Abstract
This paper is aimed at reviewing the role that Cark Jung played in the history and systems of psychology. Close attention will be paid to his ideas related to personality theory.
In particular, it is important to discuss such concepts of archetypes, personality types, introversion, extraversion, and other important elements of Jungian theories. Furthermore, current relevance of his views will be examined. These are the main questions that should be analyzed in more detail.
Introduction
The ideas of Carl Jung have influenced the work of many contemporary psychologists. The diversity of his interests and the depth of his ideas make him one of the prominent thinkers in the history of the twentieth century, even though some of his arguments can be disputed by modern researchers.
In particular, one should pay close attention to his contribution to personality theory that is aimed at explaining different aspects of individual behavior, perception of the world, values, or decision-making. It should be noted that he introduced several concepts that have played an important part in the history of psychology.
For example, one can mention such a notion as archetype, introversion, extroversion, and other terms that are vital for psychological science. Furthermore, one should remember about the concept of collective unconscious that is closely related to personality theory.
Overall, it is possible to say that Jungian theories play a vital part in the history and systems of psychology, even though not all of them have been confirmed in an empirical way. To a great extent, they have enabled researchers to gain better understanding of personality, cognition, or interpersonal relations. This is the main argument that can be put forward about the work of Carl Jung.
The major milestones in the life of Carl Jung and career
At first, it is necessary to provide some background information about the life of this person. He was born in a small Swill village Kesswyl in 1875 (Carducci, 2009, p. 134). His parents were religious, and Jung wanted to pursue a career in theology when he was young. Furthermore, one can say that religious views affected some of his later works (Neukrug, 2010, p. 65).
Later Carl Jung chose to study medicine; in particular, he was willing to become a surgeon (Carducci, 2009, p. 134). However, he ultimately developed a significant interest in various mental phenomena such as fantasies or dreams (Carducci, 2009, p. 135).
Therefore, one can argue that Jung had a wide range of scientific interests. During his stay in Switzerland, Jung started an active correspondence with Sigmund Freud whose ideas profoundly affected Jung’s views on psychology and personality. For a long time, Jung was regarded as the most important follower of Freud (Carducci, 2009, p. 135).
However, one should not forget that Jung did not always agree with Freud. For instance, he did not recognize the importance of sexuality which was regarded by Freud as the main driver of individual behavior. This is one of the points should be considered when discussing the joint work of these thinkers (Carducci, 2009, p. 135).
After his departure from Freud, Jung developed some of the theories that earned him the recognition of other psychologists. During the later period of his life Jung set on an expedition in East Africa in order to understand psychological development people belonging to non-European cultures.
Carl Jung died in 1961 while staying at Kusnacht. These are the most important milestones in the life of this famous psychologist and thinker. Overall, it is possible to say Carl Jung’s life and career suggest that this thinker greatly increased people’s understanding the principles that underlie human behavior. The following sections will present a more detailed discussion of his major achievements.
The main contributions of Carl Jung
Personality theory and archetypes
First all, Carl Jung is credited for the creation of such a concept as archetype which is supposed to describe various aspects of personality. In particular, he believed that an archetype could be defined as a “predisposition to respond to the world in a certain way” (Jung, as cited in Engler 2008, p. 83). This definition is important because it implies that individuals are inclined to behave or think in a certain way.
Sometimes these archetypes can co-exist with one another (Merchant, 2009). For example, one can refer to such an archetype as shadow that includes anti-social feelings, behaviors, and thoughts of an individual (Engler 2008, p. 84). In contrast, there is such an archetype which is called persona. It is often described as a mask that a person wears in order to conform to the norms of the society (Engler 2008, p. 83).
Jung’s theory implies that an individual has to reconcile these archetypes in order interact with others; however, their existence cannot be disregarded. Additionally, one can speak about other important archetypes such as caregiver, jester, hero, explorer, and so forth (Engler 2008, p. 83).
