Jungian Shadows and how it relates to emotions

Jungian Shadows as defined by the American Psychological Association is the typology of personality types in to “introverted and extroverted, and a subset of functional type personalities (APA, 2022). In other words, Jungian shadows are the reflections of the personality types developed by psychologist Carl Jung, where someone may be predilected to a certain darker aspect of their psychological make up. These shadow archetypes were the reflection of personality types inherent to the personality of the individual. This reflection is a darker nature buried deep within a person’s psyche and a result of past traumas, obsessions, and personal history.

The darker side of personalities are often tied to childhood trauma, phobias, and irrational fears, or due to the obsessions of the individual. Understanding how this tie into Jung’s Shadow Typology, is to start to better understand how phobias and childhood trauma. According to the Mayo Clinic, phobias are often manifested from traumatic experiences felt in childhood, genetic disposition, and brain function impacted through traumatic brain injury. 

The Correlation between Childhood trauma, morality, and dark personalities

One common aspect of dark personality traits and childhood trauma is the effect it has on the ability to make morally sound judgements and decisions. The ability to have moral judgement is what defines lawful and ethical societal functions, and long-standing traditions to continue. However, at the point in childhood where people start to develop their rational and ethical senses becomes impacted is where trauma is introduced to the mix. In a study conducted by Dr. Larsen et al., the correlation between physical neglect and the ability to process a problem based on philosophical- emotional ethics yielded that the more prolonged cases of physical neglect brought on a more utilitarian sense of decision making (Larsen, 2019). 

Results from this study believed that the trauma that was experienced (in this case neglect) lead to a more survival-based rationale than in those who experienced trauma in adulthood. It was also noted that the study brought up cases where those with childhood traumatic experiences were more likely to think utilitarian than their peers as a conditioned response. What can be derived from this is a utilitarian response puts the brain into a survival mindset rather than one of growth. As previously discussed in alexithymia, the brain conditions itself into producing a more stable environment to meet its unmet emotional needs, there by shrinking the brain and causing the individual to produce habits that are more based on survival and primal thought than emotional growth. All of this will produce an effect on the personalities of the individual. 

Personality traits are affected in two specific ways, one by the past emotions felt by an individual and currently ongoing emotions being felt by an individual, though it is very important to point out that this affect takes time to manifest in the form darker personality traits and disorders. In this time, the individual, if left to their own, will develop a set of darker and more Machiavellian personality style traits. These traits will then become a catalyst for future actions and behaviors experienced by the individual. It is not a permanent state and can be countered with therapy and cognitive behavioral therapies as well as the use of tactics in dealing with alexithymia and other emotional psychological disorders. 

Conclusions

How an individual’s personality develops is based upon their experiences in the childhood, their surroundings, and their physiological health. The development of their darker personality traits can be tied to the same factors. As such, the ability for the individual to manifest the darker side of the Jungian personality types or Jungian shadows, is innate to the experiences and strati that affect the person daily over time. These darker traits are in direct response to how the individual has reacted to the traumas and the events that impact their personality. To make an analogy, it is the equivalent to a dirt road being rained on over time and the ruts caused by the rain becoming larger over time. This emotional erosion beings to develop over time and creates a terrain for the personality to shift and react based on the past experiences and the past attitudes that have impacted that individual. There are many ways to contend with the darker parts of the personality, even ways in treating the darker parts of the psyche, however how it becomes dark is based on external factors. 

Sources

A.P.A. (2022). APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. Retrieved July 18, 2022, from https://dictionary.apa.org/jungian-typology

Larsen, E. M., Ospina, L. H., Cuesta-Diaz, A., Vian-Lains, A., Nitzburg, G. C., Mulaimovic, S., Latifoglu, A., Clari, R., & Burdick, K. E. (2019). Effects of childhood trauma on adult moral decision-making: Clinical correlates and insights from bipolar disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 244, 180–186. https://doi-org.radford.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.10.002

M.C. (2016, October 19). Specific phobias - Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved July 20, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/specific-phobias/symptoms-causes/syc-20355156

Sabater, V. (2021, November 15). The Shadow Archetype – The Dark Side of Your Psyche. Exploring Your Mind. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://exploringyourmind.com/shadow-archetype-dark-side-psyche/

