Theories of Personality: Carl Jung
1875 - 1961
Very metaphysical
At a young age, he turned from reason to his dreams, visions, and fantasies
At critical times, Jung resolved problems and made decisions based on what his unconscious told him through his dreams
Became interested in Freud’s work in 1900 when he read “The Interpretation of Dreams”
While a follower of Freud, he was never an uncritical one
Originally trained with Freud
Broke from Freudian analysis
EVENT: Freud and Jung analyzed each others’ dreams
Freud showed resistance to Jung’s analysis
Freud stopped, saying he would lose authority
Felt Freud overemphasized sexual aspects
Experience with developing sciences of Anthropology and Sociology
Spent time living in different cultures
Focused on the unconscious and conscious mind … he believed that the unconscious played more of a role in controlling our thought process (especially during dreaming)
The collective unconscious was also more dominant factor in the development of human personality
Behavior -> Ancestor
Psychic Energy
Libido
Contrary to Freud’s sexual energy
Principle of Opposites
Our personality consists of opposing/competing forces that we strive to balance
Ex. Conscious vs Unconscious
Ex. Introversion vs. Extraversion
Opposition (conflict) creates energy
Propels movement forward
One force comes with an opposing force
Libido drives but more holistic
Experience rather than biological
More spiritual ideas
Transcends biological needs
Principle of Equivalence
Energy created by opposites is given to both sides equally
Each pair in opposite has = amounts of energy
Increase in one area pulls energy from other area
Too much on one side:
May spur growth/create problems
Complex is said to develop
One are diminished -> will go to other areas
Principle of Entropy
Tendency for opposites to come together – be less extreme opposites
When younger, degree of opposites tends to be extreme
As one grows, able to tolerate differences/opposites (doesn’t have to be one or the other – can be both)
We strive toward balancing the opposites
Natural tendency for growth
Balance -> not free of conflict
Individuation: term used for goal of unity of our personality (unification of opposing forces into whole)
Extreme opposites -> tendency to find balance
Ego
Conscious mind
Center of consciousness
Characterized by one dominant attitude (introversion/extraversion)
Determines perception of and reaction to environment
Characterized by 2 functions:
Thinking/Feeling: rational, logical
Sensing/Intuiting: based on experiences
Similar to Freud’s conception of preconscious and unconscious
Contains memories that can be recalled as well as those that have been repressed
Complex: cluster of emotionally-charged memories that influence behavior
Arise from need to adapt and inability to meet that need/challenge
Develop over time
Identified through word association tests
Ex. Mother complex, guilt complex, hero complex
Psychological residue of man’s ancestral past
Reservoir of mankind’s experiences as species
accumulated memories of mankind’s experiences
Seen in themes and symbols in cultures (why we respond to them):
Parallels in myths, fairy tales, literature, art, etc.
Dreams
Deja vu experiences
Near death experiences
Passed on unconsciously
Shared
Inherited predisposition to experience things in certain ways
“Symbols” for significant disposition
A way to understand a “role”
Transcends culture
More like an emotion
Jung described them as “thought-forms” -> implied as much feeling as thought
Experience archetypes as emotions associated with significant life events such as birth, adolescence, marriage, and death or with extreme reactions to danger
Jung found common archetypal symbols in cultures that were so widely separated in time and location that there was no possibility of direct influence
Persona
Your public personality, aspects of yourself that you reveal to others
masks
Shadow
Prehistoric fear of wild animals, represents animal side of human nature
Dark; undesirable parts of ourselves
Anima
Feminine archetype in men
Animus
Masculine archetype in women
Anima/Animus: opposing forces in a person
Others
God, Hero, Nurturing Mother, Wise Old Man, Wicked Witch, Devil, Powerful Father
Family Archetypes
Father: stern, powerful, controlling
Mother: feeding, nurturing, soothing
Child: birth, beginnings, salvation
Animal Archetypes
Faithful Dog: unquestioning loyalty
Enduring Horse: never giving up
Story Archetypes
Hero: rescuer, champion
Maiden: purity, desire
Wise Old Man: knowledge, guidance
Magician: mysterious, powerful
Witch/Sorceress: dangerous
Trickster: deceiving, hidden
Self
Center of psyche
Represents our striving for unity of opposing forces
Individuation
Process by which individual integrates opposing tendencies
Indivisible
Contradictions do not overwhelm
Personified by Jesus Christ and Buddha
Perfection only completed at death
Symbolized in mandala
Drive => to become better
Attempt to explain individual differences
Began with concepts of introversion and extraversion
Added functions (thinking-feeling, sensing-intuiting) later
Represents preferences rather than exclusive talents
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Explains why one person is different to the other
Attitudes
Orientations
Our tendency to act in certain ways; how we orient to the world
Introversion
Oriented toward inner world (object -> ego)
Prefer inner world of thoughts, feelings, dreams, etc.
