Thought suppression ironically makes unwanted traits dominate one’s perceptions of others

Evidence

More recently, though, projection has been reconceptualized in socialcognitive terms, and perhaps not coincidentally, is enjoying a revival of interest. Newman, Duff, and Baumeister (1997) formulated and tested a model of defensive projection in which the tendency to overperceive one’s own undesired traits in others is a byproduct of another defense: thought suppression. When individuals confront evidence indicating they may not be the type of people they want to be, they might attempt to suppress thoughts of that evidence. But research by Wegner and colleagues (e.g., Wegner, 1992) indicates that actively trying to keep a thought out of awareness can backfire; suppression of a thought can ironically increase the accessibility of that thought. The frequency with which unwanted thoughts are activated causes them to become chronically accessible (Higgins, 1989) and to therefore dominate people’s perceptions of others, resulting in projection. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2355

Categorization

• XREF: The ironic rebound effect of thought suppression (Wegner) connects to the reader’s interest in silence — the forbidden/suppressed often returns louder, paralleling how suppressed thoughts resurface in the soundscape books. — connects to: Intelligent judgement compensates excluded instincts by resisting social force — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 219; Empathic people are more susceptible to subliminal cues and influence — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 945
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2355