Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2006, Page 5
The parents serve as models for ego development and ego-ideal and
superego formation through the processes of introjection and identification.
How a person‘s developing character is affected by his or her parents depends
upon the stage of development at which crucial situations involving trauma
and conflict arise. It also depends upon whether the child adopts the parents‘
affirming or prohibiting attitudes and whether he or she seeks to be like or
unlike the parents. (p. 38)
Identification
In attempting to understand how some character traits are influenced to unfold as they do,
I also will look at the mechanism of identification. Some character traits appear to be
identifications made with others. Identification is a ―more mature level of internalization
[that] involves greater object differentiation and the process is more selective of the traits
internalized‖ (Moore and Fine, 1990).
In an attempt to explain certain transformations that occurred within the context of the
parent-child relationship, Freud first used identification as a dynamic concept. In Group
Psychology and Analysis of the Ego, Freud stated,
First, identification is the earliest expression of an emotional tie with an
object secondly, in a regressive way it becomes a substitute for a libidinal
object-tie, as it were by means of the introjection of the object into the ego
and thirdly, it may arise with every new perception of a common quality
shared with some other person who is not an object of the sexual instinct.
The more important this common quality the more successful may this partial
identification become and it may thus represent the beginning of a new tie.
(pp. 107-108)
Imitative Learning
More recently, the field of neurobiology through its use of imaging studies of the brain has
suggested an additional viewpoint on imitative learning. Imaging studies show that neurons
in certain areas of the brain are stimulated when a growing child perceives the emotions of
a parent. That is, by simply observing a parent‘s emotional state, certain areas of the child‘s
brain are activated. These areas would usually be stimulated by the child directly if he or
she were experiencing that emotion. Therefore, the discovery of the functions served by
mirror neurons may suggest a human readiness to imitate the behaviors of a parental
figure, and mirror neurons can be seen as building blocks used in the development of some
identifications (Olds, 2006).
Identifications also might occur by making loss of a loved object more tolerable. For
example, at bedtime, the child might sing to herself or her doll in the manner that her
mother sang to her. In this way, she is diminishing the impact of the loss of mother‘s
availability and is learning to give herself comfort.
Identification with the Aggressor
Although identifications are usually associated with love, identifications also are made
during experiences of danger. To lessen anxiety, children or adults might interject
characteristics of the anxiety-provoking object to cope with experiences of panic and
helplessness. Anna Freud described this kind of identification as ―identification with the
aggressor‖ (A. Freud, 1936). In this type of identification, the individual identifies with the
object‘s attitude by projecting danger onto the outside and away from the object. This is an
intrapsychic reaction to a real threat or actual traumatic experience. Emch (1944) further
theorizes that, in some cases, where one or both parents are ―unknowable‖ because of
unpredictable, violent, or chaotic behavior or prolonged absence, the child may imitate the
The parents serve as models for ego development and ego-ideal and
superego formation through the processes of introjection and identification.
How a person‘s developing character is affected by his or her parents depends
upon the stage of development at which crucial situations involving trauma
and conflict arise. It also depends upon whether the child adopts the parents‘
affirming or prohibiting attitudes and whether he or she seeks to be like or
unlike the parents. (p. 38)
Identification
In attempting to understand how some character traits are influenced to unfold as they do,
I also will look at the mechanism of identification. Some character traits appear to be
identifications made with others. Identification is a ―more mature level of internalization
[that] involves greater object differentiation and the process is more selective of the traits
internalized‖ (Moore and Fine, 1990).
In an attempt to explain certain transformations that occurred within the context of the
parent-child relationship, Freud first used identification as a dynamic concept. In Group
Psychology and Analysis of the Ego, Freud stated,
First, identification is the earliest expression of an emotional tie with an
object secondly, in a regressive way it becomes a substitute for a libidinal
object-tie, as it were by means of the introjection of the object into the ego
and thirdly, it may arise with every new perception of a common quality
shared with some other person who is not an object of the sexual instinct.
The more important this common quality the more successful may this partial
identification become and it may thus represent the beginning of a new tie.
(pp. 107-108)
Imitative Learning
More recently, the field of neurobiology through its use of imaging studies of the brain has
suggested an additional viewpoint on imitative learning. Imaging studies show that neurons
in certain areas of the brain are stimulated when a growing child perceives the emotions of
a parent. That is, by simply observing a parent‘s emotional state, certain areas of the child‘s
brain are activated. These areas would usually be stimulated by the child directly if he or
she were experiencing that emotion. Therefore, the discovery of the functions served by
mirror neurons may suggest a human readiness to imitate the behaviors of a parental
figure, and mirror neurons can be seen as building blocks used in the development of some
identifications (Olds, 2006).
Identifications also might occur by making loss of a loved object more tolerable. For
example, at bedtime, the child might sing to herself or her doll in the manner that her
mother sang to her. In this way, she is diminishing the impact of the loss of mother‘s
availability and is learning to give herself comfort.
Identification with the Aggressor
Although identifications are usually associated with love, identifications also are made
during experiences of danger. To lessen anxiety, children or adults might interject
characteristics of the anxiety-provoking object to cope with experiences of panic and
helplessness. Anna Freud described this kind of identification as ―identification with the
aggressor‖ (A. Freud, 1936). In this type of identification, the individual identifies with the
object‘s attitude by projecting danger onto the outside and away from the object. This is an
intrapsychic reaction to a real threat or actual traumatic experience. Emch (1944) further
theorizes that, in some cases, where one or both parents are ―unknowable‖ because of
unpredictable, violent, or chaotic behavior or prolonged absence, the child may imitate the
