Archetypes in Psychology by Carly Piniaha

     An archetype is a symbol known universally. All humans have symbols they associate with feelings; light symbolizes safety while darkness symbolizes danger. Archetypes can also be used for the human psyche. Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung proposed each human psyche was composed of three parts; the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious. The ego represents a conscious state of mind and the personal unconscious represents all memories, suppressed or not. Collective conscious, he theorized, was the human species collective memories and experiences that was a part of everyone psyches. Jung believed within the collective unconscious existed archetypes. All the people in the world display several main behavioral archetypes, though one is more dominant than others. Jung identified four major archetypes; the self, the shadow, the anima (or animus), and the persona.


The Self
Often described as the god of the archetypes, the self is seen as the connector of all other parts of the psyche. All other elements are subordinate to the self. This archetype acts as the moderator between feelings and impulses. The self holds the balance between the shadow and the persona, the good and the bad within a person. While other archetypes are hidden the self is projected in ones outer personality.

The Shadow    The shadow embodies the chaos and wildness in a person's character. Because of this chaos the shadow tends to pull someone to not obey the rules. Inner fears and thoughts are held within the shadow and are often suppressed by the individual. Just as the name implies the shadow is always looming over a person projecting chaos on their decisions.

The Anima or Animus

The anima is ones true self that not most see. While women have an anima, men have an animus which is more or less the same thing. Jung believed men had one dominant animus while women were more complex and had more parts to theirs. Men's animus were believed to be contributed by the women in their family. Women's on the other hand could come from multiple variables in the person's life. The Anima is believed to be the archetype that connects a soul to the collective unconscious.

The Persona

     The persona is how a human represents themselves to the world. deriving from the Latin term, persona literally means "mask". The persona's main purpose is to protect the anima. This archetype hold more than just one mask but rather dozens depending on the surrounding people.