Overprojection Projection is a psychological defense mechanism that refers to the projection of one’s own thoughts, motivations, desires, or feelings onto another person or object. One reason parents spoil their children is that they project their childhood selves onto their children, treating them as if they were making up for their own childhood failures, thinking not about what their children want, but what they want to give. This phenomenon can also exist when pet owners treat their pets. Because our pets serve as our emotional support, part of our emotional needs are naturally reflected in our pets. Some owners buy a lot of high-priced food and snacks for their pets, some owners like to pet and hug their pets, and some owners like to dress up their pets, which is a phenomenon of projecting their inner psychological needs onto their pets. This phenomenon is essentially normal, but once excessive, it can become spoiling. The dividing line between normal and excessive is the psychological boundary. The psychological boundary is the inherent deposit of the interaction between individuals, individuals and the environment, and is an inherent property of the individual psyche, expressed as the psychological uniqueness and relevance of the individual to others and the environment. Simply put, it is the psychological boundary of our perception of “I am me” and “others are others”. For example, the psychological boundary between us and our colleagues must be clearer than the boundary between us and our parents. Because we include our relatives as part of our self-perception, we can clearly recognize our colleagues as separate individuals who are not related to us. When the owner’s psychological boundaries with the pet are not clear, he or she will treat the pet as part of himself or herself rather than as an independent being. This is when the owner will believe that the pet cannot live without his or her pet and that the pet must be completely dependent and belong to him or her. At this time, it is easy to spoil the situation. For example, the pet is given too many snacks, while ignoring the real situation and needs of the pet. A weak sense of rules for the pet’s excessive projection of emotions and needs leads to unclear psychological boundaries between the owner and the pet, making the owner spoil the pet, and the ultimate factor that determines whether the spoiling behavior will cause adverse effects is a sense of rules. For an owner with a sense of rules, no matter how the pet is spoiled, the ultimate consequences are reflected in the owner and the pet and do not affect others. But a master without a sense of rules, like a walking bomb, at any time may cause harm to others. Walking a dog without a leash and allowing a dog to hurt someone are both signs of a lack of a sense of rules. Related personality traits are self-centeredness, low sense of responsibility, narcissism, and other problems. Narcissism and self-centeredness lead them to focus on their own interests and ignore the rights of others, and a low sense of responsibility makes them not evaluate and take responsibility for the negative consequences of their actions, which ultimately results in ignoring and breaking the rules. They do not take the socially accepted public order and morals to heart, do not feel that the rules have a binding effect on their own behavior, and likewise do not care about and respect the rights and interests of others. In addition, pets do not distinguish between good and evil and right and wrong, in the owner’s connivance, it is more likely to hurt people and other behaviors, and as the owner, not only not to stop, but will be to stop and oppose the people yelling and even violence. This is the most serious and harmful factor of spoiling your pet. Why few people can tell if it is coddling coddling is difficult to identify because the pet is most in contact with the owner, when the owner feels that he or she has no problem treating the pet, it is difficult for others to blame anything. But just like parents of bear children never feel their children bear, spoiled pet owners never feel they have a problem with the way they treat their pets. We love our pets and treat them like family, and if this behavior doesn’t hurt others, there seems to be no excuse. However, coddling is most evident in one situation and has the most serious consequences, and that is to allow pets to hurt people.
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