“He who looks outside dreams. And he who looks inside awakens. ” -Jung Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist who developed the concepts of extroverted and introverted personalities, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychology, religion, and literature for many years. Jung has changed the way we see things today with his theories on introverts and extroverts, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. Jung was born July 26, 1875 in Switzerland. He had a lonely childhood and spent time observing his parents and teachers to try and understand their behavior.
Instead of becoming a clergyman, Jung attended the University of Basel. He then became an assistant physician, and obtained his M. D. from the University of Zurich. Through this work, one of his basic concepts was developed, the wholeness of the psyche. Jung wanted to understand the symbolic meaning of the contents of the unconscious. The theory of the unconscious is very profound and complicated. After taking a break, Jung became interested in the study of mythological and religious symbolism. He created the “Theory of Symbols. ” Jung believed that symbol creation was a key in understanding uman nature.
Symbol meant the best possible expression for something essentially unknown. It is the best possible thing we can do for something we don’t know. We give symbols to something abstract, and they represent something else. Jung suggested two layers to the unconscious psyche. He said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate” (collective-evolution). The first layer was the personal unconscious. It is what a person has acquired in life, but has been forgotten or repressed. The second layer is the collective unconscious.
This contains all the memory traces common to all humankind. These experiences form archetypes, which symbolize situations in a certain way. They can appear as dreams, literature, art, or religion and they have universal meanings. Jung then added the deepest layers, saying that the unconscious function independently of the laws of space, time, and causality. The introvert and extrovert were the main factors of personality. The introvert is reserved, withdrawn, and interested in ideas rather than people. The extrovert is outgoing and socially oriented.
Jung said that a person who had a healthy ersonality could realize these tendencies within himself/ herself, and could choose to express either. That is exactly what we do, we choose which personality to express depending on what situation we are in. Jung also states how the ego represents the conscious mind, it comprises the thoughts, memories, and emotions that a person is aware of. A definite strength of Jung’s theory according to most, are the introvert and extrovert personalities. Most people believe that we have two (or more) personalities and that we choose which one to display based on the people they are around or where hey are at.
Around certain people you can choose to be very outgoing and social, or you can choose to be quite, nervous, and withdrawn. It all has to do with where you are and how you feel you should come off. Most people also comply with the personal unconscious, saying how out of all the things we acquire in life we do forget some of it, and even repress it. Jung’s explanation of “persona” is well known too. The social mask people wear to protect their “real self” is something everyone does and in a way, relates back to introvert and extrovert personalities.
Jung’s heory of the collective unconscious which contains all the memory traces common to humankind is a little out there. Saying that we all share the same memories is a very scary topic but who’s to say it is untrue. Some people say they can almost relate to this in some ways. Sometimes the most bizarre things turn out to be real and most found this part of his theory very interesting. According to Jung, introvert and extrovert are two exclusive attitudes. Introverts are more secluded and comfortable being alone. Their social circle tends to be small and they like to epend on their “me” time.
Introverts will see the world in how it affects them. They are more concerned with their own thoughts and feelings rather than those of others or outside things. Introverts risk losing touch with the outer world and their surroundings. Furthermore, extroverts are the complete opposite. They are more social and friendly. Extroverts prefer going out instead of staying in. They usually have big social circles and are meaningly involved in the world. An extrovert is more aware of what is going on around them and the idea of being alone intimidates them.
Jung states that no one is fully introverted or extroverted, but usually we can associate with one or the other. Also, depending on the situation that you are in, you can choose which personality to show more of. Another component of Jung’s theory are archetypes. An archetype is a model or behavior of a person. Jung had said “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves” (collective-evolution). Jung said that archetypes exist in the collective unconscious. He declared four major archetypes: the self, the shadow, the anima and animus, and the persona.
Jung did not limit archetypes to these however, he said that there was no limit in how many could exist. The self exemplifies the combined unconsciousness and consciousness of an individual. Jung would express the self in a circle, square, or mandala. To create the self you have to complete the process of individualization, in which the aspects of the personality are combined. The shadow is composed by the sex and life instincts. It is part of the unconscious mind and is made up from repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, instincts, and shortcomings.
The shadow is often portrayed as the darker ide of the psyche. It serves as the wildness, chaos, and unknown. Jung said the shadow can appear in dreams or visions and can take the form of monsters, demons, dragons or other dark creatures. Some people deny this root and project it onto others, even though it is present in all of us. The anima is the female image in the male subconscious and the animus is the male image in the female subconscious. It exhibits the “true self” rather than the form we present to others. The joined anima and animus is called the syzygy or divine couple.
It embodies complexion, unification, and wholeness. The persona is the last of the four major archetypes. It is how we show ourselves to the world, it is also known as a mask. It expresses the different social masks we put on when we are in certain groups or situations. It shields the ego from negative images. The persona can appear in dreams and take different forms. Some don’t necessarily agree with his assessments about this. They don’t believe that a certain dream can have a “universal meaning”, or that certain situations are distinguished in one distinct way.
As stated by Jung, our primitive past becomes the basis of the uman psyche, and it directs and influences present behavior. Certain things happen just because, and maybe there isn’t always a reason for it. Carl Jung’s many theories have contributed to society today and will be used in psychology for years to come. As Jung once said, “The word happy would lose it’s meaning if it were not balanced by sadness” (brainyquote). He was a very intriguing and intelligent man, his work will forever remain influential. Jung’s theories on archetypes, the collective unconscious, and introverts and extroverts have changed our perspectives on life.