Emotions and Scandal

Emotions when it comes to scandals, are complex and vary wildly from apathy to outrage. While scandals tend to be sensationalized in the media attempting to drive interest, not all scandals register on an emotional level, so far as the impact of the moral and ethical dilemma it presents and those involved in scandal. Like with politics and emotion, scandals effect the emotions of the people involved as well as the public that watches the scandal unfold in an ethical and moral light. With this people begin to experience moral outrage on the behavior of those involved as they breeched an unwritten trust to be the leading figure of morality. Likewise, scandals effect emotions based upon the perceived betrayal of trust from institutions accepting less than the best standards of practice. Some examples of this being scandals involving Fraternal organizations and financial institutions practicing risky and often illegal behaviors to political figures committing sexual assault and fraud while in office, of the most recent being Andrew Cuomo (Cillizza, 2021).

A study in scandal, Andrew Cuomo

In 2021, former Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo was found to have committed acts of sexual harassment and created an environment of hostility with his former female staffers. Apart from the legal implications and the subsequent release of Cuomo from the governorship, there was an outcry from the public in New York to have him ousted from public office. On an emotional level in the staff, it creates a nexus of trauma that causes an atmosphere where fear is used to elicit compliance, also as previously discussed in this research, created an environment where the worker feels trapped and is unable to meet their emotional needs in the workplace. 

The second implication from this the feeling of moral and ethical outrage from the public and the constituents at large. The perceived breech of trust in the case of Cuomo removed the legitimacy that his office held, as he had taken indecent liberties with his staff. What this means in the context of emotions, is the lapse of control was triggered by an unmet need by Cuomo. What is more, is that when confronted with the facts of the scandal, appeared to be unapologetic and appeared to have brushed off the entire investigation into the allegations. This is lead to the feelings of many New Yorkers as well as the rest of Americans to call for his impeachment and removal from office. 

Prolonging scandal

Looking into the emotional effects of scandal, it is important to note the use of the media representation and positing of the events leading up to and the aftermath of a scandal. In a study conducted on the release of information and the feelings of viewers of that scandal over time, found that the longer the scandal had been reported, the more intense the negative emotions on that subject (Von Sikorski, et al., 2018). While the study was conducted on political candidates, it also holds true for all scandals, as the feelings and emotions involved are the same. The question then comes as to why this is done, and the simplest answer is twofold. The first is that the information is reported as it comes available, in the case of the report on Andrew Cuomo, information was reported as soon as it had been made available on public record. The second, is for the use of selling more subscriptions and papers. While the later makes economic sense, it may lead to becoming a scandal itself as it impugns the journalistic integrity of the one reporting.

Conclusion

Scandals will elicit the strongest emotions of violation, anger, and fear, as it is a breech of moral and ethical trust placed in the care of a public official, a financial institution, or an educational institution. The emotions of betrayal, anger, fear, and disgust all are tied in with a collective belief in trust with a person or an institution. This is important as it becomes a catalyst of change politically. In the case of Cuomo, it cost him the governorship, in other cases, it cost the trust of an institution or the failing of a business. In the end these cases prove that scandals with invariably bring negative feelings and the longer the scandal go on, the longer and more amplified the feelings.

Sources

Cillizza, C. (2021, August 4). Andrew Cuomo’s utterly disastrous response to the AG report findings - CNN Politics. CNN. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/04/politics/andrew-cuomo-letitia-james-sexual-harassment/index.html

Jiang, J., Kou, Y., Wang, F., Wu, Y., Li, Y.-M., Li, Y., Yang, Y., Cao, H., Wu, Q., Jing, S.-J., Jiang, B.-J., Shen, L.-M., Li, A.-J., Li, Z., Gao, W., Chiu, C.-Y., Hong, Y.-Y., Hsu, S.-C., Zhang, L., & Yang, B.-Y. (2011). Emotional reactions to scandals: When does moral character make a difference? Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 14(3), 207–216. https://doi-org.radford.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/j.1467-839X.2011.01344.x

Von Sikorski, C., & Knoll, J. (2018). All at Once or Bit by Bit? How the Serialization of News Affects People’s Attitudes Toward Politicians Involved in Scandals. International Journal of Communication (19328036), 12, 1389–1407.

