Transference

Transference means relating to another as though they were a significant person from one's childhood, usually a parent. Often, the superego approves of the ego when the ego is attracted to someone reminiscent of the parent of the opposite sex. In other instances, the superego disapproves of the prospective partner unless the other person bears no resemblance to this parent because the other internalized parent disapproves. This possibility reflects a fear of castration. (Work on the Superego, pg 9)

Thus transference occurs, in object relations terms, when past object relations are activated. However, it is not only in analysis or psychotherapy that these small units of object relations are activated. It happens for all egos at all times, and simply becomes apparent under scrutiny. As Freud first emphasized in The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, such transference is a normal everyday occurrence, not an isolated instance in analysis. Thus no interaction is ever absolutely in the present. The individual identifies with one image and projects the other image on the other person in the interaction. (Of course, all this occurs in the context of the overall sense of self constituted by the sum of the integrated images). The past is always present in the form of the object relations activated. In fact, the present is always perceived through whatever object relation -- whether it is an overall ego-identity or a more specific subject-object relation -- is active at the time. (The Pearl Beyond Price, pg 53)