March 19, 2008
A Psychological Study of Freud’s Transference
An article on a study done to test Freud’s hypothesis of transference.
First, Freud’s definition of transference:
Freud believed that transference was a fundamental part of the psychoanalytic process, sometimes achieved only after many years of careful therapy. Transference occurred when the patient substituted his or her relationship with the therapist for the troubling past relationship (often with a mother or father figure) that was the root of the patient’s problems. After transference occurred, the patient was much more inclined to remember the key moments that had caused their neurosis, leading eventually to a resolution and cure.
Now, a new hypothesis of what transference is:
Far from being the product of a difficult negotiation between patient and therapist, the application of transference is much more like a stereotype, and is experienced all the time by healthy individuals. For transference to occur, all that is necessary is to encounter a person that reminds you of a significant person in your life — a family member, friend, or lover. Transference in this view is simply the misapplication of the traits of your significant other to this new person.
After having a group of people self-identify as morning or evening people, the study found that transference — the misapplication of the traits of your significant other to a new person — happened significantly more for the evening people when they were at their cognitive weakest (specifically, in the morning) and for the morning people in the evening.
Thus:
Transference is not something that occurs as a result of cognitive effort, but is instead a by-product of cognitive lapse.
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