COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS: CHARACTERISTICS, CONCEPT AND ARCHETYPES - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

The collective unconscious is a term coined by Carl Jung that defines a type of mental warehouse that all people possess identically.

This concept that was also studied by Sigmund Freud transcends the personal unconscious and is postulated to be acquired and developed innately by all human beings.

Thus, the collective unconscious is a term that postulates the existence of a common substratum for human beings from all times and places in the world.

The collective unconscious is made up of primitive symbols that express a content of the psyche that is beyond rational cognitive processes.

Specifically, the collective unconscious is based on the idea that individuals present a series of unconscious archetypes in a mind. According to Carl Jung, these archetypes are mental representations that express human instincts in a biological sense, but at the same time understand the spiritual side.

Thus, the collective unconscious refers to a series of unconscious mental representations that manifest themselves in fantasies and reveal their presence through symbolic images.

In this article, the controversial concept of the unconscious is delimited and characterized. Trying to provide a clear and understanding explanation about the particularities of this idea postulated from psychoanalysis.

Emergence of the concept of the collective unconscious

To properly understand the concept of the collective unconscious, it is important to briefly pay attention to the context in which it appeared.

The collective conscious is not a concept of recent appearance, but it is a term that Carl Jung postulated during the first years of the 20th century.

During that time, psychoanalysis accounted for most of the psychological, psychiatric and philosophical study of society. With the main contribution of Sigmund Freud, the psychoanalytic currents focused the attention of behavior on the most subjective questions of the mind.

The unconscious was raised as the main element to explain both mental alterations and to give meaning to people's functioning, behavior and thinking.

In this sense, Carl Jung, one of Freud's main disciples, continued with the study of the unconscious, which until then was conceived as the first level of all those mental elements that are not processed in a conscious way.

Nonetheless, Carl Jung initiated the remarkable distinction between personal and collective unconscious. The main difference between the two terms lay in the personal variation of the content.

Thus, the personal unconscious was interpreted as an individual unconscious instance that was different in each person. On the other hand, the collective unconscious referred to an element of the mind where information is kept that varies little from one person to another.

What is the collective unconscious?

The psychoanalytic currents divided the content into three great instances: the conscious, the preconscious and the unconscious.

The conscious refers to all that content that is developed on a daily and intentional basis. It includes elements that are easily recognizable by the person himself and can be located in time and space because, as its name indicates, it is conscious information for the individual.

The preconscious refers to a system of the psychic apparatus that acts as a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious. Thus, the preconscious contains different information than that of consciousness, however, these elements can easily transcend into consciousness.

Finally, the unconscious is the psychic instance whose mission is to preserve unwanted information, erased from the field of consciousness that exerts a great influence on the actions of the person.

The information from the unconscious hardly passes to the conscious, so the person is not aware of the information stored in this psychic instance.

The collective unconscious therefore refers to a certain type of unconscious, so its main characteristic is that the content it houses is not processed in a conscious way by the person.

In this sense, Carl Jung made the division of two different types of unconscious: the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious.

The personal unconscious is a superficial layer of the unconscious, which rests on a lower layer. This lower layer is the collective unconscious, which does not originate from personal experience and acquisition, but is an innate and universal apparatus.

Thus, the collective unconscious is the first instance on which the mind develops. It is postulated that the collective unconscious is identical in different people and determines the similarities between human beings.

Does the collective unconscious really exist?

Carl Jung's theory of the collective unconscious, as it happens with many of the elements postulated from psychoanalysis, has been strongly criticized in recent years.

Likewise, current psychological currents have left in the background the cataloging of the human mind between conscious, preconscious and unconscious, focusing attention on other types of cognitive aspects.

However, this does not mean that the collective unconscious does not exist or that at least the aspects postulated by Carl Jung are not relevant to explain important elements of the human psyche.

Defending the existence of the collective unconscious implies maintaining the idea that people are born with a kind of base memory genetically inherited from human origin.

In this sense, human beings would present in their own innate development aspects inherited from the evolution of the species. These elements would be housed in the collective unconscious of the individual and would determine a large part of their way of being and behaving.

This idea is somewhat abstract to be demonstrated at the scientific level today. However, it is widely proven that people are born with a series of common drives.

The vast majority of human beings are capable of experiencing drives such as love, anger, rage or fear. These emotions are intense and are installed in the body of individuals. All people are capable of experiencing and recognizing such emotions.

Thus, despite the fact that it has little scientific evidence, the theory of the collective unconscious postulated by Carl Jung raises interesting elements regarding the genesis and development of the psyche of human beings.

Theory of the collective unconscious

The theory of the collective unconscious is based on archetypes. Archetypes are innate psychic dispositions that serve to experiment and represent basic human behavior and situations.

In this sense, archetypes express instincts in a biological sense, but at the same time they understand the spiritual side. It is a difficult concept to explain and that cannot be represented by a specific image or idea.

