Carl Jung’s Theory

The works of Carl Jung are included in the psychodynamic theory. Jung was a close follower of Sigmund Freud and he helped in building the psychoanalytic theories. Jung and Freud worked together due to both of their interests in the unconscious mind. However, the two later split due to Freud’s constant emphasis on the libido. Jung and Freud could also not agree on the subject of collective consciousness.

Carl Jung’s Theory

Carl Jung’s theory is based on the Collective consciousness. It is the belief that individuals are connected to their ancestral lineage through various forms of experiences. The collective consciousness is then used to perceive the world.

The collective unconscious consists of mental patterns, events recurring in myths, cultural beliefs, characters which are shared with other people even though they had unlikely been in contact.

The key point is all these stories mentioned have similar elements that play the same role. Jung referred to these key elements as archetypes.

Jung’s Archetypes

Jung stated that the human history cannot be defined by the elements from the unconscious mind rather, we can identify patterns or archetypes which influence present behavior.

Jung identified four archetypes in his work. They include:

• The persona
• The self
• The Animus
• The shadow

Jung’s Personality types

Carl Jung also contributed to the development of personality types when he analyzed how individuals react differently. He therefore developed two reaction styles that influenced the basic drives in an individual. The two reaction styles he named extroversion and introversion. This view of personality types was later supported by other researchers unlike the archetypes that were deemed controversial.

Differences between Jung and Freud’s Theories