “you're acting like a narcissist,” or “this [specify the behavior] is narcissistic.”
However, some studies have also pointed out that narcissistic characteristics may not only arise from childhood environments characterized by neglect/abuse, but also from environments in which a child is sheltered or overly praised [11,14,15].
The development of narcissistic traits is in many cases, a consequence of neglect or excessive appraisal. In some cases, this pathological self-structure arises under childhood conditions of inadequate warmth, approval and excessive idealization, where parents do not see or accept the child as they are.
According to Thomaes & Brummelman, the development of narcissism begins at around the ages of 7 or 8. This is the time when children begin to evaluate themselves according to how they perceive others. Although narcissism comes partly down to genes, it is also impacted by the environment.
projection, the mental process by which people attribute to others what is in their own minds. For example, individuals who are in a self-critical state, consciously or unconsciously, may think that other people are critical of them.
Examples of Projection
A wife is attracted to a male co-worker but can't admit her feelings, so when her husband talks about a female co-worker, she becomes jealous and accuses him of being attracted to the other woman. A man who feels insecure about his masculinity mocks other men for acting like women.
Projection is also seen in a relationship if someone engages in baseless or unsubstantiated suspicious or paranoid behavior, such as suspecting that your partner is cheating or attracted to someone else, when in fact, you are simply feeling insecure about yourself and the connection in your relationship.
Research suggests people living with personality disorders, like narcissistic personality disorder and borderline personality disorder, may display excessive use of projection and other specific defense mechanisms.
Projectors are emotional abusers who always see themselves as victims because they aren't strong enough to self reflect and feel the power to change their circumstances. So if you feel like you're always the victim, ask yourself where your self esteem is and where your power to change your circumstances lies.
The Basics of Psychological Projection
Another example of psychological projection is someone who feels a compulsion to steal things then projects those feelings onto others. She might begin to fear that her purse is going to be stolen or that she is going to be shortchanged when she buys something.