What Is Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious?
Sometimes referred to as the "objective psyche," the collective unconscious refers to the idea that a segment of the deepest unconscious mind is genetically inherited and not shaped by personal experience. This notion was originally defined by psychoanalyst Carl Jung.
According to Jung's teachings, the collective unconscious is common to all human beings. Jung also believed that the collective unconscious is responsible for a number of deep-seated beliefs and instincts, such as spirituality, sexual behavior, and life and death instincts.
The Unconscious Mind
History
Born in Switzerland in 1875, Carl Jung founded the school of analytical psychology. He is responsible for proposing and developing the psychological concepts of the collective unconscious, along with introverted and extroverted personalities.
Jung worked with Sigmund Freud, another prominent psychologist during that time. In his early studies, Jung's work affirmed many of Freud's ideas. But as time went on, the two eventually split in their principles of psychology—including their thoughts about the development of the unconscious mind.
The biggest difference between their explanations of the unconscious mind is that Freud believed that it was the product of personal experiences, while Jung believed that the unconscious was inherited from the past collective experience of humanity.
What Is the Purpose of the Collective Unconscious?
According to Jung, the collective unconscious is made up of a collection of knowledge and imagery that every person is born with and is shared by all human beings due to ancestralexperience. Though humans may not know what thoughts and images are in their collective unconscious, it is thought that in moments of crisis, the psyche can tap into it.
Key Concepts of Cark Jung's Collective Unconscious
Understanding Jung's beliefs of the collective unconscious also require understanding the concepts surrounding these beliefs.
Archetypes
Jung believed that the collective unconscious is expressed through universal archetypes. Archetypes are signs, symbols, or patterns of thinking and/or behaving that are inherited from our ancestors.
According to Jung, these mythological images or cultural symbols are not static or fixed. Instead, many different archetypes may overlap or combine at any given time.Some common archetypes that Jung proposed for explaining the unconscious mind include:
- Anima: Symbolized by an idealized woman who compels man to engage in feminine behaviors
- Animus: Woman's source of meaning and power that both creates animosity toward man but also increases self-knowledge
- Hero: Starting with a humble birth, then overcoming evil and death
- Persona: The mask we use to conceal our inner selves to the outside world
- Self: The whole personality; the core of the total psyche
- Shadow: The psyche's immoral and dark aspects
- Trickster: The child seeking self-gratification, sometimes being cruel and unfeeling in the process
- Wise old man: The self as a figure of wisdom or knowledge. For example, wizards and revered teachers frequently appear in the media and marketing messages to reflect this archetype.
What Are Jung's Four Major Archetypes?
In his book "Four Archetypes," Jung shared the archetypes he considered to be fundamental to a person's psychological makeup: mother, rebirth, spirit, and trickster.
What Is Jungian Therapy?
Complex Beliefs
Jung was convinced that the similarity and universality of world religions pointed to religion as a manifestation of the collective unconscious.Thus, deep-seated beliefs regarding spirituality are explained as partially due to the genetically-inherited unconscious.
Similarly, morals, ethics, and concepts of fairness or right and wrong could be explained in the same way, with the collective unconscious as partially responsible.
Phobias
Jung used his theory of the collective unconscious to explain how fears and social phobias can manifest in children and adults for no apparent reason. Fear of the dark, loud sounds, bridges, or blood may all be rooted in this collective unconscious due to an inherited genetic trait.
In support of this, research indicates that some children are afraid of the dark not because of a negative experience they've had during the nighttime, but because darkness activates an exaggerated response by the amygdala—the part of the brain associated with the processing of emotions—resulting in the development of an innate or unprovoked fear.
The Genetics of Phobias
Dreams
Dreams were thought to provide key insight into the collective unconscious. Jung believed that due to the archetypes represented, specific symbols in dreams are universal. In other words, the same symbols mean similar things to different people.
At the same time, Jung believed that dreams are highly personal and that dream interpretation requires knowing a great deal about the individual dreamer. Freud, on the other hand, often suggested that specific symbols represent specific unconscious thoughts.
More than just being repressed wishes, Jung felt that dreams compensate for parts of the psyche that are underdeveloped in our waking lives. This has allowed for the study of dreams as an instrument for research, diagnosis, and treatment for psychological conditions and phobias.
Interpretation of Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious
Historically, there has been some debate around whether the collective unconscious requires a literal or symbolic interpretation.
In scientific circles, a literal interpretation of the collective unconscious is thought to be a pseudoscientific theory. This is because it is difficult to scientifically prove that images of mythology and other cultural symbols are inherited and present at birth.
Conversely, a symbolic interpretation of the collective unconscious is thought to have some scientific grounding because of the belief that all humans share certain behavioral dispositions.
Ongoing Research
Researchers are continuously trying to increase their understanding of the collective unconscious. For instance, a 2015 study suggests that the gut microbiome may play a role in how the unconscious regulates behavior. If so, studies of gut microbes could be a part of the future of psychiatric research.
Another example is a 2022 study published in Digital Geography and Society that investigates the role that the collective unconscious may play in our thoughts and behaviors while interacting on social media platforms. Thus, Jung's ideas continue to be assessed to better understand the collective unconscious and how it works.
Jung's Theory of Personality and Learning Styles
11 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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Carducci B. Carl Jung. Wiley Encylop Personal Indiv Diff: Models Theor. 2020. doi:10.1002/9781119547143.ch13
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Roesler C. Jungian theory of dreaming and contemporary dream research — findings from the research project 'Structural Dream Analysis'. J Analytic Psychol. 2020;65(1):44-62. doi:10.1111/1468-5922.12566
Mills J. Jung as philosopher: Archetypes, the psychoid factor, and the question of the supernatural. Int J Jungian Studies. 2014;6(3):227-242. doi:10.1080/19409052.2014.921226
Dinan TG, Stilling RM, Stanton C, Cryan JF. Collective unconscious: How gut microbes shape human behavior. J Psychiatr Res. 2015;63:1-9. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.02.021
Dabos P. The exclusion of others on Facebook: The technological unconscious, the orientalist unconscious, and the European migrant crisis. Digital Geography Soc. 2022;3:100033. doi:10.1016/j.diggeo.2022.100033
Additional Reading
Cacha L, Poznanski R. Genomic instantiation of consciousness in neurons through a biophoton field theory. J Integr Neurosci. 2014;13(2):253-92. doi:10.1142/S0219635214400081
Dinan T, Cryan J. The microbiome-gut-brain axis in health and disease.Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2017;46(1):77-89. doi:10.1016/j.gtc.2016.09.007
Dinan T, Stilling R, Stanton C, Cryan J. Collective unconscious: how gut microbes shape human behavior. J Psychiat Res. 2015;63:1-9. doi:10.1016/j.psychires.2015.02.021
Kim C. Carl Gustav Jung and Granville Stanley Hall on religious experience. J Relig Health. 2016;55(4):1246-60. doi:10.1007/s10943-016-0237-4
By Lisa Fritscher
Lisa Fritscher is a freelance writer and editor with a deep interest in phobias and other mental health topics.
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