Evolutionary developmental psychology posits that this is because individuals inherit a species-typical environment, as well as a species-typical genome. Development follows a species-typical pattern given that individuals within the species grow up in environments that are similar to those of their ancestors.

An evolved psychological mechanism (EPM) is a psychological adaptation that a species takes on as a result of evolutionary pressures. Because an EPM develops due to a survival need or adaptation the EPM typically helps the organism survive and reproduce which encourages the transmission and future usage of the EPM.

While evolutionary views tend to regard most individual differences as the result of either random genetic noise (evolutionary byproducts) and/or idiosyncrasies (for example, peer groups, education, neighborhoods, and chance encounters) rather than products of natural selection, EDP asserts that natural selection can …

The idea of defense mechanisms comes from psychoanalytic theory, a psychological perspective of personality that sees personality as the interaction between three components: id, ego, and super ego.

A Psychological Mechanism may make people more sensitive to certain kinds of information from the environment (input), may make them more likely to think about specific options (decisions rules), and may guide their behavior toward certain categories of action (outputs).

Definition. Psychological mechanisms are the processes and systems, or activities and entities, frequently appealed to in causal explanations within the psychological sciences.

These are not the only types of feelings and emotions projected, but projection most often occurs when individuals cannot accept their own impulses or feelings. In modern psychology, the feelings do not necessarily have to be repressed to constitute projection.

Psychological projection is a defense mechanism in which the ego defends itself against unconscious impulses or qualities (both positive and negative) by denying their existence in themselves and attributing them to others. Projection has been described as an early phase of introjection. …

STEP 1: Notice if you’re exhibiting these symptoms of projection:

1. Feeling overly hurt, defensive, or sensitive about something someone has said or done.
2. Allowing someone to push your buttons and get under your skin in a way that others do not.
3. Feeling highly reactive and quick to blame.

Narcissists have a way of copying you, or mimicking you or in some cases, nearly becoming you. And while narcissists manifest this by imitating people around them, any of us could have been affected by the same childhood wound and could be manifesting it through our own codependency.

Why do gaslighters/narcissists project? In part, it distracts from their own bad behaviors. A gaslighter/narcissist’s goal is to make you question your own reality and keep you off kilter. By accusing you of the very thing he is doing, the gaslighter/narcissist makes you frantically try to defend your innocence.

So, what are some reasons why the narcissist would accuse you of being the problem? One reason is that the narcissist truly believes they are superior and can do no wrong. Projection is when the narcissist attributes their uncomfortable feelings to someone else as a way to not deal with them in themselves.

People with strong narcissistic tendencies and other dark personality traits tend to blame others for their own bad behavior. If they are lying, then they will accuse others of lying. If they are cruel, they will say that others are cruel.

While a non-disordered person considers how their words and actions affect other people, narcissists do not. Many narcissists, at some point or other, do become aware of the effect their behaviors have on other people, but they are completely indifferent to it.

Chronic infidelity is common with narcissists and gaslighters. Gaslighters and narcissists are chronic cheaters. It doesn’t matter how “good” of a partner you are, or how much of your life you’ve devoted to them (because they demanded it). They will still cheat.

It is estimated that if someone cheated before, there is a 350 percent chance that they will cheat again, compared to those who have never cheated. In the same study that states that cheaters will cheat again, they found that those who have been cheated on will most likely be cheated on again.

The narcissist may feel such ‘terrible (narcissistic) regret’ that he or she may feign responsibility or remorse, which may even come complete with crocodile tears. Likewise, the narcissist may regret discarding you, if you don’t crawl back to him or her.

Someone with covert narcissism may hold grudges for a long time. When they believe someone’s treated them unfairly, they might feel furious but say nothing in the moment. Instead, they’re more likely to wait for an ideal opportunity to make the other person look bad or get revenge in some way.