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Glite Dictionary
🧠 To absorb ideas 🧠 An inner image
to introject

to introject

9.9
To take in other people's ideas or attitudes without realizing it
  • verb
  • /ˈɪntrəˌdʒɛkt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : introyectar
  • When we introject the beliefs of influential figures, we may unknowingly shape our own opinions.
  • introjected regulation

It's very easy to both project and introject with clutter.

Examples

  • As children grow, they often introject values from their parents without realizing it.

  • The tasks are loved (and introjected) because they embody these values.

    Academic text (2014)

  • In introjecting the name of the father, the child ... is positioned with reference to the father's name.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Susan's comment is an example of introjected regulation (i.e., she felt the presence of PETE students exerted a controlling influence that pressured her to eat healthy foods).

    Academic text (2014)

  • Through therapy, John learned to recognize how he had introjected his father's views on success.

How Internalized

to assimilate
77 6.1
to internalize
  • US
37 6.7
to introject
  • Specialized
9.9
to adopt
440 3.2
to accept
∞ 1.3
to acknowledge
367 3.8

Surface Forms

introject infinitive
introjected past
introjected past participle
introjecting present participle
introjects third person singular

Morphology

introject = intro + ject

Formed from the combining element 'intro-' + 'ject' (throw), which gives a literal 'throw in' sense, but the specialized psychoanalytic meaning 'internalize/incorporate' is technical and not fully derivable by average learners.

Etymology

The word introject comes from the parts in- 'into' and -ject 'throw', the same -ject you see in inject and project. So to introject something is to 'throw into' your mind — often taking other people's ideas or feelings without noticing.