Carl Gustav Jung is considered one of the most influential psychoanalysts of the last century. Basing his theory on Freud's studies of the subconscious, Carl Jung proposed to improve this theory and added an important and novel concept: the collective unconscious and archetypes. Both concepts serve to understand how our mind works individually and socially.
Despite the fact that today psychoanalysis is a little practiced discipline, it continues to greatly influence the way we understand psychology and later psychotherapies. You want to know the archetypes of Carl Gustav Jung? Then do not miss this article on Psychology-Online, in it you will find the definition and a list with examples of the types of archetypes that this great psychologist proposed.
Index
- Carl Jung and his definition of archetypes
- List of all Jungian archetypes
- Male and female archetypes
Carl Jung and the archetypal definition of him.
Carl Gustav Jung was an important psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who developed a psychoanalytic theory in which he introduced two main ideas: the collective unconscious and the archetypes.
The collective unconscious
In order to Carl Jung, the unconscious can be divided into personal and collective. In both cases, Jung defines it as "all unconscious psychic contents or processes, that is, not related to the ego in a perceptible way"[1]
However, for the Swiss psychoanalyst it was important to separate the individual processes (personal unconscious) of those ideas, instincts and natural impulses shared by a large part of society (collective unconscious)
We define the collective unconscious as the interpersonal elements set - usually subliminal - that share a set of individuals, such as culture, the idea of art, relationships with other people ...
Carl Jung's archetypes: definition
Together with the theory of the collective unconscious, Jung defines the elements that make it up as archetypes. That is to say: the archetypes are the first the model or shared idea of an element, act or emotion.
In order to better understand this archetype definition, We are going to put an example:
- According to Jung, there is an archetype of motherhood which unconsciously defines how a mother functions and what role she must adopt. Interestingly, many cultures share the same idea without having contacted never.
In addition, according to this psychoanalyst, an individual tends to adopt behaviors and even ways of thinking typical of certain archetypes, we can say that these influence our personality.
List of all Jungian archetypes.
Now that we know the concept of archetype, we are going to reveal all the archetypes by Carl Gustav Jung with list and examples, Which archetype defines you best ?:
The maternal archetype or the mother
Symbolized by the unconscious image of the "Mother Earth", this archetype represents the patient and caring attitude of mothers, Jung affirms that we need to grow up with someone who inspires us that archetype[2] to be able to have a correct mental health.
- Example: the female divinities, Eve, the Virgin Mary (mother of Jesus in the Christian religion),... all they are figures in the culture that are related to the idea of a maternal power, caregiver and powerful.
The paternal archetype or the father
In the same way that the maternal archetype exists, we also find the unconscious father figure. This archetype is defined by being an authority figure.
- Example: in Greek mythology, Zeus (the father of the gods).
The mana or spiritual power
This archetype is somewhat more abstract: we define mana as that archetype related to power, fertility and abundance, Jung stated that this archetype could be symbolized with the phallic symbol.
The shadow
Sigmund Freud defined repressed impulses as something typical of the individual unconscious. However, Carl Gustav Jung tells us about the shadow: an archetype that includes the "dark side of the I", what we consider impulsive and instinctive.
- Example: the sexual impulse, gluttony, greed... according to Jung, the shadow is usually represented in dreams like a snake, a dragon or a demon.
Person
Along with the shadow archetype, the person is one of the most important according to the theory of the collective unconscious. We define the person as the image we give to others, the "public mask"that each individual owns. This archetype can be observed today with the rise of social networks, for example.
Other archetypes
- The boy
- The maid
- The animal
- The wise old man
- The hero
Male and female archetypes.
Two of the great archetypes that are still being implemented in society today are the female and male archetypes.
Anima and Animus
Carl Gustav Jung defined the male and female archetypes as Anima and Animus, being Anima the archetype feminine within the collective unconscious of men and Animus the male archetype within the collective unconscious of women.
Anima is equivalent to the idea of femininity, bond, emotions, sensitivity and eroticism towards women. On the other hand, Animus is defined as the archetype of achievement, the world of ideas and strength. According to Jung's theory, if we achieve a balance of both archetypes in the unconscious of both men and women, we could both benefit from the qualities of the opposite sex[3]
Gender stereotypes and roles
Today we continue to live under a set of gender roles understood as female and male archetypes.
These roles are observed in the media, advertising, in the education we receive... and both are marked by strong ideas that seem to be ingrained in our collective unconscious.
- Female archetype: emotional woman, empathetic, patient, good mother and housewife, weak, dependent ...
- Male archetype: strong, responsible, brave, rational, powerful man, does not get carried away by his feelings ...
As we can see, these stereotypes can generate many social prejudices and affect seriously to the mental health of people if they are very pigeonholed in these archetypes. Fortunately, nowadays, the female and male archetypes are less present in our society and discriminatory attitudes are gradually decreasing.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to The archetypes of Carl Gustav Jung: list with examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Social psychology.
References
- Sharp, D. (1991). CG Jung lexicon: A primer of terms & concepts.
- Jung, C.G. (1991): Archetypes and the collective unconscious. Barcelona: Paidós.
Bibliography
- Jung, C. G. (2014). The archetypes and the collective unconscious. Routledge.
