Complexes (Jung) Flashcards
What is the solar-system model for the psyche?
Under this model or analogy, we can see the ego as the earth, or “terra firma.” We can see a little distance beyond earth directly, which we can think of as the field of consciousness surrounding the ego. But the larger space around the earth is filled with satellites and meteorites, some large, some small. This “outer space” region is what Jung called the unconscious, and the objects we first come across as we venture out into this space are what Jung called complexes.
What is the region of the unconscious that is populated with complexes?
It is the “personal unconscious,” and is the part of the unconscious that resides closest to consciousness. Jung first explored this region using word-association experiments, and it was through these experiments that Jung first began using the term “complex.”
What are “complex indicators” according to Jung?
In his early experiments with word association, Jung found that certain words were met with idiosyncratic responses like rhymes, nonsense words, and uncommon associations. Jung considered these to be examples of “complex indicators”—signs of anxiety and evidence of defensive reactions against unconscious psychological conflicts. Other common “complex indicators” include:
- Intense or emotional disproportionate emotional reactions to certain situations or stimuli
- Recurrent themes in thoughts or behavior (such as patterns in relationships)
- Unusual physical reactions (like nausea or tension when discussing certain topics)
- Dream symbols and motifs ( like frequent dreams about being chased or trapped)
- Freudian slips and linguistic errors that reveal unconscious thoughts (like calling a partner by an ex’s name)
- Behavioral anomalies which are inconsistent with the person’s usual behavior or rational decisions
- Projection of one’s own unacceptable feelings, thoughts, or impulses onto someone else
- Resistance and avoidance of certain topics, situations, or people that trigger uncomfortable feelings. (e.g. quickly changing the subject when one’s father is brought up)
How can complex indicators be identified?
- Free Association, in which one is encouraged to say whatever is on one’s mind without censorship, allowing unconscious material to surface. Sometimes this is facilitated with the use of word association, in which a list of words is read to the client, with the client responding with the first word that comes to mind in response.
- Dream Analysis, in which the contents of dreams are interpreted to uncover unconscious thoughts and feelings.
- Active Imagination, which involves going into a “waking dream state” end thereby interacting with unconscious elements of the psyche.
- Projective Tests, which use ambiguous stimuli, like inkblots, to elicit responses that reveal hidden emotions and thoughts.
- Therapeutic Dialogue, in which the therapist and client engage in conversations that gently probe into areas where emotional reactions or resistances are noted.
- Body Language and Somatic Symptoms, in which we observe non-verbal cues and physical symptoms that may indicate unconscious stress.
How does Jung’s concept of “complex” relate to Freud?
In some ways, it was Jung’s way of conceptualizing Freud’s work on the psychological results of repression, on the enduring importance of childhood for the structure of character, and on the puzzle of resistance in analysis.
What are complexes?
Complexes are autonomous, “satellite-like” parts of the unconscious that can have a powerful influence on a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. They can be triggered by certain situations or events and can lead to intense emotional reactions or irrational behavior. One can think of them as part-egos or split-off ecotypes that result from tensions and conflicts among the conscious and unconscious tensions within the whole ego, though Jung also insisted that some complexes also arise from the collective unconscious with no instigating ego components.
Jung believed that working with and integrating complexes was essential for psychological growth and individuation, which is the process of becoming a more whole and balanced individual. By exploring and understanding the underlying causes of complexes, individuals can gain insight into their own motivations and develop a greater sense of self-awareness.
What does Jung mean when he refers to “constellations,” particularly in relation to complexes?
Usually, it refers to the creation of a psychologically-charged moment, when consciousness is, or is about to become, disturbed by a complex. When we say that a person is ‘constellated’ we mean that he has taken up a position in which he can be expected to react in a quite definite way. “Complex” reactions are quite predictable once one knows what the specific complexes of an individual are. We refer to the complex-laden areas of the psyche colloquially as “buttons,” as in, “she knows how to press my buttons!” When you press a button, you get an emotional reaction. In other words, you constellate a complex.
What happens what a person’s complex is constellated?
It can occur on a spectrum of being slightly anxious to losing it and going over the top into madness. When a complex is constellated, one is threatened with loss of control over one’s emotions and to some extent also one’s behavior. It can feel like a form of possession—a force stronger than one’s will, as a person falls prey to an inner compulsion to do or say something one knows one shouldn’t do.
Why do constellated complexes often result in regressive behaviors?
Generally the constellated complex is younger than the ego complex, and stems from earlier times and earlier ways of experiencing and behaving. As such, constellated complexes often (though not always) result in he patient regressing to a younger psychic condition.
What do complexes consist of?
Complexes in Jungian psychology consist of a core pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions, and desires that are organized around a central theme, combined an innate archetypal (e.g. innate, primitive) component or “image.” This combination of experience with innate elements make up the total package of the complex. They are, in a sense, constructed human instincts, in which experiences is digested and reconstructed into inner objects.
What is a complex’s energy, and how does it affect ego consciousness?
It is the precise amount of potential for feeling and action that is bound up in the “magnetic core” of a given complex. Complexes have energy and manifest a sort of electronic “spin” of their own, like the electrons surrounding the nucleus of an atom. When they are stimulated by a situation or an event, they give off a burst of energy and jump levels until they arrive in consciousness. The energy then penetrates the shell of ego-consciousness and floods into it, thereby influencing it to “spin” in the same direction and to discharge some of the emotional energy that has been released by the collision. When this happens, the ego is no longer altogether in control of consciousness or, for that matter, of the body.
How can the ego deal with energy from a constellated complex?
