This lesson is going to cover the contribution of Carl Jung to psychology. Our discussion breaks down as follows:
- Jung's Theory of Personality
- Archetypes
1. Jung's Theory of Personality
Carl Jung is a Neo-Freudian that was very influential in many areas of thought. He impacted not only psychology, but also art, literature, and philosophy. Jung was originally a student of Freud's that became a friend and confidante for him. Over time, he started to develop different ideas about unconsciousness.
Particularly, he focused on dreams, symbols, and their role within the unconscious, as opposed to Freud's focus on the urges and desires of the id. Jung said that the personality was composed of three parts, just like Freud.
Also like Freud, he stated that the ego is the central part of our personality and controls all of our conscious thoughts. Jung expanded on the idea of the ego by saying that a person's ego can either be:
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Introverted, or inwardly focused. Introverted people can be shy, reserved, or distant.
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Extroverted, or outwardly focused. Extroverted people are generally very outgoing, sociable, and emotive.
This is a concept still used today, and it is very influential in personality psychology. On the other hand, Jung proposed two different aspects of what our unconscious is made of:
- Personal unconscious, which is a collection of a person's individual experiences, memories, and feelings.
- Collective unconscious, or the collection of all the knowledge, experiences, imagery, and symbols that are shared by everybody as a human being.
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- Introversion
- Individuals who find energy from being alone, often have a few close friends
- Extroversion
- Social individuals who find energy from being around others, often have a wide array of friends
2. Archetypes
These universally understood and shared ideas that are stored in the collective unconscious are what Jung referred to as archetypes. Archetypes are symbols of experiences and ideas that all human beings have. There are four major ones, although Jung said that there was really no limit to how many could exist.
The four archetypes that are central to a person are:
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The self. This is the complete individual. It is the image that a person has of being the ideal version of themselves. This occurs when the personality is completely balanced between the conscious and the unconscious.
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The shadow. This is the dark side of the unconscious. This is the archetype that Freud was focused on, and refers to repressed desires, weaknesses, and ideas that are negative to a person.
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The anima (male) or animus (female). This represents the idealized image of the opposite sex, and is what allows us to relate to others that are different from us. It comes from experiences with the parent of the opposite sex first, and is further developed by others throughout a person’s life.
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EXAMPLE
A man would have an anima, an idealized form of a woman. This anima would come mainly from his mother, but is developed by other women in his life as well.
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The persona. This is a person’s public self or the mask they wear. The self a person presents to other people can differ depending on the situation.
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EXAMPLE
The persona a person presents to their parents may differ from the persona shown to friends or strangers.
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- Archetypes
- Universal thought forms from our species' collective ancestry
Carl Jung was a neo-Freudian who had an important impact on psychology, art, literature, and philosophy. Jung's theory of personality stated that an individual's personality was made of three parts. Like Freud, Jung stated that the central part of personality is the ego. He expanded on the idea by saying the ego can be either introverted or extroverted.
His ideas on the unconscious part of the mind were different as well. He believed it was made of the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. Jung also proposed that the collective unconscious is made up of knowledge, experiences, imagery, and symbols that are shared by all human beings called archetypes. There are an unlimited number of possible archetypes, but there are four main ones that are central to a person. These four are the self, the shadow, the anima/animus, and the persona.
Good luck!
