Vocabulary

[TomBombadil]

Is there a word for the behavior of accusing someone else of one's own inappropriate actions?

Thanx to one and all.

[corwin137]

Adding the value judgement of inappropriate actions would extend beyond the definition of the behavior, but "projection" fits the bill you're talking about.

[SWM]

projection was the term i thought of too. projection is the identification of thoughts and feelings which are undesirable in the behaviour of other people. i am trying  to think of a good way to explain it, i will come back to this later and try and describe the mechanism.
 
i agree with Corwin also it is not necessarily appropriate or inapporpriate actions that are projected onto other people in this manner.
 
it could also be argued that behvaiour is always appropriate for the functioning of that individual, even if other people consider it is inappropriate.
 
did you have a particular example in mind, maybe we could use it to understand the mechanism.

[SWM]

According to wikipedia
 

    In pschology, psychological projection (or projection bias) is a defense mechanism in which one attributes one’s own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions to others. Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the unwanted subconscious impulses/desires without letting the conscious mind recognize them. The theory was developed by Sigmund Freud and further refined by his daughter Anna Freud, and for this reason, it is sometimes referred to as "Freudian Projection"
     
    According to Sigmund Freud, projection is a psychological defense mechanism whereby one "projects" one's own undesirable thoughts, motivations, desires, and feelings onto someone else. It is a common process that every person uses to some degree.
     
    To understand the process, consider a person in a couple who has thoughts of infidelity. Instead of dealing with these undesirable thoughts consciously, he or she subconsciously projects these feelings onto the other person, and begins to think that the other has thoughts of infidelity and may be having an affair. In this sense, projection is related to denial, arguably the only defense mechanism that is more primitive than projection. Projection, like all defense mechanisms provide a function whereby truth about a part of themselves that may otherwise be unacceptable is shielded.
     
    Compartmentalization, splitting and projection are ways that the ego continues to pretend that it is completely in control at all times, when in reality human experience is one of shifting beingness, instinctual or territorial reactiveness and emotional motives, for which the "I" is not always complicit. Further, common in deep trauma, individuals will be unable to access truthful memories, intentions and experiences, even about their own nature, wherein projection is just one tool.