If it is strong enough, it can contain some of the complex’s energy within itself and minimize emotional and physical outbursts. Sometimes, subjects with strong wills can screen off the effects of a complex so completely that it does not reach them at all, but this usually only works when important secrets have to be protected. In other words, people can deliberately screen out stimuli to control their unconscious reactions. Yet there are still some giveaways, revealed in the skin’s electrical conductivity through “lie detectors” like a psycho-galvonometer. Still, most people’s egos will be able to neutralize the effects of complexes to some degree, which is necessary for adaptation and even survival, since without this capacity the ego would be frequently overwhelmed and become dysfunctional.
Is the ego a complex, according to Jung?
Yes—it is one complex among many, like just one planet in a solar system. He argued that the psyche is made up of many “complex” centers, each possessing energy and some even their own consciousness and purposes of their own. When the ego discharges its own energy, we experience this in the form of “will” and “intentionality.”
Can complexes affect other things besides ego-consciousness?
Yes. They can also affect the body, and potentially affect objects and other people in the surrounding world.
Are all complexes “personal”?
Most complexes are generated in one’s own specific life history and belong strictly to the individual. But there are also family and social complexes, similar to Richard Dawkins’ “memes,” which belong to the collective and can be caught in a way analogous biological diseases. This occurs because families and communities share a common unconscious structure: they are similarly wired, experiencing many of the same things and sharing same traumas. This in turn gives rise to shared complexes—for example, in the “depression mentality” characterizing people who came of age in the 1930s and shared in the trauma of the Great Depression, or in Vietnam veterans, who share the same types of complex-formation from fighting in that war.
What is the “cultural layer” of the unconscious?
It is a portion of the unconscious that is personal in the sense that it is acquired in the individual’s lifetime, but is collective because it is shared with a group. The unconscious, at this level, is structured by larger cultural patterns and attitudes, which end up influencing the individual’s conscious attitudes and more unique complexes. Note, however, that the cultural unconscious is distinct from the “collective unconscious,” which is discussed later.
What are cultural complexes?
Cultural complexes are deeply ingrained patterns of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors within a specific cultural group that influence how members of that group perceive and interact with the world. These complexes are often shaped by historical events, collective traumas, social norms, and shared beliefs. They can affect both individual and collective identities and may manifest in various ways, such as attitudes toward authority, gender roles, racial dynamics, and responses to external threats or challenges.
How do complexes form?
Complexes in Jungian psychology are formed through a process of emotional conditioning and psychological patterning based on personal experiences and traumas, particularly during childhood. Trauma plays a big part, but patterning in close relationships is also impactful, with complex formation showing similar patterns among family members. Later on in development, early psychic structures are modified significantly by exposure to wider culture, reducing the influence of family structures, at least in a pluralistic society like America. Still, family-induced complexes do not disappear from the psyche, with mother and father complexes continuing to dominate the scene in the personal unconscious. They are giants.
What does Jung mean by “image” in relation to complexes?
Jung uses “image” to distinguish complexes from the real world. Thus, the “mother image” is the mother complex—not one’s real, flesh-and-blood mother, though it may resemble one’s real mother in many respects. A complex is an inner, psychic object, and at its core is an image.
What are “innate” images?
Scientists have found that certain animals, like chicks, run for cover when they perceive the shadow in the shape of of a chicken hawk, even though they have never encountered an actual chicken hawk. Such findings indicate that the “image” of the predator is innate and recognized without having to be learned. Humans complexes can operate similarly, though in general they are not purely innate in the way instincts are. Most are produced by experience, though they can be combined with some innate elements, which Jung called archetypal images.
Why do complexes almost always have an archetypal core?
Because archetypes (e.g. psychic universals) have high levels of energy, acting as magnets for the associations that begin to cluster around the core.
What are the architects of dreams, according to Jung?
Jung describes complexes as the architects of dreams. Over a period of time, dreams present images, patterns, repetitions, and themes that give us a picture of what a person’s complexes look like.
In what sense do complexes act like foreign bodies in the sphere of consciousness?
Their inner coherence, wholeness, and autonomy can make complexes have a personality-like character, enduring through time and manifesting tendencies that resemble will and potentially their own consciousness. In practical terms we see this in a person’s repetitions of the same patterns of emotional reaction and discharge, the same mistakes, the same unfortunate choices, and the patterns found in one’s dreams and fantasies. The complex also has a degree of autonomy when constellated, but usually does not fully possess the ego. It can be suppressed with an effort of will, but not argued out of existence, and at the first suitable opportunity it reappears in all its original strength.
Can complexes be completely eliminated?
In general, no. They are fixed parts of us, like the ego, but their power over us can be reduced through psychotherapy and other techniques that make us aware of our complexes and their impact on consciousness.
Can complexes remain constellated after the stimulus has left oft impacting the psyche?
Yes. They seem to follow a wave-like character that can perseverate for hours, days, or weeks, depending on the energy of the complex, coming into consciousness in waves of emotion, depression, or anxiety. However, psychotherapy can help to reduce the length and intensity of these effects on consciousness, through a strengthening of the ego and an integration of psychic material.
In what sense are complexes a form of “fragmented personality”?
In some ways, complexes are sub-personalities or personality-fragments that have become unglued from the ego. In its extreme form, this can manifest as severe dissociative disorders like dissociative identity disorder (previously called multiple personality disorder).
What does it mean for a person to be “in-complex”?
Basically, this is when a complex, which has a kind of consciousness of its own, possesses the ego as an alien personality, causing the person to “act out.”
