Analysis of a Personality

LASA 2: Analysis of a Personality

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LASA 2: Analysis of a Personality

Carl Jung is one of the famous theorists in personality development, where the Swiss psychologist is widely known for their theoretical grounding, which is much helpful in different settings today; especially in the clinical practice (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012). This theorist is greatly appreciated for their contribution towards analytical psychology, which is used to differentiate between the conscious and the unconscious in an individual’s mind. In this case, the conscious and the unconscious in a person’s mind help in understanding their personality, which is utilized in coming up with suitable interventions in the clinical environment. With the establishment of psychoanalysis, it became possible for the therapists to guarantee mental and physical wellness among patients (Henderson, 2015). This is because Jung focused more on mental health as a way in which physical wellness can be assured by the clinicians in different fields of healthcare delivery. This paper will dwell on different aspects of Carl Jung, including personal life experiences and a comparison of their work to the Freudian perspective, among others.

The Major Life Events of the Theorist

In the entire life of Carl Jung, there are major events which helped in shaping up their desire to have a great understanding of personality development, which takes place in the human mind and influences their behavior from one day to another (Eidenberg, 2014). For instance, in his early life, Jung believed that they had two personalities which made other people to fail to understand them, especially family members and childhood friends (Eidenberg, 2014). The presence of parents with different personalities enabled Jung to have great exposure towards cultural and religious make-up of an individual, boosting his level of understanding regarding the two as he grew up (Eidenberg, 2014).

Carl Jung was involved in an accident at a young age where they temporarily lost their consciousness, a situation which boosted their desire towards understanding of the role of the conscious and the unconscious mind in the psychological health of an individual (Eidenberg, 2014). In addition, Jung’s meeting with Sigmund Freud after their university education acted as a stepping stone towards their psychology career, where they joined hands towards research on different aspects of human behavior after studying their mental processes (Eidenberg, 2014). With such a professional collaboration between the two, Jung gained global recognition where they continued meeting new people and receiving new ideas on personality development. The continued engagement of Jung with other psychologists resulted into the establishment of psychoanalysis across the United States, where his work started to be used in different organizational settings to understand human behavior (Eidenberg, 2014).

Cultural Influences That Had an Influence on the Chosen Theorist’s Personality Development

The personality development of Carl Jung was influenced by a number of cultural factors, which enabled him to develop a greater understanding of human mental processes which dictate their behavior (Church, 2000). For instance, Jung was raised in a family which the father and mother had sticking differences in their personalities, where they usually strained each other, especially in decision-making processes (Church, 2000). At such a young age, Jung began to create interest in understanding the reason for the emotional strain between his parents (Church, 2000). In this case, such an interest led Jung to undertake psychiatry, which was the best choice for the understanding of psychological disorders.

Carl Jung was raised by a father, who was a religious leader, facilitating a better understanding of the role of spirituality in human behavior which they would utilize later to come up with their theory of personality development (Church, 2000). With both parents being grounded in religion, such beliefs continued to accumulate in their unconscious mind, where they became helpful in the establishment of psychoanalysis to treat mental disorders (Church, 2000). This resulted into strong convictions regarding the roles of the unconscious mind in the realization of mental health, especially in clinical settings. On the other hand, the symbols used by different people in early cultures inspired Jung towards their theoretical grounding on personality development since such would be stored by an individual in the unconscious mind and attached to prior events (Church, 2000). In the clinical practice, the therapist would use such symbols to understand the cause of psychological disorders and come up with appropriate interventions.

Analysis of the Person from Freud’s Psychoanalytic Perspective

Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective establishes that mental disorders are caused by stored memories in the unconscious mind, where these events can be traced back to childhood (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012). In this case, it is clear that both Freud and Jung agreed that the unconscious mind plays a major role in the development of mental disorders in a human being, considering the fact that it is a long-term storage. The two theorists pointed out that as more adverse events continue to be accumulated in the unconscious mind, the affected individual starts showing certain behaviors (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012). Such behaviors are utilized by the therapists to establish personalized interventions which restore the mental processes to normalcy.

