Identification meaning
A defense mechanism where an individual modifies himself and their behaviour to align with another person’s or a group’s.
This is oftenly done to increase the resemblance, earn an approval or avoid anxiety.
Identification can be both conscious eg; Conscious imitation and unconscious.
The reason for identification.
Like other defense mechanisms, identification protect us from ;
Uncomfortable feelings such feeling unworthy or powerless
Preventing further harm or punishment from an external figure ie; ‘If I become like them maybe they will love me‘
And also protect us from Anxiety eg; fear of abandonment, rejection, criticism etc.
Sigmund Freud’s daughter, Anna Freud in her seminal work, The Ego and Mechanisms of defence (1936) claimed that most kids tend to adopt their aggressor’s (particularly parent’s) character traits to feel less powerless and develop an illusion of control.
Introjection vs Identification.
Introjection is an unconcious defense mechanism where one automatically swallows or internalizes an aspect whether it’s a value, words, attitude, behaviour or belief from the external and adopts it into their own psychological makeup.
Identification however follows Introjection where one becomes like the object where the introjected aspect comes from.
For instance; A critical parent who criticizes his kid would see the son introject the voice as an inner critic. When the son decides to adopt other character traits from the object (the critical parent) like ways of behaviour or talking styles we call that identification.
Another example can be illustrated with a son who has his father telling him “Men don’t cry” which he unconsciously absorbs it as an Introjected voice. Later the boy start aligning himself with the father’s other traits like dressing, way of talking and even choose his career , call it identification.
Related; Introjection as a defense mechanism we use
Identification With the Aggressor.
Closely linked to the idea of identification is the identification with the aggressor where an individual aligns himself/herself with his/her abuser to avoid anxiety and earn approval.
Identification with a Group.
Sometimes we tend to conform to a group’s norm and ideals out of fear of judgement or rejection.
For Instance; Being rebellious because Gen-Z is a rebellious group and dress like them and even adopt their language and slang words.
This may also include friends and even Teams.
Identification with a Hero.
We have heros and sometimes out of the need to feel powerful like them, we might adopt some of their traits including dressing styles, walking styles and even way of talking to identify with them and also maintain an illusion of relationship.
Effects of Identification.
Identification has both positive and negative effects depending on the object the subject is identifying with. A positive object pf identification leads to positive effects and vice versa.
1. It may facilitate social learning. When the hero or the object of identification is setting a good example, identification help us cope well with other people.
2. Enhances Personal Growth – Identification with a Positive model or hero facilitates personal growth for instance; When a son adopts the trait of the father, becomes disciplined and develop strong self-reliant skills.
3. It may lead to cycle of aggression especially when the subject becomes in a position of power and imitates those who expressed aggression to them or others for instance; A son who saw his patriarchal father beating the mother goes into a relationship and beats the wife, demands respect and tells her to always shut up.
4. It may kill authenticity by assimilating other’s character traits into one owns which may be dangerous especially if the object is negative for instance; a negative hero.