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Primer of Jungian Psychology
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Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was a son of a minister in Switzerland. He was
born on July 26, in the small village of Kesswil on Lake Constance. He was
named after his grandfather, a professor of medicine at the University of
Basel. He was the oldest child and only surviving son of a Swiss Reform
pastor. Two brothers died in infancy before Jung was born. Jung's mother was
a neurotic and often fought with his father. Father was usually lonely and
very irritable. When the child could not take his mother's depressions and his
parents' fights, he sought refuge in the attic, where he played with a wooden
mannikin. Carl was exposed to death early in life, since his father was a
minister and attended many funerals, taking his son with him. Also, Jung saw
many fishermen get killed in the waterfalls and also many pigs get slaughtered.
When he was eleven, he went to a school in Basel, met many rich people and
realized that he was poor, compared to them. He liked to read very much
outside of class and detested math and physical education classes. Actually,
gym class used to give him fainting spells (neurosis) and his father worried
that Jung wouldn't make a good living because of his spells. After Carl found
out about his father's concern, the faints suddenly stopped, and Carl became
much more studious.
He had to decide his profession. His choices included archeology, history,
medicine, and philosophy. He decided to go into medicine, partly because of
his grandfather. Carl went to the University of Basel and had to decide then
what field of medicine he was going to go into. After reading a book on
psychiatry, he decided that this was the field for him, although psychiatry was
not a respectable field at the time. Jung became an assistant at the
Burgholzli Mental hospital in Zurich, a famous medical hospital. He studied
under Eugen Bleuler, who was a famous psychiatrist who defined schizophrenia.
Jung was also influenced by Freud with whom he later became good friends.
Freud called him his crown-prince. Their relationship ended when Jung wrote a
book called "Symbols of Transformation." Jung disagreed with Freud's
fundamental idea that a symbol is a disguised representation of a repressed
wish. I will go into that later. After splitting up with Freud, Jung had a 2
year period of non-productivity, but then he came out with his "Psychological
Types," a famous work. He went on several trips to learn about primitive
societies and archetypes to Africa, New Mexico to study Pueblo Indians, and to
India and Ceylon to study eastern philosophy. He studied religious and occult
beliefs like I Ching, a Chinese method of fortune telling. Alchemy was also
one of his interests. His book, "Psychology and Alchemy," published in 1944 is
among his most important writings. He studied what all this told about the
human mind. One of his methods was word association, which is when a person is
given a series of words and asked to respond to them. Abnormal response or
hesitation can mean that the person has a complex about that word.
His basic belief was in complex or analytical psychology. The goal is
psychosynthesis, or the unification and differentiation of the psyche (mind).
He believed that the mind started out as a whole and should stay that way.
That answered structural, dynamic, developmental questions. I will attempt to
restate the major ideas and terms in this book in a pseudo-outline. It will
make the understanding a bit more clear.
STRUCTURE
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Jung said that there are three levels of mind. Conscious, Personal
Subconscious, and Collective Subconscious. The conscious level serves four
functions. The following are the functions of people (not types!):
A. Thinking: connecting ideas in ordered strings.
B. Feeling: evaluating ideas upon feelings about them.
C. Sensing: wanting to get experiences.
D. Intuiting: following unfounded ideas.
A & B are called rational, and C & D are called irrational. If they don't
make much sense, they will be explained in more detail after explaining Types.
There are also 2 classes of conscious behavior:
A. Introverted, which are people who are content to stay within their own
psyche. They base their whole life on analyzing their mind.
B. Extroverted, which are people who seek out other people. They care about
the outside world and adjust to it.
Also, one of the two classes usually dominates, and rarely does one see an
individual with perfectly balanced classes of behavior. Jung said that an ego
is a filter from the senses to the conscious mind. All ego rejections go to
the personal subconscious. The ego is highly selective. Every day we are
subjected to a vast number of experiences, most of which do not become
conscious because the ego eliminates them before they reach consciousness.
This differs from Freud's definition of ego, which we studied in class. The
personal subconscious acts like a filing cabinet for those ego rejections.
