Ego Strength and Ego Flexibility

An Essay on Positive Psychology & Carl Jung’s Theory of Individuation

 “The ego is the workshop where the Self is made.” 

— C.G. Jung, Conversations with C.G. Jung

Jungian theory and Positive Psychology are two distinct investigations of the human experience, but both share parallel aspirations to both wellness and wholeness. Although Carl Jung’s theory of psychology builds on the work of Freud’s theory of the personal unconscious; Jung builds a wider scope of focus, including larger collective influences on individuals described by Karen Evers-Fahey as the “symbolic paradigm” (2017).  Jung argues that within this paradigm there exists a teleological force in the human unconscious that motivates an individual’s life meaning and purpose. This coincides with one of the primary aims of Positive Psychology: to build a life worth living defined as eudaimonia (Ryan, et al. 2008). In Jungian terms, discovering this force and the wholeness of an individual’s “Self,” is called the process of individuation. 

Jungian theory not only shares goals with Positive Psychology, but also shares important influences, like William James (Evers-Fahey, 2017, p. 7). Similarly to James, Jung proposed that each individual has a unique, innate path to psychic wholeness. In the wider lifespan of an individual, he believed the first half of life was to “establish oneself in the world” and the second half of life “involved a revaluation of [internal] values”  (Jung & Shamdasani, 2012, p. 80). This paper aspires to review the theoretical underpinnings of these initial stages of Jung’s psychological process of individuation with research findings from Positive Psychology. 

Ego Development in the Context of Individuation

Jung says that this path of individuation is about discovering one’s “internal values,” which are unique to each individual. Without consciousness, we might express values and behaviors that are based on societal, cultural and familial influences. These behavioral patterns and the automatic ways of responding to the world may not actually resonate with the individual’s deeper values. Positive Psychology agrees that there is great benefit to expressing passions and behaviors that are in harmonious relationship to our core identities (Vallerand & Verner-Filion, 2013). The process of differentiation can be challenging and even painful. What does Jungian theory and Positive Psychology say about how we get there? Jung posits that we must learn to discriminate between “intentional and unintentional contents of the mind” (Jung, et al., 1964, p. 22).

This paper will focus on the work surrounding ego development and differentiation as a part of individuation from a Jungian perspective. Two key factors of ego development emerge in Jung’s theory: the “gatekeeper of the conscious attitude” (what will now be called ego strength) and an “experimental role: opening oneself to the experience of the unconscious” (what will now be called ego flexibility) (Evers-Fahey, 2017, p. 130-132). This idea is summarized by Jung, in Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche, where he says that “in coming to terms with the unconscious, not only is the standpoint of the ego justified, but the unconscious must be allowed to have its say too” (2014). In summary, we must have the strength to maintain consciousness in the world, but also have the flexibility to see beyond ourselves (Jung, et al., 1964, p. 163). To be able to tolerate the contents of the collective unconscious (described by Jung as “complexes,” “archetypes,” or “shadow”), the individual must build “ego differentiation in the first half of life, leading to a process of conscious relatedness to the Self in the second half of life” (Evers-Fahey, 2017, p. 193).   Both the personal and collective unconscious material (content that is not in conscious awareness) pushes up against individuals’ urge to follow the inner Self. Building ego strength and ego flexibility becomes two key developmental processes for individuals to be able to individuate, and hopefully build a more eudaimonic life. 

Ego Strength & Ego Flexibility

Towards the later part of his life, Jung began to embrace the analogy of alchemy to describe the process of individuation (Jung, 1968). In his exploration of alchemy, he points to the importance of the alchemical vessel in which the alchemical operation is performed. If one fails to build this ego strength, there is a risk that it could be “inwardly torn asunder, so that an agonizing state of disunion arises” (Jung, et al., 2014a).  Before being able to even come into contact with shadow material or collective content, the individual’s ego needs to be able to tolerate the content that comes up from within themselves (Jung, 2014b). These urges and contents can be extremely painful or counter-cultural, requiring a high level of ego strength to contain them. Positive Psychology has charted some unique paths into identifying and building this kind of ego strength; these are positive affect, grit and resilience, and development of character strengths. 

