Analytical psychology according to Carl Jung

• TYPE OF PSYCHOLOGY: Personality

Jungian analytical psychology is one of the most complex theories of personality. It attempts to improve on Sigmund Freud’s work by deemphasizing sexual instincts and the abnormal side of human nature. Three of its more significant contributions are the notions of psychological types, the concept of the collective unconscious, and the depiction of the unconscious self as the most critical structure within the psyche.

Introduction

Carl Jung founded analytical psychology, perhaps the most complex major theory of personality. This theory includes the presentation and analysis of concepts and principles based on numerous disciplines within the arts and sciences. Because this complexity is combined with Jung’s often-awkward writing, the task of mastering his theory is a challenge even for experts in the field of personality. His key contribution was taking the study of psychology beyond the claims made by Sigmund Freud. Jung’s emphasis on adult development and personality types and his willingness to break with strict Freudian teachings were major contributions within the history of psychology in general and personality in particular.

Jung’s theory can best be understood by examining the key structures he proposes and the dynamics of personality. Jung divides the personality, or psyche, into three levels: at the conscious level, there is the ego. The conscious ego lies at the center of consciousness. In essence, it is the conscious mind—one’s identity from a conscious perspective. It is particularly important to the person whose unconscious self is not yet fully developed. As the unconscious self begins to develop, the importance of the conscious ego diminishes.

Beneath the conscious ego is the personal unconscious. This level involves material that has been removed from the consciousness of the person. This information may leave consciousness through forgetting or repression. Because the personal unconscious is close to the surface, which is consciousness, items in it may be recalled at a later date. The personal unconscious is similar to Freud’s notion of the preconscious. Material within the personal unconscious is grouped into clusters called "complexes." Each complex contains a person’s thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and memories concerning particular concepts. For example, the mother complex contains all personal and ancestral experiences with the concept of mother. These experiences can be both good and bad.

The deepest level of the psyche is called the "collective unconscious." This level contains the memory traces that have been passed down to all humankind as a function of evolutionary development. It includes tendencies to behave in specific ways, such as living in groups or using spoken language. Although individuals have their own unique personal unconscious, all people share the same collective unconscious. The key structures within the collective unconscious that determine how people behave and respond to their environment are labeled "archetypes." Each archetype enables people to express their unique status as human beings.

Archetypes

Archetypes are divided into major and minor archetypes. The major archetypes include the persona, animus, anima, shadow, and self. The persona is the public personality, which the individual displays to be accepted by society. The individual's goal is to balance the needs of the persona with the desire to express their true self. In contrast to the persona, the shadow represents the dark side of the psyche. It includes thoughts and feelings that people typically do not express because they are not social. These cognitions can be held back on either a conscious or an unconscious level. The anima represents the feminine aspects of men, while the animus represents the masculine aspects of women. These archetypes have come about as a function of centuries of interactions between men and women. They have the potential to improve communication and understanding between the sexes. Finally, the most important psychic structure in Jung’s theory is the self. It is the archetype that provides the whole psyche with a sense of unity and stability. The major goal of people’s lives is to optimize the development of the self.

Psychic Structures and Personalities

In an effort to optimize the development of the self, people develop their own psychological type. Each type (Jung conceived of eight types) consists of a combination of a person’s basic attitude and basic function. Jung’s two attitudes are extroversion and introversion. These terms follow societal stereotypes, with the extrovert being outgoing and confident and the introvert being hesitant and reflective. These attitudes are combined with four basic functions, or ways of relating to the world. These functions are thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting, which are consistent with a general societal view of these terms. Jung used the possible combination of the attitudes and functions to form the eight possible psychological types. Each person is thought to have dominance within one of the available types.

In addition to providing key psychic structures, Jung provided personality dynamics. He claimed that each person is endowed with psychic or libidinal energy. Unlike Freud, however, Jung did not view this energy as strictly sexual. Rather, he perceived it as life-process energy encompassing all aspects of the psyche. According to Jung, this energy operates according to two principles of energy flow: equivalence and entropy. The principle of equivalence states that an increase in energy within one aspect of the psyche must be accompanied by a decrease in another area. For example, if psychic energy is increasing in the unconscious self, it must decrease elsewhere, such as in the conscious ego. The principle of entropy states that when psychic energy is unbalanced, it will seek a state of equilibrium. For example, it would not be desirable to have the majority of one’s psychic energy located in the conscious ego. The energy needs of the other levels of consciousness must also be met.