Clusters of related thoughts in the personal subconscious form Complexes. One
type of complex we have talked about in class is the Oedipus Complex. For
example, if one has a mother complex, (s)he can not be independent of his/her
mother or a similar figure. Complexes are often highly visible to people, but
unfelt by the individual who has the complex. As already mentioned, complexes
can be revealed by word association, which will cause hang-ups, if mentioned.
A strong or total complex will dominate the life of a person, and 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. In fact, quite the contrary. They can be and often are sources of
inspiration and drive which are essential for outstanding achievement.
Complexes are really suppressed feelings. Say you want to be a fireman, but
your parents don't let you, so you might have suppressed feelings about it and
let it drive you, so you might think that firemen are heroes, because you never
could be one.
The Collective Subconscious is hereditary. It sets up the pattern of one's
psyche. A collection of so called primordial images which people inherit, also
called archetypes are 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. Here is a brief explan ation of
each.
Persona - from Latin word meaning "mask." Something actors wore to portray a
certain personality. In Jungian psychology, the persona archetype
serves a similar purpose; it enables one to portray a character
that is not necessarily his own. The persona is the mask or facade
one exhibits publicly, with the intention of presenting a
favourable impression so that society will accept him. This is
necessary for survival, for the reason that it enables us to get
along with people, even those we diskike, in an amicable manner.
Say, you have to get a job, and what is expected of you is such
personal characteristics such as grooming, clothing, and manners,
so even if you don't exhibit those at home, you have to demonstrate
them at work, in order to get this job. A person may also have
more than one persona.
Anima, Animus - Jung called the persona the "outward face" of the psyche
because it is that face which the world sees. 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
continous exposure to women over many generations, and woman
has developed her animus arch etype by her exposure to men.
Anima and animus archetype, like that of the persona, have
strong survival value. If a man exhibits only masculine
traits, his feminine traits remain unconscious and therefore
these traits remain undevel oped and primitive. This, if you
will remember, is like Jack, who was a macho guy, and was
encouraged to discard all feminine traits. Jung said that
since this image is unconscious, it is always unconsciously
projected upon the person of the beloved, (i.e. girlfriend)
and is one of the chief reasons for passionate attraction or
aversion. So, for example, if I always thought that women
were nagging, then I would project that notion onto my wife,
and think that she is nagging, although she is perfectly
customary. If he experiences a "passionate attraction," then
the woman undoubtedly has the same traits as his anima-image
of woman. Western civilization seems to place a high value
on conformity and to disparage femininity in men and
masculinity in women. The disparagement beings in childhood
when "sissies" and "tomboys" are ridiculed. Peter was
expected to be kind and gentle, which would bring deri sion.
Boys are simply expected to conform to a culturally specified
masculine role and girls to a feminine role. Thus, the
persona takes precedence over and stifles the anima or
animus.
The Shadow - This is another archetype that represents one's own gender and
that influences a person's relationships with his own sex. The
shadow contains more of man's basic animal nature than any other
archetype does. Because of its extremely deep roots in
evolutionary history, it is probably the most powerful and
potentially the most dangerous of all the archetypes. It is the
source of all that is best and worst in man, especially in his
relations with others of the same sex. In order for a person to
become an integral member of the community, it is necessary to
tame his animal spirits contained in the shadow. This taming is
accomplished by suppressing manifestations of the shadow and by
developing a strong persona which counteracts the power of the
shadow. For example, if a person suppresses the animal side of
his nature, he may become civilized, but he does so at the
expense of decreasing the motive power for spontaneity,
creativity, strong emotions, and deep insights. A shadowless
life tends to become shallow and spiritless. The shadow is
extremely persistent and does not yield easily to suppression.
Say, a farmer was in spired to be a psychology teacher.
Inspirations are always the work of the shadow. The farmer does
not think this inspiration is feasible at the time, probable
since his persona as a farmer is too strong, so he rejects it.
But the idea keeps plaguing him, because of the persistent
pressure exerted by the shadow. Finally, one day he gives in
and turns from farming to teaching psychology. When the ego and
the shadow work in close harmony, the person feels full of life
and vigor.
The Self - The concept of the total personality or psyche is a central
feature of Jung's psychology. This wholeness, as pointed out in
the discussion of the psyche, is not achieved by putting the parts
together in a jigsaw fashion; it is there to begin with, although
it takes time to mature. It is sometimes manifested in dreams, it
leads to self realization, its the driving force to be a complete
person! The self is the central archetype in the col lective
unconscious, much as the sun us the center of the solar system.
