science

Identification with the Aggressor

Identification with the Aggressor is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Identification with the Aggressor rather than just read about it. In short: Identification with the Aggressor (German: Identifizierung mit dem Angreifer) is one of the forms of identification conceptualized by psychoanalysis. Specifically, it is a defence mechanism that designates the assumption of the role of the aggressor and their functional attributes or the imitation of their aggressive and behavioral mode, when a psychological trauma poses the hopeless dilemma of being a victim or an…

Key takeaways

Identification with the Aggressor belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Identification with the Aggressor to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Identification with the Aggressor from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Identification with the Aggressor (German: Identifizierung mit dem Angreifer) is one of the forms of identification conceptualized by psychoanalysis. Specifically, it is a defence mechanism that designates the assumption of the role of the aggressor and their functional attributes or the imitation of their aggressive and behavioral mode, when a psychological trauma poses the hopeless dilemma of being a victim or an abuser. This theoretical construct is also defined as a process of coping with mental distress or as a particular case of zero-sum game.

History The concept was first introduced by Sándor Ferenczi in his clinical diary in June 1932 and then developed in his paper "The Passions of Adults and their Influence on the Development of the Character and the Sexuality of the Child" (German: Die Leidenschaften der Erwachsenen und deren Einfluß auf Charakter und Sexualentwicklung des Kindes) for the 12th International Psycho-Analytic Congress in Wiesbaden, Germany, in September 1932. He further elaborated this work until he published it in 1949 in The International Journal of Psychoanalysis with the new title "Confusion of the Tongues Between the Adults and the Child—(The Language of Tenderness and of Passion)". In 1936, Anna Freud took up and developed the concept in her book The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (German: Das Ich und die Abwehrmechanismen).

Further research

The experiment conducted in 1963 by Elliot Aronson and J. Merrill Carlsmith on the forbidden toy seems to endorse such a hypothesis and therefore this type of dynamic: one attributes oneself a mutilation of one's own desire in order to perceive oneself as autarkic, independent and not submissive. In 2019, Yael Lahav, Anat Talmon, and Karni Ginzburg developed the Identification With the Aggressor Scale (IAS), a self-reported questionnaire that assesses identification with the aggressor based on the theory of Sándor Ferenczi. Utilizing the IAS, various quantitative studies among survivors of child abuse and intimate partner violence have documented the phenomenon of identification with the aggressor and revealed its negative implications for survivors' well-being. These implications include dissociation, self-injurious behavior, urges to harm others, violent acts toward others, suicidal ideation and behavior, willingness to return to an abusive relationship, eating disorders, feelings of guilt, sexual re-victimization, as well as PTSD and CPTSD.

See also Internalized oppression Masters of suspicion Repetition compulsion Self-deception Self-sabotage Cultural assimilation Conformity Wartime collaboration Quisling Learned helplessness Forced conversion Stockholm syndrome Ben Franklin effect#Converse Victim blaming Ragging Ponzi scheme

Proverbs More Irish than the Irish themselves Holier-than-thou More royalist than the king If you can't beat them, join them

In art Fight Club Heauton Timorumenos, Menander and Terence L'Héautontimorouménos, Charles Baudelaire Zombie apocalypse H. R. Giger Alien (franchise) "Mr. Self Destruct", Nine Inch Nails

References

Further reading Frankel, Jay (2002). "Exploring Ferenczi's Concept of Identification with the Aggressor: Its Role in Trauma, Everyday Life, and the Therapeutic Relationship". Psychoanalytic Dialogues. 12 (1): 101–139. doi:10.1080/10481881209348657. S2CID 144951828. Howell, Elizabeth F. (March 2014). "Ferenczi's concept of identification with the aggressor: understanding dissociative structure with interacting victim and abuser self-states". The American Journal of Psychoanalysis. 74 (1): 48–59. doi:10.1057/ajp.2013.40. PMID 24603172. S2CID 5576292. Lahav, Yael; Ginzburg, Karni; Talmon, Anat; Spiegel, David (July–September 2019). "Reenacting Past Abuse – Identification with the Aggressor and Sexual Revictimization". Journal of Trauma & Dissociation. 20 (4): 378–391. doi:10.1080/15299732.2019.1572046. PMID 30734655. S2CID 73435528. Lahav, Yael; Talmon, Anat; Ginzburg, Karni (27 August 2019). "Knowing the abuser inside and out: The development and psychometric evaluation of the Identification with the Aggressor Scale". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 36 (19–20): 9725–9748. doi:10.1177/0886260519872306. PMID 31455143. S2CID 201656101. Lahav, Yael; Allende, Santiago; Talmon, Anat; Spiegel, David (13 July 2020). "Identification with the Aggressor and Inward and Outward Aggression in Abuse Survivors". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 37 (5–6): 2705–2728. doi:10.1177/0886260520938516. PMID 32659159. S2CID 220521706.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Identification with the Aggressor

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Identification with the Aggressor claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Identification with the Aggressor before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Identification with the Aggressor ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Identification with the Aggressor

In research: Identification with the Aggressor appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Identification with the Aggressor in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Identification with the Aggressor is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1930s neologisms, Conformity, Defence mechanisms, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Identification with the Aggressor outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Identification with the Aggressor in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Identification with the Aggressor means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Identification with the Aggressor out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Identification with the Aggressor in simple terms?

Why does Identification with the Aggressor matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Identification with the Aggressor?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Identification with the Aggressor.