Focus on concepts, ideas, internal expressions
More oriented to collective unconscious and archetypes
Extraversion
Oriented to outside world (ego -> object)
Prefer world of things and people
Focus on others and thinks aloud
More oriented toward persona and outer reality
Functions: rational functions
Judging: how we come to conclusions about what we perceive
Thinking
Decide impersonally on basis of logical conclusions
Tell what it is
Naming and interpreting experience
Feeling
Decisions based on personal and social values
Tell what it is worth
Evaluating an experience for its emotional worth to us
Functions: nonrational functions
Perceiving: how we gather/take in information
Sensing
Pay attention to observable facts/events through 5 senses (seeing, hearing, touching, etc.)
Good at looking and listening
Intuiting
Focus on meanings, relationships, possibilities
Unconscious sensing – knowing without sensing
Unconscious processing
Types
Each type represents preferences for one over the other
Dominant function => function used most enthusiastically
Development and type
Youth and Adolescence
Develop dominant function
Most natural - feels most comfortable
Midlife
People tend to be motivated toward completion of personality
Begin to add neglected functions
1875 - 1961
Very metaphysical
At a young age, he turned from reason to his dreams, visions, and fantasies
At critical times, Jung resolved problems and made decisions based on what his unconscious told him through his dreams
Became interested in Freud’s work in 1900 when he read “The Interpretation of Dreams”
While a follower of Freud, he was never an uncritical one
Originally trained with Freud
Broke from Freudian analysis
EVENT: Freud and Jung analyzed each others’ dreams
Freud showed resistance to Jung’s analysis
Freud stopped, saying he would lose authority
Felt Freud overemphasized sexual aspects
Experience with developing sciences of Anthropology and Sociology
Spent time living in different cultures
Focused on the unconscious and conscious mind … he believed that the unconscious played more of a role in controlling our thought process (especially during dreaming)
The collective unconscious was also more dominant factor in the development of human personality
Behavior -> Ancestor
Psychic Energy
Libido
Contrary to Freud’s sexual energy
Principle of Opposites
Our personality consists of opposing/competing forces that we strive to balance
Ex. Conscious vs Unconscious
Ex. Introversion vs. Extraversion
Opposition (conflict) creates energy
Propels movement forward
One force comes with an opposing force
Libido drives but more holistic
Experience rather than biological
More spiritual ideas
Transcends biological needs
Principle of Equivalence
Energy created by opposites is given to both sides equally
Each pair in opposite has = amounts of energy
Increase in one area pulls energy from other area
Too much on one side:
May spur growth/create problems
Complex is said to develop
One are diminished -> will go to other areas
Principle of Entropy
Tendency for opposites to come together – be less extreme opposites
When younger, degree of opposites tends to be extreme
As one grows, able to tolerate differences/opposites (doesn’t have to be one or the other – can be both)
We strive toward balancing the opposites
Natural tendency for growth
Balance -> not free of conflict
Individuation: term used for goal of unity of our personality (unification of opposing forces into whole)
Extreme opposites -> tendency to find balance
Ego
Conscious mind
Center of consciousness
Characterized by one dominant attitude (introversion/extraversion)
Determines perception of and reaction to environment
Characterized by 2 functions:
Thinking/Feeling: rational, logical
Sensing/Intuiting: based on experiences
Similar to Freud’s conception of preconscious and unconscious
Contains memories that can be recalled as well as those that have been repressed
Complex: cluster of emotionally-charged memories that influence behavior
Arise from need to adapt and inability to meet that need/challenge
Develop over time
Identified through word association tests
Ex. Mother complex, guilt complex, hero complex
Psychological residue of man’s ancestral past
Reservoir of mankind’s experiences as species
accumulated memories of mankind’s experiences
Seen in themes and symbols in cultures (why we respond to them):
Parallels in myths, fairy tales, literature, art, etc.
