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Jungian theory posits that much apparently random variation in human behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, and that patterns of behavior are responsible in great measure for particular personalities. Many in the field have organized their theories about personality and archetypes, and their works are significant to the study.
The Meyers-Briggs Type Inventory attributes this uniqueness (but repeatability) in human behavior to certain basic differences in the way people prefer to use their PERCEPTION and JUDGMENT. The MBTI, a tool used by career counselors, therapists and educators, shows strength of these preferences as well as two realms of orientation to life, EXTROVERSION vs. INTROVERSION, and two lifestyle patterns, JUDGMENT vs. PERCEPTION.
A combination of letters reflecting personal preferences in these four areas indicates a person’s personality type, one of a possible sixteen combinations, in Meyers-Briggs jargon. Understanding the theory on which personality typing is based should liberate, not limit or merely categorize an individual, but rather express one’s personal preferences, ways we have each chosen to behave, or in which we behave based on inherent qualities. See Manual: A Guide to the Development and Use of the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator by Isabel Briggs Meyers and Mary H. McCauley or Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs Meyers and Peter Myers, Consulting Psychologists Press, 1980.
Another archetype-based tool, The Enneagram Theory of Personality is based on an ancient Sufi method of self-understanding and often utilized both by Jungian therapists and spiritual guides. It organizes personal types around spiritual, cognitive and emotional behaviors and tendencies and charts them in a numbered wheel, or clock pattern, which clearly demonstrate influencing patterns on either side of one’s “type,” and opposing patterns indicated on the side of the wheel opposite one’s type. Understanding the resulting archetypes, #’s One through Nine, clarifies both personal development and inherent strengths and weaknesses in a given individual. Helpful reading is (The Enneagram by Helen Palmer, (Harper and Row, NY 1983 ). Type names give clues to more complete descriptions in Palmer’s work, and that of others. The types are:
One = The Perfectionist
Two = The Caregiver
Three = The Performer
Four = The Tragic Romantic
Five = The Observer
Six = The Devil’s Advocate
Seven = The Epicure
Eight = The Boss, and
Nine = The Mediator.
Gods in Every Man (Harper and Row, 1989) and Goddesses in Every Woman (Harper and Row, 1984) by psychotherapist Jean Shinoda Bolen uses an overlay of Greek and other mythic types to organize the variations in human behaviors into sixteen types, eight female, eight male. These cultural images of various human archetypes can further understanding of clusters of tendencies and possibilities for future growth and development, particular as the characters’ mythic stories are learned, their strengths and weaknesses studied.
They include, for men,
Zeus, God of the Sky, Realm of Will and Power
Poseidon, God of the Sea—Realm of Emotion and Instinct
Hades, God of the Underworld—Realm of Souls and the Unconscious
Apollo, God of the Sun—rcher, Lawgiver, Favorite Son
Hermes, Messenger of God and Guide of Souls—Communicator, Trickster, Traveler
Ares, God of War—Warrior, Dancer, Lover
Hephaestus, God of the Forge—Craftsman, Inventor, Loner, and
Dionsyius, God of Wine and Ecstasy—Mystic, Lover, Wanderer.
The female mythic types are:
Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt and Moon—Competitor and Sister
Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Crafts—Strategist and Father’s Daughter
Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth and Temple—Wise Woman and Maiden Aunt
Hera, Goddess of Marriage—Commitment Maker and Wife
Demeter, Goddess of Grain—Nurturer and Mother
Persephone, The Maiden and Queen of the Underworld—Receptive Woman and
Mother’s Daughter
Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty—Creative Woman and Lover.
The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes by Tami Cowden, Caro LaFever and Sue Viders, (Lone Eagle Publishing, 2,000) also uses Jungian theory to posit clusters of human behavior and tendencies in eight male and eight female “types.” While Jungian in theory, like the three previously mentioned systems of personality, the current volume dwells more in practical applications and examples of these archetypes than in the theory that underlies their construction. References to literature, film, television drama and more create a richly textured panoply from which to draw material for characterization.
The two sets of male and female archetypes include:
Male: The Chief
The Warrior
The Charmer
The Lost Soul
The Professor
The Best Friend
The Bad Boy
The Swashbuckler
Female:
The Boss
The Spunky Kid
The Crusader
The Waif
The Librarian
The Nurturer
The Seductress
The Free Spirit
Consider, the authors suggest, the interactions of a Chief, as exemplified by Ricky Ricardo, and The Free Spirit, as exemplified by Lucy. Or, in another example, Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham, playing out the life of a Best Friend, and Annette Benning, as Carolyn Burnham, a good example of The Boss, in American Beauty. In literature, Jane Austen’s Emma gives two good examples, the Best Friend archetype of Mr. Knightly, and the Free Spirit of Emma. Many more examples abound in this work.
Archetypes in Literature, Film and Life are the stuff of conflict, growth, development and drama. There are many routes to understanding them, and to ignore their existence precludes a rewarding avenue of growth both in self knowledge and the creative possibilities of character-making in the arts.
Bibliography:
The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines, Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, Sue Viders, Lone Eagle Publishing, Hollywood, CA 2000
The Enneagram by Helen Palmer, Harper and Row, NY (later published by Psychological Processes, Inc.)1983
Gifts Differing, Isabel Briggs Myers and Peter Myers, Consulting Psychoogists Press, Palo Alto, CA 1980
Introduction to Type, Isabel Briggs Myers, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA 1980
Gods in Everyman:A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves, Jean Shinoda Bolen, M. D. Harper and Row, San Francisco, 1989
Gods in Every Woman: Jean Shinoda Bolen, M. D., pub. Unknown, Harper and Row, date unknown
From Image to Likeness:A Jungian Path in the Gospel Journey, by W. Harold Grant, Magdala Thompson, Thomas E. Clarke, Paulist Press, NY, 1983
People Types and Tiger Stripes: A Practical Guide to Learning Styles, by Gordon Lawrence, Center for Application of Psychological Type, Inc., Gainesville, FL, 1979
Prayer and Temperament:Different Prayer Forms for Different Personality Types, by Chester P. Michael and Marie C. Norrisey
Please Understand Me:An Essay on Temperament Styles, David Kiersey and Marilyn Bates, Prometheus Nemesis Books, DelMar CA, 1978
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