Personality types: Jung's model of typology - Inner City Books

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Concluding Remarks 95The shadow is potentially both creative and destructive:creative in that it represents aspects of oneself that have beenburied or that might yet be realized; destructive in the sensethat its value system and motivations tend to undermine ordisturb one's conscious image of oneself.Everything that is not ego is relatively unconscious; beforethe contents of the unconscious have been differentiated, theshadow is the unconscious. Since the opposite attitude and theinferior functions are by definition relatively unconscious,they are naturally tied up with the shadow.In one's immediate world, there are attitudes and behaviorthat are socially acceptable, and those that are not. In our formativeyears it is natural to repress, or suppress, the unacceptableaspects of ourselves. They "fall into" the shadow. Whatis left is the persona—the "I" one presents to the outsideworld.The persona would live up to what is expected, what isproper. It is both a useful bridge socially and an indispensableprotective covering; without a persona, we are simply too vulnerableto others. We regularly cover up our inferiorities witha persona, since we do not like our weaknesses to be seen.(The introverted thinking type at a noisy party may grit histeeth but smile. The extraverted feeling type may pretend tobe studying when she's really climbing the wall for lack ofcompany.)Civilized society, life as we know it, depends on interactionsbetween people through the persona. But it is psychologicallyunhealthy to identify with it, to believe we are "nothingbut" the person we show to others.Generally speaking, the shadow is less civilized, moreprimitive, cares little for social propriety. What is of value tothe persona is anathema to the shadow, and vice versa. Hencethe shadow and the persona function in a compensatory way:the brighter the light, the darker the shadow. The more one
96 Concluding Remarksidentifies with the persona—which in effect is to deny thatone has a shadow—the more trouble one will have with theunacknowledged "other side" of the personality.Thus the shadow constantly challenges the morality of thepersona, and, to the extent that ego-consciousness identifieswith the persona, the shadow also threatens the ego. In theprocess of psychological development that Jung called individuation,disidentification from the persona and the consciousassimilation of the shadow go hand in hand. The idealis to have an ego strong enough to acknowledge both personaand shadow without identifying with either of them.This is not as easy as it sounds. We tend to identify withwhat we are good at, and why shouldn't we? The superiorfunction, after all, has an undeniable utilitarian value. Itgreases the wheels, life runs smoothly; it generally bringspraise, material rewards, a degree of satisfaction. It inevitablybecomes a prominent aspect of the persona. Why give it up?The answer is that we don't—unless we have to. And when dowe "have to"?—when we encounter situations in life that arenot amenable to the way we usually function; that is, when theway we tend to look at things doesn't work.In practice, as noted earlier, the shadow and everything associatedwith it is virtually synonomous with unlived life."There is more to life than this," is a remark heard often in theanalyst's office. All that I consciously am and aspire to be effectivelyshuts out what I might be, could be, also am. Someof what I "also am" has been or is repressed because it was—or is—environmentally unacceptable; some is simply unrealizedpotential.Through introspection, we can become aware of shadowaspects of the personality, but we may still resist them or feartheir influence. And even where they are known and would bewelcome, they are not readily available to the conscious will.For instance, I may be well aware that my intuition is shad-
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Personality Types
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PERSONALITY TYPESJung’s Model of
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CONTENTSPreface 91 Introduction to
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Classification does not explain the
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PrefaceThis book is not a critique
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1Introduction to Jungian TypologyTh
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Introduction to Jungian Typology 13
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2Extraversion and the Four Function
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Extraversion and the Four Functions
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Page 122 and 123: Index 121inferior, 69, 72-74, 78-79
Page 124 and 125: Index 123self-examination, 23self-r
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Personality types: Jung's model of typology - Inner City Books

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