Ego, Conscious, Collective, Functions
Consciousness- consciousness arises from the unconscious- it wells up from unknown
depths. It awakens gradually during childhood, and develops all through life. It is likened
to awaking each morning from unconsciousness. Consciousness emerges gradually
through spontaneous ideas, and sudden flashes of thought. (Jung, in Sharp, 43)
Ego is the center of consciousness. It is the subject of consciousness. It is made up of
inherited character, disposition, and through unconsciously learned impressions. AS we
develop ego-consciousness, we think we know ourselves fully. In fact, the ego only
knows its own content, not the content of the unconscious. This aspect of psyche is
largely hidden from us. It’s similar to our knowledge of our physical being- we know
when we feel good, or bad, but we don’t know much of our inner physical systems or
workings. (Sharp) The ego is the center of the conscious mind: our conscious
perceptions, memories, thoughts, and feelings. It is the gatekeeper to consciousness.
Until the ego acknowledges an idea, feeling, memory or perception, it can’t be brought
into awareness. This may be very important for a fragile individual who can’t face
difficult material. But it also retards development. The ego is selective- it receives much
material, but only lets a bit reach awareness. Freud said that if we remembered all our
dreams we would be completely overwhelmed. The ego provides identity and
continuity for a personality. This is due to the selective nature of what the ego allows us
to perceive. It is the ego, working through individuation that allows our personality to
become coherent- consistent and recognizable.
The ego determines much of what is allowed in thanks to the dominant function (we
discuss this later in this chapter at length.) If you are primarily a feeling type, the ego will
allow more emotional experiences in. If you are a thinking type, the ego will allow more
thoughts into consciousness. It is also determined by how much anxiety the material
provokes. Obviously it is to the ego’s benefit to keep us functioning reasonably well.
Anxiety-provoking memories or thoughts will often be repressed out of consciousness. It
also has to do with the level of individuation the person has achieved. More
individuated people can look at more things and manage the intensity of the experience.
And some experiences are simply too intense to be denied. They can batter their way
past all defenses to force confrontation. This may force a complete reordering of the
personality in the face of dramatic change or trauma.
Individuation is the process of differentiating the ego from the complexes in the
personal unconscious- the persona, the shadow, and anima/animus. A strong ego will try
to identify with the SELF- seeing itself as the center of the psyche. Actually the ego is
subordinate to the psyche. The ego is to SELF as the moved is to the mover; or as object
to subject. The powerful factors radiate out from SELF, surround the ego all about and
are superordinate to the ego. The SELF was present before the ego evolved. (Sharp)
Jung said individuation is the process by which a person becomes a psychological
‘in-dividual’, that is, a separate, indivisible unity or ‘whole.’ (Primer, 34)
The goal of individuation is expanding consciousness- knowing oneself more fully. The
beginning of consciousness is also the beginning of individuation. Increasing
consciousness contributes to greater individuation. It is the process of individuation that
produces the ego.
Identification with the SELF comes out in two ways:
The assimilation of the ego by the self: the ego comes under control of the
unconscious.
The assimilation of the SELF to the ego: the ego becomes overaccentuated.
Both result in inflation and poor adaptation. Inflation is characterized by an exaggerated
sense of self-importance, narcissism. It may be compensated by feelings of inferiority.
It is always self-important and incapable of learning from the past, incapable of
understanding current events, and incapable of drawing accurate conclusions about the
future. It is resistant to evidence, so cannot be argued with. But that very resistance
dooms it to failure or collapse. Keep in mind this is not a conscious act, Inflation
magnifies the blind spot in the eye. (Jung, in Sharp, 72) It also presents as a negative
inflation when the person holds an unrealistically low opinion of oneself. This is due to
identifying with the negative part of the Shadow. Once again, there is a need to
assimilate an unconscious part of the personality.
The wounded healer archetype in use in therapy can activate inflation. Therapeutically,
the therapist’s wounds are fairly conscious due to (hopefully) extensive personal analysis.
They live a shadow existence in the unconscious, but are subject to coming up, especially
during therapy with a person with similar wounds. (Actually they are the basis for
counter-transference during therapy.) So the therapist’s inner healer is in shadow but
available. The therapist uses his/her personal knowledge to recognize the client’s issues.
The relationship between therapist and client is very important to healing, at least as
important as any overt communication. Healing can only happen if the therapist has a
fluid relationship with his/her unconscious. If s/he doesn’t, she may identify with the
savior archetype- this is ego inflation. The danger to the therapist is being infected by
the client’s wounds- they are draining of energy if the therapist does not recognize his
internal pull. A good therapist must continually probe his own unconscious. His own hurt
gives some of his power to heal, but only if he is cautious about how she accesses this
internal material. (Sharp, 150)
Type: a characteristic general attitude or function. The function types Jung described
include: thinking, feeling, sensation, intuition. These are the personality functions that
will be included in your personality assessment from Please Understand Me.