These archetypes highlight the most important detail in the behavior of a person. For example, a hero may be willing to demonstrate his/her courage, skills, or intelligence (Engler 2008). In Jung’s opinion, these archetypes are derived from the common experiences of people (Merchant, 2009).
These notions are helpful for describing personality and behavior. Furthermore, Carl Jung made a connection between the notion of archetype and collective unconsciousness (Carter, 2011, p. 444). In this context, this notion can be defined by as collective feelings, concepts, and or behavior patterns that originate in the common experiences of the humanity (Carter, 2011, p. 444).
This is one of the main concepts that should be kept in mind. Nevertheless, at this point, it is very difficult to show that there are certain collective experiences that are familiar to every person regardless of his/her sex, ethnic belonging, linguistic background, and so forth. This is one of the limitations that people should consider when speaking about the ideas of Carl Jung.
Certainly, at present the notion of archetypes cannot be substantiated in an empirical way, because this idea is not falsifiable. In other words, it is difficult to show that this theory is either right or wrong. Nevertheless, this concept is vital for understand numerous aspects of behavior, for instance, altruism or egoism.
Additionally, Jungian archetypes are vital for explaining such issues as violence, aggression, anxieties, or superstitions. These aspects continue to attract the attention of modern psychologists who to attempt to identify the drivers of group and individual behavior in different settings
. These questions were important for later development of personality theory and the works of other psychologists. Therefore, Jungian conception of archetypes should not be overlooked.
Personality types
It is possible to argue that Jung had a wide range of interests. However, he is often associated with the development of personality types. These concepts are important for modern personality theory. This branch of psychology is aimed at describing the major mental and emotional processes within individual. In this case, one can speak about cognition, motives, learning, and so forth.
In this case, one of the most important task is to single out a set of parameters according to which an individual should be examined. Apart from that, these parameters have to be measurable (Dolliver, 1994). Without them it would have been difficult to study personality. Carl Jung was able to identify some of the most important criteria.
This is one of his major contributions to the field of psychology. It should be taken into account that Carl Jung was among the first psychologists who began to examine such attributes as introversion and extroversion.
In these context, such a notion as introversion can be defined as the orientation to ones inner world, feelings, and ideas (Engler, 2008). Such people are usually less willing to participate in social life and seek interactions with other individuals.
In contrast, extraversion can be described as the extreme concern with the ideas, opinions, and values of other individuals (Engler 2008). Extraverts are often driven by the need to receive some feedback or gratification from other people. This is the main aspect of their personality.
The concepts are mostly related to a person’s perception of the world as well others. Jungian theories laid the foundations of the many tests, for example, one can mention the Myers-Briggs Type indicator (Engler, 2008, p. 85). This questionnaire is supposed to determine how people view the world and take decisions.
For instance, this tool can help researchers determine whether an individual relies on logic or intuition that while making choices (Engler, 2008, p. 85). Additionally, this technique is vital determining whether a person is concerned with his/her inner world or the interactions with other people.
On the whole, Myers-Briggs Type indicator attaches importance to four important criteria, namely introversion versus extroversion, and rationality versus irrationality because they are vital for explaining different aspects of human behavior, opinions, and decision-making (Engler, 2008, p. 85).
Although, this test has been modified several times, it is still widely used by many psychologists who may study such aspects of personality as learning, social relations, leadership skills and many other aspects. Currently, it can be adopted by educators, social scientists, therapists, and many other professionals who have to cooperate with psychologists in their daily work.
It should be taken into consideration that other researchers attempted to elaborate the Myers-Briggs Type indicator in order to make this tool more accurate. For example, psychologists began to focus on such characteristics as openness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness which were not initially mentioned by Carl Jung in his works (Neukrug, 2010).
These criteria are vital for explaining how an individual responds to various stressors or changes in the environment. This example indicates that the ideas of Carl Jung should not be disregarded in part because they stimulated the work of many other researchers (Thorne & Henley, 2005).
