Personal Development

1.
The Persona archetype
First among the archetypes is the persona. The persona is how we present ourselves to the
world. The word "persona" is derived from a Latin word that literally means "mask." It is not a
literal mask, however.
The persona represents all of the different social masks that we wear among various groups and
situations. It acts to shield the ego from negative images. According to Jung, the persona may
appear in dreams and take different forms.
Over the course of development, children learn that they must behave in certain ways in order
to fit in with society's expectations and norms. The persona develops as a social mask to contain
all of the primitive urges, impulses, and emotions that are not considered socially acceptable.
The persona archetype allows people to adapt to the world around them and fit in with the
society in which they live. However, becoming too closely identified with this archetype can
lead people to lose sight of their true selves.
2. The Shadow archetype
The shadow is an archetype that consists of the sex and life instincts. The shadow exists as part
of the unconscious mind and is composed of repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, instincts, and
shortcomings. The shadow forms out of our attempts to adapt to cultural norms and
expectations.
It is this archetype that contains all of the things that are unacceptable not only to society. but
also to one's own personal morals and values. It might include things such as envy. greed,
prejudice, hate, and aggression.
Jung suggested that the shadow can appear in dreams or visions and may take a variety of
forms. It might appear as a snake, a monster, a demon, a dragon, or some other dark, wild, or
exotic figure.
This archetype is often described as the darker side of the psyche, representing wildness, chaos,
and the unknown. These latent dispositions are present in all of us. Jung believed, although
people sometimes deny this element of their own psyche and instead project it on to others.
3. The Anima or Animus archetype
The anima is a feminine image in the male psyche, and the animus is a male image in the
female psyche 5 The animalanimus represents the "true self" rather than the image we present
to others and serves as the primary source of communication with the collective unconscious.
Jung believed that physiological changes as well as social influences contributed to the
development of sex roles and gender identities. Jung suggested the influence of the animus and
anima archetypes were also involved in this process. According to Jung, the animus represents
the masculine aspect in women while the anima represented the feminine aspect in men.
These archetypal images are based upon both what is found in the collective and personal
unconscious. The collective unconscious may contain notions about how women should behave
while personal experience with wives, girlfriends, sisters, and mothers contribute to more
personal images of women.
In many cultures, however, men and women are encouraged to adopt traditional and often
rigid gender roles Jung suggested that this discouragement of men exploring their
feminine aspects and women exploring their masculine aspects served to undermine
psychological development.
4. The Self
The self is an archetype that represents the unified unconsciousness and consciousness of an
individual Jung often represented the self as a circle, square, or mandala.
Creating the self occurs through a process known as individuation, in which the various aspects
of personality are integrated. Jung believed that disharmony between the unconscious and the
conscious mind could lead to psychological problems. Bringing these conflicts into awareness
and accommodating them in conscious awareness was an important part of the individuation
process Jung suggested that there were two different centers of personality:
a. The ego makes up the center of consciousness, but it is the self that lies at the center of
personality.
b. Personality encompasses not only consciousness but also the ego and the unconscious mind.
You can think of this by imagining a circle with a dot right at the center. The entire circle makes
up the self, where the small dot in the middle represents the ego. For Jung, the ultimate aim
was for an individual to achieve a sense of cohesive self, similar in many ways to Maslow's
concept of self-actualization.

Personal Development

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1.

The Persona archetype

2. The Shadow archetype

3. The Anima or Animus archetype

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