Free Sample Essays > Psychology
Carl Gustav Jung
subconscious form complexes. Complexes are really suppressed feelings. Complexes are often highly visible to people, but unfelt by the individual who has the complex. Complexes can be revealed by word association, which will cause hang-ups if a certain word is mentioned. A strong or total complex will dominate the life of a person, and a weak or partial complex will drive a person in a direction of it, but not too strongly. A complex, as Jung discovered, need not be a hindrance to a person's adjustment. "They can be and often are sources of inspiration and drive that are essential for outstanding achievement" (Aurelio, 1995, p.351).
"The collective unconscious is hereditary. It sets up the pattern of one's psyche"(Kremer, 1990, p.2). An inherited collection of primordial images is stored here. They are universal inclinations that all people have in common somewhere by means of heredity. The four important archetypes that play very significant roles in everyone's personality are Persona, Anima (us), Shadow, and the Self.
Persona is derived from the Latin word meaning "mask". In Jungian psychology, the persona archetype serves a similar purpose; it enables one to portray a character that is not necessarily his or her own. The persona is the mask or facade one exhibits publicly, with the intention of presenting a favorable impression so that society will accept him (Nehr, 1996).
Anima and Animus is what Jung referred to as the "inward face" of the psyche. The "inward face" he called the anima in males and the animus in females. The anima archetype is the female side of the masculine psyche; the animus archetype is the masculine side of the female psyche. Man has developed his anima archetype by continuous exposure to women over many generations, and woman has developed her animus archetype by her exposure to men (Heaney, 1994).
According to Mannis (1997), the "Shadow" is what Jung referred to as "the negative side of the personality, the unpleasant qualities we like to hide". When one is not conscious of their "shadow", they give it more power. "Usually, the qualities we dislike the most in others, are the unknown qualities in our shadow" (Kremer, 1999, p.4).
"The self represents all archetypes working together" (Heaney, 1994, p.29). Jung used the words extraversion and introversion to show how one's personality is. Those who lean towards extraversion are usually socially accepted. They are outgoing and very sociable. Those who lean towards introversion tend to keep to themselves and are not very sociable.
One's psyche works together three ways. One structure may compensate for the weakness of another structure (Jurkevich, 1991). One component may oppose another component, and two or more structures may unite to form a synthesis. Compensation may be illustrated by the contrasting attitudes of extraversion and introversion. If extraversion is the dominant or superior attitude of the conscious ego, then the unconscious will compensate by developing the repressed attitude of introversion. Compensation also occurs between functions. A person thinking or feeling in his conscious mind will be an intuitive, sensation type unconsciously. This [next page]