Topic > Carl Jung vs. Sigmund Freud: A Comparison of Psychodynamic Theories of Personality

Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung are both authors of two separate psychodynamic theories of personality. While former colleagues and even close friends at one time, differences related to their studies led to an argument. After Jung and Freud separated, Jung spoke of feeling in a suffocating atmosphere when it came to working with Freud (Williams, 1963). Freud and Jung were so close at one point that Freud considered Jung a son, and Jung also considered Freud a father figure (Carta, 2012). Although Jung agreed with Freud's ideas regarding the human psyche, their dispute over the involvement of religion, morality and spirituality with the unconscious is one of the major differences that had ultimately ended their close collaboration (Abu -Raiya, 2011). We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Freud based his theory, which Jung called instinct-based (Dolliver, 1994), on the unconscious and conscious components of the mind. He explained the unconscious as awareness within the mind through feelings and sensations rather than as external awareness. Freud believed that the three stages that made up a person's personality were the Id, the Ego, and the Superego (Abu-Raiya, 2011). The id, ego and superego are all at different degrees of consciousness (Segrist, 2009). Id is the first stage, which begins in childhood. The id is driven by pleasure and is completely unconscious, acting on impulses such as sexual drive and aggression. Paying no attention to reasoning, the id is purely dedicated to allowing as much satisfaction as possible and at the same time diminishing anything that causes dissatisfaction to any extent (Abu-Raiya, 2011). Recognition of reality is where the ego becomes present. The ego develops when one realizes that some sort of compromise must be made in order for pleasure to be ensured. The ego is mostly conscious and is guided by logical thinking rather than the illogical thinking of the id. While the id will act impulsively to obtain something that will provide satisfaction, the ego will prevent the id from acting irrationally to obtain that pleasure (Abu -Raiya, 2011). The Superego is associated with the moral side of one's personality. Freud considered the superego related to the Oedipus complex (Lesmeister, 1998). The Oedipus complex develops during childhood and is when the child begins to direct his or her libido, or sexual energy, toward the opposite-sex parent while simultaneously fearing retaliation from the same-sex parent (Abu-Raiya, 2011). Although Jung agreed with Freud's theory that the mind is divided into three separate parts and recognized the ideas of the conscious and unconscious mind, he possessed his own unique theories on this concept. Instead of the id, the ego and the superego, Jung, placing emphasis on the unconscious, theorized that the personality was made up of the ego, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious (Williams, 1963). Jung believed that there was more to the unconscious than Freud theorized. Jung introduced the concept of the personal unconscious into his theory. The personal unconscious is unique to each individual. He also theorized the collective unconscious, where archetypes are universal throughout the individual unconscious (Abu-Raiya, 2011). The personal unconscious is directly linked to the collective unconscious. The personal unconscious is the first layer of the two unconscious minds. Repressed memories are found in the personal unconscious (Williams, 1963). The collective unconscious is the second layer of the unconscious. Jung believed that everyone shares certain thoughts, ideas and symbols, no matter where on Earth they live or in what historical period they were born. These symbols are there, 2011).