Dreams
Deja vu experiences
Near death experiences
Passed on unconsciously
Shared
Inherited predisposition to experience things in certain ways
“Symbols” for significant disposition
A way to understand a “role”
Transcends culture
More like an emotion
Jung described them as “thought-forms” -> implied as much feeling as thought
Experience archetypes as emotions associated with significant life events such as birth, adolescence, marriage, and death or with extreme reactions to danger
Jung found common archetypal symbols in cultures that were so widely separated in time and location that there was no possibility of direct influence
Persona
Your public personality, aspects of yourself that you reveal to others
masks
Shadow
Prehistoric fear of wild animals, represents animal side of human nature
Dark; undesirable parts of ourselves
Anima
Feminine archetype in men
Animus
Masculine archetype in women
Anima/Animus: opposing forces in a person
Others
God, Hero, Nurturing Mother, Wise Old Man, Wicked Witch, Devil, Powerful Father
Family Archetypes
Father: stern, powerful, controlling
Mother: feeding, nurturing, soothing
Child: birth, beginnings, salvation
Animal Archetypes
Faithful Dog: unquestioning loyalty
Enduring Horse: never giving up
Story Archetypes
Hero: rescuer, champion
Maiden: purity, desire
Wise Old Man: knowledge, guidance
Magician: mysterious, powerful
Witch/Sorceress: dangerous
Trickster: deceiving, hidden
Self
Center of psyche
Represents our striving for unity of opposing forces
Individuation
Process by which individual integrates opposing tendencies
Indivisible
Contradictions do not overwhelm
Personified by Jesus Christ and Buddha
Perfection only completed at death
Symbolized in mandala
Drive => to become better
Attempt to explain individual differences
Began with concepts of introversion and extraversion
Added functions (thinking-feeling, sensing-intuiting) later
Represents preferences rather than exclusive talents
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Explains why one person is different to the other
Attitudes
Orientations
Our tendency to act in certain ways; how we orient to the world
Introversion
Oriented toward inner world (object -> ego)
Prefer inner world of thoughts, feelings, dreams, etc.
Focus on concepts, ideas, internal expressions
More oriented to collective unconscious and archetypes
Extraversion
Oriented to outside world (ego -> object)
Prefer world of things and people
Focus on others and thinks aloud
More oriented toward persona and outer reality
Functions: rational functions
Judging: how we come to conclusions about what we perceive
Thinking
Decide impersonally on basis of logical conclusions
Tell what it is
Naming and interpreting experience
Feeling
Decisions based on personal and social values
Tell what it is worth
Evaluating an experience for its emotional worth to us
Functions: nonrational functions
Perceiving: how we gather/take in information
Sensing
Pay attention to observable facts/events through 5 senses (seeing, hearing, touching, etc.)
Good at looking and listening
Intuiting
Focus on meanings, relationships, possibilities
Unconscious sensing – knowing without sensing
Unconscious processing
Types
Each type represents preferences for one over the other
Dominant function => function used most enthusiastically
Development and type
Youth and Adolescence
Develop dominant function
Most natural - feels most comfortable
Midlife
People tend to be motivated toward completion of personality
Begin to add neglected functions