Walter, A. S., & Redlawsk, D. P. (2019). Voters’ Partisan Responses to Politicians’ Immoral Behavior. Political Psychology, 40(5), 1075–1097. https://doi-org.radford.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/pops.12582

Humor and Emotions

The connection of humor to feelings and emotions is one that is while quite intuitive, goes deeper than the cursory understanding that is perceived. As emotions affect the body physiologically, so to does humor, and it is in that physiological reaction that lies larger impact on the psyche. While humor is subjective to the individual, the effects of humor have a more underlining universal tone, as mood enhancement, as a coping mechanism for stress and sadness, and a way to heal from past traumatic experiences. 

To discuss humor, there must be a classification of humor and while subjective, it is classifiable as falling into four distinct categories, Aggressive, Self- Defeating, affiliative and self- enhancing (Gremigni, 2012). Aggressive humor is often done at another person’s expense, like teasing and insult comedy. Self- defeating humor comes at condemning the self and making jabs at one’s own self to others. These types of humor tend to negatively effect the psyche when conducted in a manner that leads to bullying behavior. To contrast this, affiliative humor is used to build a social acceptance of something or someone, as self- enhancing humor leads to coping with stress and hardship (Gremigni, 2012). These styles of humor, however, build a foundation of humor in which is used to elicit emotional responses of joviality and mirth, either in times of need or in a setting of relaxation. 

Humor in teaching

According to a study done in 2016, first year college students faced with the stressors of being far from home, alone on campus, and facing a large academic load were found to have been held back by their emotional stress and resulted in poor academic achievement (Wortley, 2016). What alleviated the stress, it was discovered was the instructor’s humor as, which was found to have worked 74% of the time in the classroom. Appropriate instructional humor, as the study concluded, showed a marked improvement in retention of materials, a less stressful situation for new college students and first years, and a tactic to better engage the classroom. To contrast this point, with self-defeating humor and aggressive humor, the tendency for there to be difficulty in the classroom also exists, as if the humor were derogatory, caused feelings of insecurity and doubt. 

Important to the physiological health and emotional well being of students, the use of humor in college courses is imperative to the growth and development of a class. Humor can be used to gage the understanding of material and be a tool that can help those who are struggling with the course load of the college experience. In a broader aspect, this is a prime example of how humor used by an authority figure can be effective in showing levity in times of great stress and turmoil, or to motivate and relate to the people that the leader entrusts daily. It is, however, important to note that the humor used is still subjective and certain types of humor may not always be appropriate for the case at hand. 

Conclusion

Humor is a double-edged sword in both use and in practice. With the right kind of humor in the right place, it is a powerful tool in the hands of leaders, professors, and those who are thrust in the spotlight. In the wrong place and the wrong humor, there could be irrevocable damage wreaked on the psyche of another. The key is to know the right time, place, and audience to express humor and the types of humor to relate. In an educational setting humor can help ease anxious students from the course work and material, in a setting of leadership, it can be used to put a table of leaders at ease, to better facilitate the processes of negotiation. Humor, when used effectively, can alter the state of mind of an individual more quickly than time, and humor over time, can provide an effect of calming on the emotional stressors that an individual may face, all dependent on how it is used.

Sources

Berger, P., Bitsch, F., Nagels, A., Straube, B., & Falkenberg, I. (2018). Personality modulates amygdala and insula connectivity during humor appreciation: An event-related fMRI study. Social Neuroscience, 13(6), 756–768. https://doi-org.radford.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/17470919.2017.1403375

Gremigni, P. (2012). Humor and health promotion (Ser. Health psychology research focus). Nova Science Publishers. Retrieved July 25, 2022, from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/radford/detail.action?docID=3018639.

Wortley, A., & Dotson, E. (2016). Stand Up Comics: Instructional Humor and Student Engagement. Journal of Instructional Research, 5, 13–18.

Wu, X., Guo, T., Zhang, C., Hong, T.-Y., Cheng, C.-M., Wei, P., Hsieh, J.-C., & Luo, J. (2021). From “Aha!” to “Ha-ha!” Using Humor to Cope with Negative Stimuli. Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 31(4), 2238–2250. https://doi-org.radford.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaa357