Which concept refers to turning back to ourselves what we would like to do or have done to others?

• A. Projection
• B. Resistance
• C. Retroflection
• D. Unfinished Business

Answer: (C)

Retroflection is the idea of turning the impulse to act toward someone back onto oneself. When you feel the urge to do or say something to another person but redirect that energy inward, you end up criticizing or punishing yourself instead of expressing it outwardly. This fits the description in the item: you’re turning what you would like to do to others into something you do to yourself. In Gestalt terms, it’s a way the self handles a boundary disturbance by redirecting action back onto the self rather than into the contact with others.

For context, projection would involve putting your own feelings onto someone else—acting as if they are the ones with the impulse rather than you. Resistance is more about avoiding awareness or experience, rather than specifically directing impulses inward. Unfinished business refers to unresolved past experiences that continue to influence present behavior, not the inward redirection of a current impulse. An example of retroflection would be you feel irritated with a coworker for a criticism they gave, but you respond to yourself with harsh self-criticism instead of addressing or expressing the irritation to the coworker.