Jung’s psychic structures, along with his views on the dynamics of personality, have provided psychologists with a wealth of information to consider, many complexities to address, and numerous possible ways to apply his ideas to human development and personality assessment.

Realization of Self

Jung made significant contributions to knowledge of areas such as human development and personality assessment. In terms of human development, Jung emphasized that personality development occurs throughout the life of the person. This was critical in that Freud’s theory, the dominant theory at that time, emphasized the first five years of life in examining personality development. The overall goal of the person in Jung’s approach to development is the realization of the self, which is a long and difficult process. Unlike Freud, Jung was particularly interested in development during the adulthood years. He emphasized the changes that occur beginning at the age of thirty-five or forty. He believed that this was often a time of crisis in the life of the person. This notion of a midlife crisis (which Jung experienced himself) has continued to be the source of significant theoretical and empirical claims.

Jung believed that the concept of a crisis during middle age was necessary and beneficial. Often, a person has achieved a certain level of material success and needs to find new meaning in life. This meaning can be realized by shifting from the material and physical concerns of youth to a more spiritual and philosophical view of life. The person seeks gradually to abandon the emphasis on the conscious ego that is dominant in youth. A greater balance between the unconscious and conscious is pursued. If this is successfully achieved, the person can reach a state of positive psychological health that Jung labeled "individuation." Perhaps the key to the midlife years in Jung’s theory is that these are the years in which the person is attempting to discover the true meaning of life. Finally, Jung stated that religion can play an important role in life during midlife and old age. During midlife, a sense of spirituality rather than materialism is important in personality development; looking at the possibility of life after death can be positive for the older adult.

Assessment Techniques

Jung made use of several interesting assessment techniques in addressing the problems of his patients. Like Freud, Jung was an advocate of the case study method. He believed that much could be learned through an in-depth analysis of the problems of his patients. In his cases, Jung made extensive use of dream analysis. Jung maintained that dreams serve many purposes. They can be used to address and resolve current conflicts or to facilitate the development of the self. Dreams can therefore be oriented toward the future. While Freud focused his analysis on individual dreams, Jung would examine a group of dreams to uncover the problems of the patient. This examination of multiple dreams was viewed by Jung as a superior approach to gaining access to the deeper meanings of dreams, which could often be found in the collective unconscious.

Another important assessment device used by Jung that has continued to have applications is the word-association test. In this test, a person responds to a stimulus word with whatever comes to mind. Jung originally worked with a group of one hundred stimulus words and would focus on issues such as the response word given by the patient, the length of time it took the patient to respond, the provision of multiple responses, the repetition of the stimulus word, and the absence of a response. These and other factors could be used to establish the existence of an underlying neurosis, as well as specific conflicts and complexes.

Split with Freud

The development of Jung’s analytical psychology can be traced to the development of his relationship with Freud and the subsequent split that occurred between the two theorists. In 1906, Jung published a book that concerned the psychoanalytic treatment of schizophrenia. He sent a copy of this book to Freud, who was thoroughly impressed by Jung’s work. Jung became one of the strongest Freudian advocates from 1907 to 1912. During this time he collaborated with Freud and was viewed by many within psychoanalytic circles as the heir apparent to Freud. Jung had in fact been elected president of the prestigious International Psychoanalytic Association. In 1913 and 1914, however, he abandoned Freud and Freud's psychoanalytic theory. Three basic problems led to this split. The first was Freud’s emphasis on sexuality. Jung believed that while sexual instincts did exist, they should not be emphasized at the expense of other relevant aspects of the psyche. Second, Jung believed that Freud overemphasized abnormality. He maintained that Freud appeared to have little to say about the normal aspects of human nature. Finally, unlike Freud, Jung wished to emphasize the biology of the species rather than the biology of the individual.

The split between Freud and Jung was important for practical as well as theoretical reasons. Jung was rejected for a period of time by other analytically oriented thinkers because of his split with Freud. In addition, the break with Freud led Jung to experience a mental crisis that lasted for several years. This combination of factors eventually led Jung to conclude that he must develop his own view of the psyche, along with appropriate treatment techniques.

Although the challenges encountered by Jung in his life were difficult to overcome, they clearly played a major role in his ability to develop the most complex theory of personality ever formulated. His key concepts and psychic structures, including the collective unconscious, personal unconscious, archetypes, self, and personality typology, continue to be among the most interesting theoretical contributions in the history of personality psychology.

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