Projection onto others reduces accessibility of one’s threatening traits.

Evidence

Finally, to investigate whether projection can actually serve to distance individuals from threatening traits, Schimel, Greenberg, and Martens (2003) examined the consequences of projection for the accessibility of the projected traits. They found that individuals who had been told they had “repressed hostility” (an undesirable trait) showed decreased accessibility of this trait if given the opportunity to project it onto others. Specifically, when completing a series of word fragments, they were less likely to think of anger-related words. In addition, they rated themselves as less hostile than participants who had not been given an opportunity to project. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2358

Categorization

• CANDY: A neat self-serving mechanism: outgroup criticism literally lowers the trait’s mental accessibility in the critic.