According to Jung's analytical psychology, 'God' and 'Mother earth' are examples of:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Archetypes
Option (1) Superiority complex — Incorrect. The term is Alfred Adler’s: an exaggerated show of one’s own worth that covers up deep feelings of inferiority, as in a student who keeps boasting about his marks because he secretly feels he is not good enough. It is a pattern in one person, not an inherited image such as God or Mother Earth.
Option (2) Superego — Incorrect. In Freud’s theory the superego is the part of personality that holds the moral standards learnt from parents and society, telling a person what is right and wrong. It is not a universal image found in myths.
Option (3) Archetypes — Correct. Jung claimed that there is a collective unconscious consisting of archetypes or primordial images. They are not individually acquired but inherited, and are found in the myths, dreams and arts of all mankind. The God or the Mother Earth is a good example of archetypes.
Option (4) Basic anxiety — Incorrect. Karen Horney used the term for the feeling of insecurity a child develops when parents’ behaviour towards her/him is indifferent, discouraging and erratic. It grows out of one child’s experience, while archetypes are inherited by all.
Note: The concept in Option (1), ‘superiority complex’, is not in the NCERT book (2023-24), which NTA followed in 2025, and not in NCERT (2025-26) either; it is explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2025-26): “Carl Jung : Aims and Aspirations … Jung saw human beings guided as much by aims and aspirations as by sex and aggression. He developed his own theory of personality, called analytical psychology. The basic assumption of his theory is that personality consists of competing forces and structures within the individual (that must be balanced) rather than between the individual and the demands of society, or between the individual and reality. Jung claimed that there was a collective unconscious consisting of archetypes or primordial images. These are not individually acquired, but are inherited. The God or the Mother Earth is a good example of archetypes. They are found in myths, dreams and arts of all mankind.…” “Karen Horney : Optimism … She argued that psychological disorders were caused by disturbed interpersonal relationship during childhood. When parents’ behaviour toward a child is indifferent, discouraging, and erratic, the child feels insecure and a feeling called basic anxiety results.…” |