Thinking- the process of cognitive thought. Thinking tells us what something
means.
Feeling- subjective judgment or valuation. Feeling tells us what it is worth.
Sensation- perception by means of the physical sense organs. Sensing tells us that
something exists.
Intuition- perception via the unconscious. Intuition gives us a sense of the thing’s
possibilities, future.
These types are divided according to basic function:
Rational- (also called judging) - thinking and feeling types. Thinking is a form of
logical discrimination, very rational. Feeling is a way of evaluating what we like- it is
also very discriminating. They are based on a reflective process that ends in a judgment.
Irrational- (also called perceiving) - sensation and intuitive types. These
functions do not depend on logic. They are simply ways of perceiving what is. Sensation
sees or feels what is in the external world. Intuition senses or picks up what is in the inner
world. It can still be very accurate when you are taught to recognize it. (Sharp, 140 - 144)
Modes of adaptation include:
Introversion- characterized by hesitant, reflective nature that keeps more to itself,
shrinks more from objects, others, and is always slightly on the defensive, preferring to
hide behind mistrustful scrutiny.
Extraversion- characterized by an outgoing, candid, and accommodating nature
that adapts easily to new situations, quickly forms attachments, and is more willing to
venture forth with confidence into unknown situations.
The American type is an odd combination of both- the independent, self-sufficient man
venturing forth to subdue to West. But we revere those who are adored by otherscelebrities, athletes, team members who work for the success of the group.
Jung believed that one’s basic type could be distorted by parental coercion or
environmental influences, but this will lead to neurosis in later life. The cure means
coming to understand one’s original, basic type and embracing it. Jung’s type theory
came out of historical typologies, such as the Greek humors. Jung’s model describes
movement of energy and how a person habitually relates to the world outside.
Typology gives us a clue to help understand the variety of persons and responses. Jung
defined 8 typological groups, including introversion and extraversion as well as thinking,
sensation, intuition, and feeling. The last four will operate differently according to
introversion or extraversion. Introversion/ extraversion are modes of adaptation.
Introverts move energy toward the inner world. Inner reality is of greatest importance. On
the other hand, extraverts move energy toward the outer world. Outer reality is of
primary importance.
So even though we are attracted to people who model the opposite reality, we are
confused by those differences and often try to change them to think the way we do. A
great ((and very funny!) stage play that illustrates this is playing in Denver: I Love you,
You’re Perfect, Now Change! If you haven’t seen this, it is a great date evening and
could count for your film review. It would be a challenge, however, since you couldn’t
replay it for purposes of finding the psychological aspects.
It is this energy model which has kept Jungian theory so current. There are a number of
other theories that incorporate this thinking into life coaching, mind-body experiences,
etc. It also gives the researcher a measurable way of assessing personality and choices, as
well as relationship quality between people. It is also useful for the practicing therapist to
assess problems between spouses, parents and children, as well as neurotic tendencies.
The critical factor in determining introversion/ extraversion is the motivation one
describes for what s/he is doing. Because we show both tendencies in our behavior during
the day, it may be hard to define which type is most natural. But we will have one
tendency that is most comfortable for us and we will depend on more. Energy will more
naturally flow in this direction.
The four functions are like points on a compass. No place is better than another; they are
merely different points in space. It also requires all four functions to fully experience
ourselves and the world. The healthy personality uses all 4 functions somewhat equally,
as needed. Thinking enables cognition and clearer judgment. Feeling tells us to what
extent a thing is important. Sensation gives us a clear reality as to the nature of the thing.
Intuition allows us to see the thing’s possibilities. So the healthy person wants to have
access to all 4 functions. In fact, however, we do depend on one function more than
others and it is called our superior or primary function. The one opposite on the wheel
is considered the fourth or inferior function. These terms do not define value, but show
what is most developed. The other two functions are called auxiliary functions.
When Myers and Briggs formulated their personality test, they included the concept of
judging/ perceiving.
Judging types (the thinking or feeling types) depend on conscious motivation of the
psychic process. Those who depend more on judgment are more often looking at
conscious character.
Perceiving types (sensation or intuitive types) will be more influenced by unconscious
character. They will register the psychic process itself.
Functions that are not consciously brought into daily use will not be as well developed.
They may only be half conscious to us. The reason they are called inferior is that there is
a weakness in that function. A strong thinking type will show a weakness in feeling. A
strong sensing type shows a weakness of intuition. So the personality will be less
effective than it would be if it would develop all four functions.