Sigmund Freud maintained that the human mind entails imaginary parts such as ego and superego, play a great role towards the physical behaviors of an individual (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012). In this way, Jung established such hypothetical parts of the human psyche, which dictate what to be stored and retrieved in and from the unconscious mind. Such hypothetical parts of the unconscious mind help in shaping the personality of an individual, as seen by other people around them. On the other hand, Freud argued that human sexuality played a major role in personality development, with this being a point of divergence between him and Jung. In this case, Jung pointed out that human sexuality was one of the agents of motivation and could not be used as an overriding factor towards the establishment of human behavior (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012).

Analysis from Two Other Theoretical Perspectives

The analysis of Carl Jung’s work on psychoanalysis would dwell on the cognitive as well as behavioral perspectives, which take a center stage in his theoretical grounding (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012). The theory of psychoanalysis is based on an individual’s behaviors which are developed as a result of continued response to external stimuli, some of which can be traced back to childhood. At this point, it is worth noting that the behavioral perspective is in line with Carl Jung’s argument regarding the accumulation of past experiences in the unconscious mind, leading to the development of certain attitudes towards life. In the behavioral approach to psychoanalysis, different people can develop diverse characteristics, depending on their overall exposure to external factors such as religion and culture, which define their ways of life (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012). This implies that without such different external motivations, people would have similar mental behavior which could be predicted from one period to another.

The cognitive perspective is founded on the anticipations as well as feelings of different people regarding diverse life events (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012). From the cognitive perspective, it is clear that the stored experiences in an individual’s unconscious mind dictate their judgments as well as feelings regarding different issues in life. In this case, the therapist utilizes such judgments as well as feelings to treat mental disorders, a course of action which is in line with Carl Jung’s psychoanalytic theory. This makes it possible for a therapist to observe the actions of a patient and listen to their words originating from their thoughts, where such help in the establishment of appropriate interventions in cases regarding mental disorders (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012).

A Summary and Presentation of My Critical Opinion

The cognitive and behavioral perspectives of psychoanalysis define Carl Jung, regarding what they believed and how they utilized their psychiatric skills to develop a model which is used to understand personality development in different organizational settings today (Saroglou, 2013). In this case, Jung’s formal education focused on the treatment as well as prevention of psychological illnesses and disorders, where such skills helped him to understand human cognitive processes in an appropriate manner (Saroglou, 2013). The cognitive theory, which is based on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of human thinking processes, would define Jung’s belief regarding the role of prior experiences in mental functioning (Saroglou, 2013). With Jung undergoing different mental strains during their early childhood, such experiences continued to develop their cognitive processes towards issues taking place among the people around him.

Carl Jung’s exposure to childhood experiences required a great deal of observation and thinking, with such being one of the tenets of the cognitive approach which is used in psychoanalysis to treat mental disorders (Saroglou, 2013). On the other hand, the behavioral theory, as it relates to Jung’s psychoanalysis, clarifies that mental disorders originate from an external inducement, which affects psychological functioning, especially after an individual is exposed to such over a longer period of time (Saroglou, 2013). With Jung taking note of the different religious and cultural issues surrounding their family during their schooling years, such acted as external stimuli towards their development of physical behavior (Saroglou, 2013). Such religious and cultural influence molded Jung’s mental processes, enabling them to develop a model which would come to be universally accepted in different organizations to understand human personality.

Conclusion

In the field of personality development, Carl Jung is one of the pioneers whose works have been utilized in diverse organizational settings to enhance understanding of human behavior. In this case, the psychologist is widely known for their analytical insight regarding the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind, which help in the development of human behavior (Feist J., Feist G., & Roberts, 2012). It is worth noting that Jung worked closely with Sigmund Freud, where they conducted a higher level of research regarding personality, where the two established psychoanalysis, which is applied today in therapeutic procedures.

References

Church, A. T. (2000). Culture and personality: Toward an integrated cultural trait psychology. Journal of Personality, 68(4), 651–703.

Eidenberg, D. (2014). Freud and Jung: A “Psychoanalysis” in letters. Psychological perspectives, 57(1), 7-24. doi:10.1080/00332925.2014.874903

Feist, J., Feist, G., Roberts, T. (12/2012). Theories of Personality, 8th Edition. [Argosy University]. Retrieved from https://digitalbookshelf.argosy.edu/#/books/1260050815/

Henderson, D. (2015). Freud and Jung: The creation of the psychoanalytic universe. Psychodynamic Practice, 21(2), 167-172. doi:10.1080/14753634.2015.1010306

Saroglou, V. (2013). Religion, personality and social behavior. Hoboken: Psychology Press.