It unites the personality. When a person says he feels in harmony
with himself and with the world, we can be sure that the self
archetype is performing its work effectively.
There are three ways how your psyche works together. One structure may
compensate for the weakness of another structure, 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 devel oping the
repressed attitude of introversion. Compensation also occurs between function,
which I briefly mentioned earlier. A person who stresses thinking or feeling
in his conscious mind will be an intuitive, sensation type unconsciously. As
we studied in class, this balance, which compensation provides us with, is
healthy. It prevents our psyches from becoming neurotically unbalanced. We
need to have a little Peter and Jack in all of us. Opposition exists
everywhere in the personality: between the persona and the shadow, between the
persona and the anima, and between the shadow and the anima. The contest
between the rational and irrational forces of the psyche never ceases either.
One's integrity of "self" can actually determine whether or not this opposition
will cause a shattering of a personality. Must personality always by a house
divided against itself, though? Jung thought not. There can always be a union
of opposites, a theme that looms very large in Jung's writings.
DYNAMICS
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The psyche is a relatively closed system that has only a fixed amount of
energy also called Values, which is the amount of energy devoted to a component
of the mind. There are some channels into the psyche through which ene rgy can
enter in form of experiences. If the psyche were a totally closed systems, it
could reach a state of perfect balance, for it would not be subjected to
interference from the outside. The slightest stimulus may have far-reaching
consequences on one's mental stability. This shows that it is not the amount
of energy that is added, but the disruptive effects that the added energy
produces within the psyche. These disruptive effects are caused by massive
redistributions of energy within the system. It takes only the slightest
pressure on the trigger of a loaded gun to cause a great disaster. Similarly,
it may take only the slightest addition of energy to an unstable psyche to
produce large effects in a person's behavior. Psychic energy is also called
Libido. It is not to be confused with Freud's definition of libido. Jung did
not restrict libido to sexual energy as Freud did. In fact, this is one of the
essential differences in the theories of the two men. It can be classified as
actual or potential forces that perform psychological work. It is often
expressed in desires and wants for objects. The values for things are hidden
in complexes.
The psyche is always active, yet it is still very difficult for people to
accept this view of a continuously active psyche, because there is a strong
tendency to equate psychic activity with conscious activity. Jung, as well as
Freud, hammered away at this misconception, but it persists even today. The
source of psychic energy is derived from one's instincts and diverted into
other uses. Like a waterfall is used to create energy, you have to use your
instincts to turn into energy as well. Otherwise, just like the waterfall,
your instincts are completely fruitless. For example, if you think that to get
a beautiful wife, you have to be rich, so you direct your sexual drive into a
business persona, which will bring you money.
There are two principles of psychic dynamics. What happens to all that
energy?
1. Principle of Equivalence. Energy is not created nor destroyed. If it
leaves something, it has to surface. For example, if a child devoted a lot of
energy to reading comics, it might be redirected into a different persona, som
ething like being Mr. Cool Dude! He then will loose interest in reading
comics. Energy also has an inclination to carry tendencies of its source to
its destination.
2. Principle of Entropy. Energy usually flows from high to low. If you
have a highly developed structure (persona, for example), instead of
equalizing, it may start drawing values from other systems to boost itself even
higher. Such highly energized systems have a tendency to go BOOOOM! So,
entropy can destroy those high energy systems if they get too big. The
operation of the entropy principle results in an equilibrium of forces. Just
like two bodies of different temperatures touching each other would soon
equalize temperatures. The hotter one will transfer heat to the cooler one.
Once a balance is reached in your psyche, according to Jung, it will be then
difficult to disturb. Tho se two principles influence the following:
Progression and Regression. Progression is the advance of psychological
adaptation. For example, if you need a shadow (creativity, perhaps), you will
try to develop one. When conflicting traits loose power, your psyche enters
regression. Say, your persona and shadow are in opposition and because they
are in opposition, they both would be suppressed, because neither would get
enough libido, or energy.
