PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION 1

A defense mechanism as described in psychoanalysis. Projection identification occurs when a subject projects their own unacceptable qualities onto another. That person (consciously or unconsciously) then internalizes the projection and comes to believe himself or herself to be characterized by it. 2. In Melanie Klein's object relations theory, projection identification is a defense mechanism in which a person fantasizes that part of their ego is split off and projected into the object, allowing for control or destruction of the part. This reinforces their feelings of omnipotence. Projective identification is a feature of Klein's paranoid-schizoid model.