Psychologists can define a phenomenon so restrictively that no study can ever find it

Evidence

Holmes’s other criterion was that direct projection had to take place without awareness. Projection, though, may result from a number of interrelated psychological processes, and a person’s level of awareness of each one might not be identical (Newman, 2001b). Holmes concluded that there was no empirical evidence for defensive projection, but given the definition he promoted, it is easy to see why no studies met his criteria. For example, it was not even clear what the “awareness” criterion referred to: Awareness of having the trait? Awareness of attributing it to someone else? Awareness of the connection between one’s own selfconcept and the impressions one forms of others? — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2351

Categorization

• QUESTION: Does this same definitional circularity afflict other discredited constructs like subliminal perception or implicit bias when measured with threshold criteria?