Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories- Jung: Analytical
Psychology
© The McGraw−Hill^121
Companies, 2009lier experiences. On the other hand, Jung claimed that some dreams can help a per-
son make decisions about the future, just as dreams of making important discover-
ies in the natural sciences eventually led to his own career choice.
Progression and Regression
To achieve self-realization, people must adapt not only to their outside environment
but to their inner world as well. Adaptation to the outside world involves the forward
flow of psychic energy and is called progression,whereas adaptation to the inner
world relies on a backward flow of psychic energy and is called regression.Both
progression and regression are essential if people are to achieve individual growth or
self-realization.
Progression inclines a person to react consistently to a given set of environ-
mental conditions, whereas regression is a necessary backward step in the success-
ful attainment of a goal. Regression activates the unconscious psyche, an essential
aid in the solution of most problems. Alone, neither progression nor regression leads
to development. Either can bring about too much one-sidedness and failure in adap-
tation; but the two, working together, can activate the process of healthy personality
development (Jung, 1928/1960).
Regression is exemplified in Jung’s midlife crisis, during which time his psy-
chic life was turned inward toward the unconscious and away from any significant
outward accomplishments. He spent most of his energy becoming acquainted with
his unconscious psyche and did little in the way of writing or lecturing. Regression
dominated his life while progression nearly ceased. Subsequently, he emerged from
this period with a greater balance of the psyche and once again became interested in
the extraverted world. However, his regressive experiences with the introverted
world had left him permanently and profoundly changed. Jung (1961) believed that
the regressive step is necessary to create a balanced personality and to grow toward
self-realization.
Psychological Types
Besides the levels of the psyche and the dynamics of personality, Jung recognized
various psychological types that grow out of a union of two basic attitudes—intro-
version and extraversion—and four separate functions—thinking, feeling, sensing,
and intuiting.
Attitudes
Jung (1921/1971) defined an attitudeas a predisposition to act or react in a charac-
teristic direction. He insisted that each person has both an introvertedand an ex-
travertedattitude, although one may be conscious while the other is unconscious.
Like other opposing forces in analytical psychology, introversion and extraversion
serve in a compensatory relationship to one another and can be illustrated by the
yang and yin motif (see Figure 4.2).
Chapter 4 Jung: Analytical Psychology 115