Identification

Disciplines > Psychoanalysis > Concepts > Identification

Description | Discussion | See also

Description

When I 'identify with' other people, I find something attractive about them and seek to join with them in some way.

When I identify with another, I seek to change myself to be like the other either in some limited way or in all ways. This change may range from changing a single view to dress like them and trying to change all aspects of my life.

Discussion

Freud used 'identification' to describe how his patients related to other people, from brothers to prostitutes.

A significant difference from such joining forms as incorporation and introjection is that identification is practiced by moving the self towards a desirable object rather than drawing the object towards them. If there is introjection, it is benevolent and does not change the admired other.