The unwanted self: Projective identification in leaders' identity work Part 1

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The unwanted self: Projective identification in leaders' identity workThe unwanted self: Projective identification in leaders' identity work, Part 1[1]

1: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0170840612448158

2: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0170840612448158

3: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0170840612448158

4: https://narcissismresearch.miraheze.org/wiki/AIReactiveCodependencyRageDisclaimer

5: https://narcissismresearch.miraheze.org/wiki/AIReactiveCodependencyRageDisclaimer

1. Projective identification is the unconscious projection of unwanted aspects of one‘s self into others, leading to the bolstering of a conscious self-view concordant with one‘s role requirements.

1. Recipients of a leader‘s projections may manage these by projecting them back into the leader or into third parties, which may lead to ongoing conflict and the creation of a toxic culture.

1. How do individuals deal with unwanted aspects of themselves in the process of crafting identities that befit coveted (albeit not necessarily formal) leadership roles? And are there unintended consequences—that is, a hidden price to pay—for being able to tailor one‘s identity to such roles?

1. Here we develop the paper‘s central argument: that the mechanism of projective identification (Klein 1946) is likely to be employed by leaders to manage unwanted, often unconscious self-definitions in order to attain or uphold a desired identity.

1. Projective identification, as used in this paper, refers to the unconscious projection of unwanted aspects of the leader‘s self into others so that it appears that they, and not the leader, have these unwanted characteristics and the identities they imply. This mechanism shores up the boundary between conscious, desired features of the leader‘s identity and its unwanted aspects.

1. A rich vein of contemporary scholarship examines the emergence and effectiveness of leaders through the lens of social identity theory (for a review, see van Knippenberg and Hogg 2003), suggesting that ―the secret of successful leadership lies in the capacity of the leader to induce followers to perceive him or her as the embodiment of a positive social identity that they have in common and that distinguishes them from others‖ (Ellemers et al. 2004: 469).

1. there also exists a reservoir of selves that they do not like or wish to become, as becoming that person would make them ill-suited to leading in their social context (which we refer to as ―unwanted selves‖).

1. While ―wanted selves‖ may often be selves broadly held in positive regard, in rather different and more extreme cases leaders may idealize and enact destructive selves (Rosenfeld 1987).

1. This somewhat perverse way of gaining and exerting power may occur, for example, in the case of gang leaders whose acceptance by members of the gang may hinge on displays of ruthlessness, lack of remorse, and social deviance.1

1. Regardless of their specific contours, unwanted selves are powerful elements in the psychic economy and are more likely than desired selves to contain elaborations based on embarrassing past experiences (Ogilvie 1987).

1. Their experience, a contemporary form of self-alienation, revolved around the unhappy awareness that the boundary between ―who they really were‖ and the unwanted corporate self had failed. Commenting on these findings, Ybema et al. (2009) suggested that what makes an identity more or less real, more or less actual, is the ―continuing capacity to enact.

1. When resorting to projective identification, individuals unconsciously split off certain aspects of themselves and project them into others.

1. These others are then experienced as having the characteristics that have been projected into them, and the individual who is doing the projecting unconsciously

identifies with them (Klein 1946). Klein argued that projective identification involves

―splitting‖ the self into ―good‖ and ―bad‖ so that either unpalatable aspects of the self or, conversely, desired aspects of the self may be projected—leading respectively to negative or positive identification with the recipients of the projections.

1. Projective identification is never a conscious strategy, but rather an unconscious operation as instantaneous and compelling as it is out of awareness and control.

1. We suggest that several factors may unconsciously ignite leaders‘ engagement in projective identifications. One is the need to protect themselves from consciously experiencing unbearable feelings, in which case projective identification functions as a defense mechanism (Feldman 1992). With their dislike of their unwanted selves now directed toward others (Klein 1946), leaders are unconsciously relieved of the affect associated with unwanted selves and less conflicted in the expression of wanted ones.

1. Projective identification may also be motivated by the desire to control and dominate another (Rosenfeld 1987; Joseph 1984). A leader who projects unwanted qualities into a follower exercises control by evoking those qualities in that person and/or by imagining him or her to have those qualities.

1. Projective identification may also be motivated by envy. By making recipients appear to possess despised characteristics (Rosenfeld 1987), leaders are liberated from envious feelings toward them. In this sense, projective identification may be both a defense against envy and an enactment of it (Rosenfeld 1987).

1. Finally, leaders may employ projective identification to extrude unwanted selves that are inconsistent with their followers‘ expectations. In doing so, they are freer to introject those expectations and become the leaders their followers, more or less consciously, want them to be.

1. While projective identification allows leaders to internalize and enact identities that befit their roles, it also creates ongoing difficulties. Leaders are unlikely to work effectively with those who are felt to embody their unwanted selves.

1. Given the role of trust (Burke et al. 2007) in establishing productive relationships between leaders and followers, projective identification may diminish the extent to which leaders feel they can depend on others. This is exacerbated by the likelihood that leaders who project into others will experience paranoid (Rosenfeld 1987) or persecutory anxieties (Bott Spillius and Feldman 1989), which result in lingering fears of retaliation by the recipients of their projections.

1. While it is possible to engage in projective identification in relation to a distant recipient who is not affected by it, a leader‘s projections usually affect nearby recipients deeply because they are manipulated to introject and enact the leader‘s unwanted self—and are drawn into ongoing conflict.

1. This is known as the ―evocatory‖ aspect of projective identification (Bott Spillius 1988). Being the recipient of painful, palpable projections, the other person may feel impelled to unburden himself or herself by engaging in the unconscious return of those projections into the leader or other people.

1. Such returning of projective identification, or unconscious enactments (Bott Spillius and Feldman 1989), may manifest themselves as vengeful retaliation against the leader—a kind of unconscious retributive justice. The result is that both sides spend much energy attempting to lodge the projections into each other, while on the surface their relationship appears stuck and ossified.

1. In spite of the discomfort and conflict, leaders engaging in projective identification are likely to feel compelled to remain in proximity with those into whom they have projected their unwanted selves. Such proximity provides them with ongoing opportunities to compare themselves favorably with the recipients of the projections, to deny their unwanted selves, and to attack and attempt to destroy the unwanted selves lodged in others.

1. Having nothing to do with these others would not provide an adequate solution to the intrapsychic conundrum because the leaders would thereby relinquish the opportunity to deny, control, and attack the unwanted selves in others rather than within themselves. Projective identification thus transforms inner conflicts into interpersonal ones.

1. Leaders may thereby develop a ―compulsive tie (Klein 1946/1975) to these others and become interminably entangled in trying to extrude or destroy what cannot be extruded or destroyed: the unwanted parts of the self (Bott Spillius and Feldman 1989).

2. Recipients of projective identification who feel impelled to return these projections to the leader or to a third party are likely to become embroiled in ongoing, damaging struggles that can become toxic (Maitlis and Ozcelik 2004; Stein 2007).

1. Since leaders function as sources of meaning making (Podolny et al. 2005; Smircich and Morgan 1982), the unconscious use of others as recipients of unwanted aspects of the self may become a collective modus operandi that damages the organization and may even cause its destruction.

1. Maurizio, who became the last Gucci to serve as the firm‘s CEO, was pursued in the courts by the rest of the family across the United States and Italy. Shortly after being forced to sell the business, he was murdered. His ex-wife was tried and found guilty of commissioning the murder. By then, the family was in chaotic circumstances and held no share in the firm (Forden, 2000).

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