Research into Psychology

The idea of Transference - Sigmund Freud

Transference was identified by Sigmund Freud, he noticed that his patients formed an attachment towards him, caused by something other than the patient and Doctor relationship.

Transference occurs when a person takes the perceptions and expectations of one person and projects these onto another person. We as individuals tend to become the person that others assume we are.Transference usually occurs from a childhood relationship which could be from a person that they knew or a figure that they idealised, and that power and also a sense of expectations is transferred to another individual, and this can create positive and negative outcomes.

Types of Transference

Paternal transference

We turn the other person into an idealized father-figure. Fathers can become powerful, authoritative and wise. We want that sense of control and we can develop a sense of trust and compliance. We could see leaders as distant, powerful individuals.

Maternal transference

The relationship we often develop from our mothers regarded as a source of unconditional love, seen as mythical related and there is more of an emotional and primitive response.

Sibling transference

When parents are absent in our childhood, we may substitute these with sibling relationships. This is an increasingly significant pattern as families fracture and mothers spend long hours at work and are often away from the child during the critical early years.

Other transference

We also transfer non-familial patterns onto other people. We form stereotypes, and transfer these patterns onto others. We also form idealised prototypes, and project these onto people when we need the appropriate roles.