To a great extent, he helped modern psychologists develop better research methods that can accurately evaluate and measure different dimensions of personality. Without Jungian theories, the work of modern researchers would have been imperfect.
The introduction of personality types is one of Jung’s major achievements, and these questions are of great relevance to many professionals relying on the data provided by psychologist. This is the main argument that should be taken into account by people who study the works of Carl Jung or evaluate their modern relevance.
These ideas have influenced the work of many researchers. For instance, one can refer to the empirical study carried out by David Pierce (2005) who examines the relationship between a personality type and the behavior in the workplace. This author focuses on the likelihood of sustaining an injury due to some reasons such as carelessness or lack of attention (Pierce, 2005).
In the author view, there is some correlation between these two variables. It seems that the findings of this study can be very valuable. Thus, one should not suppose that Jungian theories are completely overlooked by people conducting empirical studies.
In particular, they can be of great relevant to scientists who may study organizational behavior or the relations among employees. Thus, it is possible to argue that the contributions of Carl Jung should not be reduced only to theoretical aspects of psychology. Such an assumption would hardly be accurate because his theories can sometimes find practical applications.
Other interests of Carl Jung
Apart from that, Jungian theories were important for the development of many forms of therapy. For example, one can mention that many forms of addiction, especially alcoholism. From Jung’s perspective, addiction can be regarded as the disease of the spirit (Neukrug, 2010, p. 65). Therefore, religion can help an individual to overcome this disorder (Neukrug, 2010, p. 65).
As it has been said before, Carl Jung did not completely exclude religion from his theories (Neukrug, 2010, p. 65). Furthermore, Jung suggested the idea of the so-called art therapy since he believed that art could cure a great number of phobias, anxieties, and many forms of psychological traumas (Neukrug, 2010, p. 65). Various forms of art can assist an individual in finding internal peace.
The approaches that this thinker advocated are sometimes adopted as substitutions to conventional psychotherapy, but they are not very widespread. These cases suggest that Carl Jung took interests in various fields of psychology (Carter, 2011).
This is another point that should not be kept in mind by modern scholars and students. Although some of his theories have not found practical implications, but they play an important role in the history of psychology.
Conclusion
Therefore, these examples suggest that Carl Jung can be regarded as one of the most influential theorists in the history of psychology. He had a diverse range of interests, and he tried to explain various aspects of people’s behavior, personality development, and the interactions between or among individuals.
Certainly, some of his ideas have not been confirmed in an empirical way. Nevertheless, some of them continue to attract the interest of researchers. It is possible to say that his major contribution lies in the field of personality theory. By introducing the concept of archetypes and personality type, Carl Jung changed the work of man psychologists whose work became more accurate.
This is the main issues that should be borne in mind. Apart from that, Carl Jung was interested in various forms of therapy. It has to be admitted that many of his ideas can be disputed because they are not always falsifiable.
Despite, these limitations, Jungian theories are revised and reappraised by contemporary psychologists who try to discover something new in these theories. It seems that this interest will not disappear in the future because Jungian works can throw light of many of the questions that researchers study.
Reference List
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Carter, D. (2011). Carl Jung in the twenty-first century. Contemporary Review, 293(1703), 441-451.
Dolliver, R. (1994). Classifying the personality theories and personalities of Adler, Freud, and Jung with Individual Psychology: The Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice, 50(2), 192-202.
Engler, B. (2008). Personality Theories: An Introduction. New York: Cengage Learning.
Merchant, J. (2009). A reappraisal of classical archetype theory and its implications for theory and practice. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 54(3), 339-358.
Neukrug, E. (2010). Counseling Theory and Practice. New York: Cengage Learning.
Pierce, D. (2005). Personality types & injuries. Professional Safety, 50(3), 42-50.
Thorne, B., & Henley, T. (2005). Connections in the history and systems of psychology. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.