Archetypes are manifested in fantasies and reveal their presence only through symbolic images. Specifically, they are usually expressed in the symbolic content of dreams.

Thus, archetypes are actually a tendency to form representations on a basic pattern that emotionally affects consciousness.

These archetypes are not acquired through education or contact with culture. They are innate and hereditary elements, they are observed in all times and cultures equally and they are instinctive manifestations of the species.

The main archetypal representations that give rise to the theory of the collective unconscious are: the shadow, the anima, the animus and the self.

1- Shadow

The shadow is an archetypal representation that represents the path to a higher state of being and humanity. Part of the impoverishment of symbolisms given to archetypal representations, both collective and individual.

In other words, the shadow constitutes a psychic instance that develops an idea that implies the loss of belief in the subjective and in dogmas.

The archetype of the shadow develops the abandonment of spirituality and modifies it by the intellect. This way of working allows to base thought on rational processes, which provide the necessary tools to evolve.

In this sense, the shadow is an archetypal representation that allows people to trust themselves, develop feelings of strength and believe in their own knowledge.

Overcoming the revelation of the archetype implies the individual discovering that he is not a unique being with sufficient capacities to control his environment and the events that happen in the world.

Instead, overcoming the revelation of the shadow archetype allows the person to discover that they are an unconscious being unable to easily assimilate the truths of the world, and to be aware of the impact that the environment makes on their functioning.

2- Animus

The animus, which means spirit in Latin, is an archetypal representation that refers to the images of the eternal masculine in the unconscious of a woman.

This psychic instance constitutes a link between the consciousness of the self and the collective unconscious thus opening a path towards the "self".

Thus, the animus is the archetype of the masculine in the collective unconscious of women. In this sense, it is used to describe the unconscious, masculine aspect of the feminine personality.

It is a representation linked to its logos principle and reflects the nature of its connection with the world of ideas and the spirit, as opposed to eros that reflects the nature of the rational.

Being an archetype, the animus does not constitute representations of concrete men but implies the appearance of fantasies clothed with needs and experiences of an emotional nature.

Some prototypical animus figures are father figures, famous men, religious figures, idealized figures, and figures of doubtful morals.

According to the theory of the collective unconscious, the vital difficulties of a woman derive from the unconscious identification with the animus or from its projection on the partner. This fact would generate an unconscious feeling of disappointment with the real person.

3- Anima

The anima, which means soul in Latin, is the archetypal representation contrary to the animus. That is, it refers to the archetypal images of the eternal feminine in a man's unconscious.

It forms a link between the consciousness of the self and the collective unconscious in the masculine gender, potentially opening a path towards the "self."

Thus, the anima is the image of a woman or female figure present in a man's dreams or fantasies. It is linked to its eros principle and reflects the nature of man's relationships, especially with women.

The anima is described as the archetype of life and is usually represented by elements such as a young, spontaneous, seductive and intuitive woman. Likewise, it can also be represented by the idea of ​​an evil woman.

It is usually associated with a deep and unconscious emotionality. According to the theory of the collective unconscious, relationship problems can often result from the unconscious identification of the anima or the projection of the anima on the partner.

This fact, as in the case of animus, usually generates a feeling of disappointment with the real person. Likewise, the anima figures do not refer to representations of specific women, but to fantasies covered with needs and experiences of an emotional nature.

In general, the most prototypical anima figures are goddesses, famous women, maternal figures, prostitutes, and sorceresses.

4- Self

The self is defined according to the theory of the collective unconscious as the central archetype, the archetype of the hierarchy. It refers to the whole person and is symbolically represented by the circle, the quaternity and the child.

It is the end of the individualization process and it is, theoretically, the center and the whole of the psyche. It is the psychic instance that governs the individual towards what is directed unconsciously.

On the other hand, it is considered as the principle of coherence, structure and organization that allows establishing the balance and integration of the psychological contents of the person.

As with the rest of archetypal representations, it has an innate and hereditary origin, so it does not encompass all those aspects learned over time, but rather is an instance that modulates the elements that are incorporated into the mind of the subject.

References

1. G. Jung, "Psychology of the Transference", Collected Works Vol. 16 (London 1954) p. 311.
2. G. Jung. OC 9 / I. The archetypes and the collective unconscious. 2. The concept of the collective unconscious, 49-50, § 104-105.
3. Johnson, Robert A. (2006). She, to understand female psychology. Madrid: Editorial Gadir.
4. Shelburne, Walter A. Mythos and Logos in the Thought of Carl Jung: The Theory of the Collective Unconscious in Scientific Perspective. State University of New York Press, 1988. ISBN 0-88706-693-3.
5. Singer, June Kurlander. Culture and the Collective Unconscious. Dissertation accepted at Northwestern University. August 1968.