Who am I? This is perhaps the most simple of questions and the most complex. You’re you. I’m me. But what does that mean? To what aspect of our lives or personality are we referring? These are the questions that are tackled throughout the process of individuation. Carl Jung believed that when we are able to integrate elements of personality, experiences, and aspects of our psyche, we are able to become our “true” selves. Then, we might perhaps answer “Who am I” with a more clear, self-possessed answer.
Who are you? At work, you may be self-assured, confident, serious, and competent. With your parents and siblings, you may be the jokester, the clown. With your friends, you may have yet another iteration still. We all have “different” personalities, different sides of ourselves that operate in certain circumstances. Individuation is the process of integrating these selves, the aspects of our inner lives, and it occurs naturally throughout our lives. This is developmental individuation; we can also take steps to become more aware of the process and facilitate it in our lives.
This process is affected by internal and external factors, which we will take a look at.
Outer Aspects of Individuation
Outside aspects impact our personalities. There is no question, certainly in Jung’s mind, that our environment has a tremendous effect on the development of personality. This is particularly true of the environment in which one grows as a child. This can cause our personality development to blossom, stagnate, or deform. A positive environment can provide the appropriate stimuli, contacts, and experiences, while a negative, dangerous, or unhealthy one can interfere with growth.
When children are exposed to environments in which they do not have access to positive stimuli or experiences, when their parents or guardians transfer their own tendencies onto them, or when they are punished without being guided, it can have a negative effect on the development of personality.
Outer aspects affect both our development and the process of individuation. “Individuation has two principal aspects,” wrote Jung. “In the first place it is an internal and subjective process of integration, and in the second it is an equally indispensible process of objective relationship. Neither can exist without the others, although sometimes one and sometimes the other predominates.”
While individuation is the process of integrating our personalities, external aspects play a huge role in that we have to recognize that we are who we are in relation to others. We need to interact with others and with the world in order to understand our whole personality and psyche. A fully individualized person can then present the true self to the world.
We have to live in the world, but we also have to separate ourselves from it and view ourselves as separate and unique individuals. We are responsible, ultimately, for our own emotional states.
Inner Aspects of Individuation
Jung believed we had to examine different aspects of our personality in order to facilitate the individuation process. These aspects, according to Jung:
1 Mask. This is our Dr. Jekyll, the good face that we present to the world. Our mask is how we appear to others and it is essential in our interactions with society. When we do not adopt a mask or identify closely enough, we can appear false. If we identify too closely, on the other hand, we lose sight of who we really are.
2 The shadow self. This is the Mr. Hyde in all of us. It represents our darker desires and traits, such as egotism, greed, selfishness, or indifference. We suppress this side of ourselves. Individuation requires us to embrace this side of ourselves and guide it.
3 The Anima or Animus (the former is male, the latter female). In men, the anima is the personification of tendencies we associate with women, such as intuition, feelings, and moods. In women, the animus is the representation of typically male tendencies. In both men and women, this part of the personality is affected by experiences, the collective view of women and men, and the self.
4 The wise old man. The archetype of the wise old man represents power and wisdom. While these are typically positive attributes, there is the danger that this power can become destructive. In the process of individuation, one has to criticize and analyze this aspect of the self.
5 The great mother. This archetype is similar to the wise old man. Instead of power, though, a woman who identifies with the great mother feels an unlimited capacity to help, protect, love, guide, and mother. The risk is that she will wear herself out in helping others; it is also possible that she will view everyone else as children and as needing her help.
Individuation occurs throughout our entire lives, and with experience and wisdom, we can integrate various elements of our personality. This allows us to present our true self to the world. Individuation is difficult; more so because we are often obliged to wear so many masks. The goal, though, is to make your persona match who you really are.
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