Carl Jung can be referred to as one of the founding fathers in the field of psychology. Along with other psychologists and scientists, he had an undying interest in the human mind, and he devoted a significant part of his life to its research. His study gave us the Jungian approach to analytical psychology, which doctors and scientists have used to understand the mental and emotional space. While he had earlier been a supporter and had even worked alongside Sigmund Freud in his theories of the human mind, he later branched off to develop his four approaches. Their fallout came in 1913, a year after Jung publicly criticized Freud’s take on the Oedipus Complex.
What are the Jungian archetypes?
The Self
The self archetype represents a person’s collective consciousness and unconsciousness and is diagrammatically represented as a mandala, circle or square.
According to Jung, any change of balance between the conscious and unconscious mind could cause psychological problems. Being aware of any such conflicts and dealing with them in a conscious state is essential in creating the self-psyche, also called individuation.
The Persona
The persona represents how each individual presents themselves to the world. In Latin, the word translates to persona, which literally means a mask. Therefore, the persona is referenced as a mask that a person shows to the rest of the world but is not their true self.
The persona changes in different social settings or groups of people. The persona hides the person’s ego (their image of themselves) from any negative exposure, such as that which could lead to criticism.
It allows people to act as expected to fit in the world around them by hiding their true instincts, emotions and urges.
The Shadow
The shadow has more to do with the person’s sexual life and instinct. It resides in the unconscious mind and contains all the individual’s hidden desires, ideas, weaknesses and instincts.
The shadow is often a result of continuous attempts to fit in. In that regard, all the aspects in the shadow are considered unacceptable to society and the individual’s principles and morals.
It is seen as the darker side of the human psyche that lives in darkness and chaos. Jung theorized that the shadow might take the form of anything considered wild, dangerous or even evil, such as snakes and demons.
The Anima
In the female psyche, the anima is male and is female in the male psyche. Surprisingly, it represents what can be considered one’s true self, contrary to the persona. The proponent of this theory, Mr Jung, explained that gender identities and sex roles result from social influences, which in turn influence the anima archetype. It, therefore, represents femininity in men and masculinity in women.
According to Jung, social influences and expectations discourage men from exploring their feminine side and women from exploring their masculine side, which in turn gets in the way of psychological development.
What Are the theories of Jung?
Theory of Libido
According to Jung, libido was not just sexual energy. It was instead a general form of the human psyche. This psychic energy served to play a significant role in motivating the individual in various aspects of their lives includes spirituality, creativity and intellect. This observation differed slightly from Sigmund Freud’s, who suggested that the libido’s role was sexual gratification.
Theory of the Unconscious
Freud and Jung both agreed that the human psyche was composed of different systems that interacted. The major ones are the ego, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious.
Jung proposed that the ego was made up of the person’s conscious aspect where his emotions, memories and thoughts resided. It was the part of the person he was aware of and played a significant role in their identity. Unlike Freud, Jung suggested that the unconscious mind was made up of the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious.
In the personal unconscious, some complexes consisted of an individual’s attitudes, memories, feelings and thoughts. The personal unconscious had more influence on a person if they had a lot of elements.
The Collective Unconscious
Jung proposed that the collective unconscious consisted of a person’s memories and mental patterns shared with other people. He argued that the human mind was born with specific characteristics stored due to evolution—for instance, fear of darkness or wild animals such as snakes.
What Are The Differences Between Jung and Feud’s Theories?
Regarding the nature and purpose of libido, Feud felt that it is simply a source of psychic energy specific to sexual gratification. On the other hand, Jung felt that libido is a source of psychic energy that motivated a wide range of behaviours and not specific to sexual gratification.
Jung felt that the unconscious mind is a storehouse of memories that an individual repressed, and those memories are specific to the individual and their ancestral past. Feud agreed that it was indeed a storehouse of repressed desires but insisted that those desires were deemed unacceptable by the individual and specific to the individual.
Regarding the cause of human behaviour, Feud saw it as a product of past experiences, specifically those in one’s childhood. Jung agreed with this but pointed out that their future aspirations could also mould human behaviour.
In conclusion, both Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud shared critical ideas that have since become principles that guide modern psychology. Even in their contradictory opinions, they both shed light on crucial knowledge that doctors in the modern day can use to help people deal with any number of mental problems, including fear, anxiety and depression.