Projective identification : the tie that binds

The present study offers an exploratory method of assessing projective identification. Projective identification is an often-used psychoanalytic construct which has received minimal empirical investigation. The operational definition proposed by the study attempts to translate Ogden's (1979) theoretical definition of the construct into an empirical measure. The subjects were 11 families composed of two parents, a child in individual psychiatric treatment and a sibling not in psychiatric treatment. The hypothesis that the parents would project a greater number of traits onto the identified patients was not supported statistically. The fathers projected double the number of traits than mothers did onto both children. The hypothesis that the patient-children would identify with a significant number of the projected traits received mixed support: the patient-children identified with a significant number of the traits that both parents projected, but the siblings also identified with a significant number of traits the fathers projected. The surprising finding was that both parents projected a significantly greater number of socially desirable than undesirable traits onto the identified patients. Two interpretations were proposed to account for these findings. First, that the parents, especially the fathers, viewed the traits they projected as undesirable, even though they are generally considered desirable by others. The alternative hypothesis is that the parents, especially the fathers, project the affects that they cannot speak directly to their children. Thus, parents may be more able to criticize the patient-children than express their positive feelings for them.