The psychological process of attributing one's internal thoughts, feelings, or problems to external sources or other people. It can involve blaming others for one's emotional state or projecting internal conflicts onto the outside world.
From Latin 'externus' meaning outward or foreign, combined with '-ization' meaning the process of making. The psychological concept developed in the early 20th century to describe how people cope with internal distress by locating its source outside themselves.
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