Projection

Victor

I've been more aware over the last year or two of people doing this or things similar to this.

I'm not sure if I have an exact definition, but I'm aware of some personal experiences and comments that others have made. I wonder if part of it is seeking internal justification / social permission to engage in bad behaviour or otherwise do things that would, strictly speaking, be against the rules.

So, claims of 'everyone does X' means to some people that 'I / you have permission to do X'. For example, 'everyone fiddles their taxes' can mean to them that 'I have given myself permission to fiddle my taxes' and/or 'I fiddle my taxes, but not as much as (all) other people'. My brain tends to associate such behaviour with psychopathy and narcissism.

On the flip side, I suppose there can be some sort of reverse projection 'You can't do that', often applied to teenagers engaging in harmless behaviour, but breaking social norms or rules.

I'm wondering about things like 'Cyclists, always running red lights and cycling on the footpaths'. Is this a genuine complaint* by the individual or is it merely projection to cover one's own bad behaviour on the roads?

* Statistically, the largest group that runs red traffic lights are car drivers and in running the red light, they tend to do it at speed, creating harm for others.

Is this article broadly correct? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection

JuliusCaesar

I think you'll find your examples are better covered by cognitive biases: over-generalisation, sunk-cost, expectation, etc.