ABSTRACT
IN Freudian theory, ‘projection’ is the mechanism whereby the Ego defends itself from unwelcome or repressed wishes and ideas by attributing them to others, or by projecting them on to the external world. The aggressive paranoiac, for example, thinks that everyone is attacking or plotting against him. Few of the numerous tests which are commonly grouped under this heading directly involve Freudian projection; rather they provide a vehicle through which the subject expresses his personality structure. (Cattell 1 points out how heterogeneous they are, and suggests that ‘dynamism’ tests might be a better term.) Thus they are closely linked with the expression of personality through movement, which we considered in Chap. IV. Indeed Bell's useful and comprehensive summary classifies expressive movement and graphology as projective techniques. In this chapter, however, most of the techniques reveal personality through its effects on a subject's perception of some stimulus, and on the mental associations, imaginative or creative activities thereby aroused, rather than through bodily characteristics or activities. Moreover, they take account of what we called content, in addition to style, of expression.
