Projective identification and social psychology: is projective identification a unique construct?

Projective identification was introduced into the literature in 1946. Since then, it has revolutionized clinical practice and became one of the cornerstones in psychoanalysis and a powerful explanatory concept. It evolved and expanded, thus creating a framework for different types of countertransference that appear in treatment. Does the concept of projective identification overlap with empirically based concepts in social psychology, or alternatively, does it have a unique status? This paper examines this question by comparing projective identification with several concepts in social psychology, e.g. effects of interpersonal schemas, negative self-verification, excessive reassurance seeking, and synchrony in therapy. Thus, while several concepts from social psychology are consistent with some aspects of projective identification and can be integrated into a hypothetic social psychology model of projective identification, the psychoanalytic model of the concept views projective identification as a stand-alone concept. Clinical implications of a social psychology model versus a psychoanalytic model of projective identification are explored and discussed.