Answer to Question #292702 in Psychology for Sheza

Question

According to the archetypes universal concepts of personality—described by Jung. Examples of these are the animus and anima, and the shadow and persona.

• Can you readily recognize any of the archetypes  in your everyday life (e.g., in people that you know, in historical/political figures)?

• What are some examples of these archetypes in literature or film?

• Do you subscribe to Jung’s theory that these archetypes are: (a) universal, and (b) something we are born with? Do they seem to exist across cultures? Does it appear that Jung was drawing from his experiences as a European man in describing these archetypes, or did he incorporate/account for concepts from other cultural traditions as well?

• Aside from Jung’s neo-analytic viewpoint, are there any plausible alternative explanations for why some/all of these archetypes may be so prevalent?

Answer 1

An archetype is an emotion, character type, or event that is notably recurrent across the human experience. In the arts, an archetype creates an immediate sense of familiarity, allowing an audience member to relate to an event or character without having to necessarily ponder why they relate.

a)     Because society is not what it was when Carl Jung created the concept of the archetype, the classic archetypes from long ago don't apply to us today. Instead, new archetypes have been created to fit our roles in modern day society. These archetypes include: the advocate, the caregiver, the athlete, and the artist.

b)     Some examples of archetype in literature include; the hero, the mother figure, the mentor, and the sidekick.

c)     Carl Jung's theory is the collective unconscious (universal). He believed that human beings are connected to each other and their ancestors through a shared set of experiences. We use this collective consciousness to give meaning to the world. They create a psychological registry of universal experience that Jung named the “collective unconscious,” which forms a treasury of powerful, shared images and symbols that are expressed in dreams, art, fairy tales, stories, myths, and religious motifs from across widely different times and cultures.

d)    Yes there are possible alternative explanations for why some/all of these archetypes. Four notable neo-Freudians include Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Carl Jung (pronounced “Yoong”), and Karen Horney (pronounced “HORN-eye”).