Definitional vagueness condemned projection research until a process approach emerged

Evidence

In sum, although Allport made a strong case for projection as a process that should be of interest to students of prejudice, his more specific definitions and distinctions did not necessarily provide a solid foundation for later research. Others had no more luck taming the concept. In the end, all such attempts suffered from the same limitation: a lack of a clear description of the cognitive and motivational processes underlying projection. Without a more process-oriented approach, and without specification of the mental mechanisms involved, efforts to clarify the nature of projection were doomed to failure. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2352