Archetypes are universal, inborn models of people, behaviors, and personalities that play a role in influencing human behavior
Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung's theory suggested that these archetypes were archaic forms of innate human knowledge passed down from our ancestors.
In Jungian psychology, these archetypes represent universal patterns and images that are part of the collective unconscious. Jung believed that we inherit these archetypes much in the way we inherit instinctive patterns of behavior.
Personal vs. Collective Unconscious
Jung was originally a follower of Sigmund Freud. The relationship eventually fractured over Jung's criticism of Freud's emphasis on sexuality during development, which led Jung to develop his own psychoanalytic approach known as analytical psychology.
While Jung agreed with Freud that the unconscious played an important role in personality and behavior, he expanded on Freud's idea of the personal unconscious to include what Jung called the collective unconscious.
According to Jung, the ego represents the conscious mind, and the personal unconscious contains memories-including those that have been suppressed.
The collective unconscious is a unique component in that Jung believed that this part of the psyche served as a form of psychological inheritance. It contained all of the knowledge and experiences that humans share as a species.
The Origins of Jungian Archetypes
Jung believed that archetypes come from the collective unconscious.