It is not only important to build strength; flexibility is required as well. Donlevy acknowledges that each of us has aspects of ourselves we do not see clearly. This requires a “difficult confrontation with one's hidden side;” in the process of growth and healing, the individual must be able to see beyond their ego stance (Donlevy, 1996). Addressing this second aspect of ego development, Evers-Fahey says that “during this process the ego’s capacity for adaptation becomes more flexible and differentiated.” (Evers-Fahey, 2017, p. 190).  Not only must an individual respond to outer events, but they must be able to respond to the inner progression of individuation, or “the competing demands for adaptation between the two realities of inner and outer life.” (Evers-Fahey, 2017, p. 190). Although an ego must have strength to be able to contain or tolerate multiple perspectives, it must also have the flexibility to gain awareness for what these demands mean. Evers-Fahey points to the important skill that must be fostered in the ego: “opening oneself to the experience of the unconscious” (Evers-Fahey, 2017).  Positive Psychology offers research around the description and methods that support this idea of ego flexibility in the research into mindfulness.

Positive Affect

One primary difference between the position of Positive Psychology and Jungian thought is the orientation towards affect, especially positive affect. Barbara Fredrickson has pioneered research into positive affect in the Positive Psychology space, building a framework that shows positive affect helps to promote overall wellbeing (Fredrickson, 2001) and also helps to build resilience (Pillay, et al., 2022). Jung’s view of affect was not as uniformly positive, theorizing that affect (both positive and negative) is the evidence of unconscious complexes (Jung, et al., 2014, para. 628); in essence, affect is a pathway to meeting shadow, which can overwhelm or evoke defenses in an individual. Here we might also distinguish between Fredrickson’s investigation of positive affect in daily life as “feeling grateful, upbeat” (Fredrickson & Losada, 2005), versus Jung’s conceptualization of affect as “disturbing influences” or “feeling-toned thought processes” (Jung, 2014c, para. 423).

Perhaps positive affect in daily life during the first half of this individuation process can help build a stable and strong ego; and extreme affect in either positive or negative valence could clue one in to a need for greater consciousness.

Although throughout his life Jung maintains a similar position on affect, he does speak to the ways in which affect is an important factor for growth: “emotion is the alchemical fire whose warmth brings everything into existence…it is the moment when steel meets flint and a spark is struck forth, for emotion is the chief source of consciousness. There is no change from darkness to light or from inertia to movement without emotion.” (Jung, et al., 2014b, para. 179.) This insight about affect impacting consciousness might be supported by the work of Fredrickson, she found that positive affect allowed individuals to experience wider ranges of emotion and gain clarity about the outer world (Fredrickson & Losada, 2005) and in extension, perhaps greater consciousness about the range of the human experience of the individual. While Jungian theory may not agree with the unequivocal usefulness of positive emotions, the outcomes studied by Fredrickson speak to the growth of an individual’s ego strength: more capacity for a wider range of experience. Positive affect has been shown to support the “build” component of Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build theory, leading us to something Positive Psychologists and Jungians can both agree on: resilience.

Resilience & Grit

On resilience, Jung writes of his own experience, “It was only after the illness that I understood how important it is to affirm one’s own destiny. In this way we forge an ego that does not break down when incomprehensible things happen; an ego that endures, that endures the truth, and that is capable of coping with the world and with fate.” (Jung, et al., 1963). The benefit of what Jung described here is a strong ego that can endure both internal and external factors because of an affirmation of one’s internal goals. Positive Psychology seems to support Jung here with both grit and resilience focused-research. Although grit has been studied as an external achievement-focused description (Duckworth, et al. 2007), the same psychological strength could be applied internally as well: to be able to have grit not only to achieve outer outcomes, but to have grit to endure and tolerate outer crises and lack of positive reinforcement throughout the individuation process. For resilient individuals, this self-connection and confidence may help to build a more eudaimonic life full of autonomous, intrinsic goal-oriented activity, even without the experience of positive emotion (Yildririm, 2019). Resilience and grit help to bolster an individual's ego strength that, in a Jungian view, equips the individual with the resources for individuation. Not only is it important to endure, but the focus on “one’s own destiny” is relevant to resilience. Although we cannot measure “destiny” in Positive Psychology, there is research that shows harmonious passion with one’s own identity builds resilience (Paquette, et al. 2023).  Jung sums this up well, saying, “everything that is necessary can be lived if only you will stand by yourself and endure things as they are.” (Jung, et al. 1990, p. 456).

