Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories- Jung: Analytical
Psychology
© The McGraw−Hill^135
Companies, 2009revelation of highly personal information. He thought it quite all right that a number
of male patients referred to him as “Mother Jung” and quite understandable that oth-
ers saw him as God or savior. Jung also recognized the process of countertransfer-
ence,a term used to describe a therapist’s feelings toward the patient. Like transfer-
ence, countertransference can be either a help or a hindrance to treatment, depending
on whether it leads to a better relationship between doctor and patient, something
that Jung felt was indispensable to successful psychotherapy.
Because Jungian psychotherapy has many minor goals and a variety of tech-
niques, no universal description of a person who has successfully completed analyt-
ical treatment is possible. For the mature person, the goal may be to find meaning in
life and strive toward achieving balance and wholeness. The self-realized person is
able to assimilate much of the unconscious self into consciousness but, at the same
time, remains fully aware of the potential dangers hidden in the far recess of the un-
conscious psyche. Jung once warned against digging too deeply in land not properly
surveyed, comparing this practice to a person digging for an artesian well and run-
ning the risk of activating a volcano.
Related Research
Jung’s approach to personality was very influential in the early development of per-
sonality psychology. In recent times, however, its influence has waned, even though
there are still a few institutions around the world dedicated to analytical psychology.
Today, most research related to Jung focuses on his descriptions of personality types.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI; Myers, 1962) is the most frequently used
measure of Jung’s personality types and is often used by school counselors to direct
students toward rewarding avenues of study. For example, research has found that
people high on the intuition and feeling dimensions are likely to find teaching re-
warding (Willing, Guest, & Morford, 2001). More recently, researchers have extended
work on the usefulness of Jungian personality types by exploring the role of types in
how people manage their personal finances and the kinds of careers they pursue.
Personality Type and Investing Money
Research on personality is not only conducted by personality psychologists. Because
personality is the study of the uniqueness of each person, it is relevant to any person
and any place. For example, although research on psychology and finance do not
typically cross paths, personality can be a common factor in both areas because
unique aspects of individuals are important in both areas. Recently, business finance
researchers were interested in studying how personality affected the way people in-
vest their money (Filbeck, Hatfield, & Horvath, 2005). Specifically, Filbeck and col-
leagues (2005) wanted to better understand the level of risk individuals are willing
to tolerate when it comes to investing money. Investments are often quite volatile.
It is true that you can make a lot of money playing the stock market, but you can
also lose everything. Some people have natural tolerance for wide fluctuations in
their investments, whereas others do not. What kinds of people are willing to take
such risks?
Chapter 4 Jung: Analytical Psychology 129