DEVELOPMENT
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Jung stated that there are basically four stages of life. They are
Childhood, Youth and Young Adulthood, Middle Age, and Old Age. In the
beginning (childhood), a person's psyche is undefferentiated and this person
becomes a projection of the parents psyche. Children are not individuals in
the beginning of their life, because their ir memories don't have too much
stored in them and they lack a sense of continuity because of that. As they
gain experience, they realize that they are their own person and not their
parents' projection. The stage of youth and adulthood is announced by the
physiological changes that occur during puberty. During this stage, an
individual establishes his/her position in life. His vocation and marriage
partner are determined. A person usually uses his Anima and Shadow to d ecide
those things. Values are channeled into his establishment in the outside
world. Once one is independent, even a small experience can influence him
greatly. The Middle Age is the one often neglected by psychiatrists. Lots of
people have problems in this stage. They usually don't know what to do with
the energy left over that was devoted to establishing positions in society as
youth. As the principle of entropy suggests, the energy is conserved, so once
an adult put it to use, he must redirect it elsewhere. Jung stated that those
left-over energies can be usefully diverted into spiritual contemplation and
expansion. Nothing much happens in old age. People have so much energy of
experiences in their psyche that even a major experience won't upset their
psychological balance.
Often, society will force people to assume prefered types. Types are
categories of classifications of psyches which are non-absolute and have no
definite boundaries. There are eight "types." Types are combinations of
functions and attitudes (page 3). The following are the eight main types:
1. Extraverted Thinking Type. This type of man elevates objective thinking
into the ruling passion of his life. He is typified by the scientist who
devotes his energy to learning as much as he can about the objective
world. The most developed extraverted thinker is an Einstein.
2. Introverted Thinking Type. This type is inward-directed in his thinking.
He is exemplified by the philosopher or existential psychologist who
seeks to understand the reality of his own being. He may eventually
break his ties with reality and become schizophrenic.
3. Extraverted Feeling Type. This type, which Jung observes is more
frequently found in women, subordinates thinking to feeling.
4. Introverted Feeling Type. This type is also more commonly found among
women. Unlike their extraverted sisters, introverted feeling persons
keep their feelings hidden from the world.
5. Extraverted Sensation Type. People of this type, mainly men, take an
interest in accumulating facts about the external world. They are
realistic, practical, and hardheaded, but they are not particularly
concerned about what things mean.
6. Introverted Sensation Type. Like all introverts, the introverted
sensation type stands aloof from external objects, immersing himself in
his own psychic sensations. He considers the world to be banal and
uninteresting.
7. Extraverted Intuitive Type. People of this type, commonly women, are
characterized by flightiness and instability. They jump from situation
to situation to discover new possibilities in the external world. They
are always looking for new worlds to conquer before they have conquered
old ones.
8. Introverted Intuitive Type. The artist is a representative of this type,
but it also contains dreamers, prophets, visionaries, and cranks. He
usually thinks of himself as a misunderstood genius.
Variations in the degree to which each of the attitudes and functions are
consciously developed or remain unconscious and undeveloped can produce a wide
range of differences among individuals.
This book is an extremely valuable source of thought provoking logic. Jung
wrote with common sense, passion, and compassion, and the reader experiences a
"shock of recognition"; he will recognize truths he has known, but which he has
not been able to express in words. This book made me think about myself, and
people in general. How people's minds work, including my own. I found a lot
of "truth" or at least I though I did in Jung's teachings. I could relate some
of the reading material to elements studied in class. One will be astounded by
the number of Jung's ideas that anticipated those of later writers. Many of
the new trends in psychology and related fields are indebted to Jung, who first
gave them their direction. The book is also interesting, because of its
challenging nature. I suppose that not all people would enjoy reading such
type of literature, since many people in this world are sensational types. I
certainly did enjoy it, and have found out some things about myself in the
process. The book is very well written. It has many good analogies and
explanations which even the most sensational type would understand. The
collection of information is tremendous. There is so much information bundled
in 130 pages, that it makes you think that 500 pages would not be enough to
really explain deeply the subject matter. This book can be faultlessly us ed
as a textbook, which could prove to be salutary in psychology classes. I
strongly recommend reading this book to all audiences that want to. A person,
content with the world around him, not wishing to challenge the puzzles of
nature, should not. This book is a treasure for all who seek to explore the
human mind.
Ilya Shmulevich