Character Strengths

Positive Psychologists have investigated a theory Character Strengths that can be observed across cultures (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). In a similar spirit, Jung’s theory promotes the discovery of unique strengths and abilities: “individuation, therefore, can only mean a process of psychological development that fulfills the individual qualities given; in other words, it is a process by which a man becomes the definite, unique being he in fact is.” (Jung, 1966, para. 267) Jung theorizes that each individual is connected to the collective unconscious and has access to the range of archetypal strengths of the collective. Similarly the theorists behind Character Strengths believe that all individuals have at least some access to each character strength, as character strengths are both dimensional and generally conceptualized as capacities (Niemiec, & Pearce, 2021). If we begin to see Character Strengths through the Jungian lens, ego strength would be required to ensure that one is not “inflated” or “possessed” by the “archetype” (Schlamm, 2014). This can be integrated with the work of Chris Peterson, who began to theorize that Character Strengths might have overuse and underuse valances. 

In more recent research, it is clear that the overuse or underuse of character strengths can lead to “negative emotional states,” and a lack of “positive coping strategies and resilience” (Kamushadze & Martskvishvili, 2021). Again, it is critical that the individual builds the ego strength to leverage his or her individual character strengths, but also the ego flexibility to consciously relate to and decide when and how to use them. Jung says ego strength and flexibility allows for “the most successful adaptation to the universal conditions of existence, coupled with the greatest possible freedom for self-determination” (Jung, et al. 2014d, para 289).  Again, the metaphor of alchemy was used by Jung to see the ego as the alchemical vessel that can “hold” the material (a given strength) without being overtaken or broken by it. 

Mindfulness

Jung says that “the ego must be able to listen attentively and to give itself (without any further design or purpose) the inner urge towards growth.” (Jung, et al. 1964, p. 164) Mindfulness is an important research area in Positive Psychology that has been shown to contribute to not only ego flexibility, but also ego strength in the areas of emotional regulation and cognitive control (Schuman-Olivier, et al. 2020); helping individuals increase their ability to face uncertainty in the world (Oh, et al. 2022). This flexibility would allow an individual to observe and integrate unconscious material without automatically reacting or becoming triggered by this content. By gaining more awareness and nonjudgmental acceptance, it seems that mindfulness helps individuals gain a more realistic perspective about both external and internal realities (Keng, et al., 2011). The ability to “look at oneself as if outside of oneself” was seen by Jung as a developmental step towards individuation (Evers-Fahey, 2017, p. 4).

Jung calls for an increased ability to both see beyond the ego and also be able to integrate the relevance of what is observed. The theory of individuation expects that “as the ego progresses, … there is a corresponding growth in the integrative function” (Evers-Fahey, 2017, p. 194).  Research has shown that increased mindfulness increases cognitive flexibility (Siegel, 2007). In essence, this helps to confirm the theory of ego flexibility in allowing an individual to observe internal and external dynamics and integrate them in new ways. Along with increased resilience, mindfulness would help to enable an individual to experience “a growth in the capacity to respond to mental images and openness to emotional experience” (Evers-Fahey, 2017, p. 194). Returning to the alchemical analogy, it seems that mindfulness can not only promote more consciousness of the “alchemical operation” (individuation process) happening in the “alchemical vessel” (ego); but also allow individuals to become a partner in this process: becoming the “alchemist” who experiments with new ways to respond to both inner and outer demands.

Conclusion

For Jung, it is clear that an individuation process requires ego strength and ego flexibility, his theoretical framing of ego development seems to be supported by research findings in the area of Positive Psychology. Although positive affect is not a core tenant of Jung’s theory, the outcomes as described in Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build theory do. Positive affect, in service of resilience and grit, paired with a right relationship with one’s character strengths helps to build up the individual’s capacity to respond to both internal and external demands. Mindfulness gives the individual resilience and also cognitive flexibility to integrate the information they observe in new ways.

It seems clear that a strong ego is required to act as a container for this process; which in turn gives us the ability to see and integrate information beyond oneself: building ego flexibility.

From this brief review of the Jungian perspective, it would seem these interventions and insights from Positive Psychology help to develop ego strength and flexibility as defined by Jung as part of the process of individuation. The goal of individuation is to give us agency in the world, and move beyond personal shadow and collective influences, allowing us to find a more harmonious alignment of our behavioral expression and inner experience with our deeper identities. This ego development allows us to become more open to the deeper parts of ourselves, the unconscious in Jung’s theory, allowing us to begin to hear the “Self” speaking into our life. This connection to ourselves was hypothesized by Jung as the primary source of life meaning, or what Positive Psychology calls eudaimonia. With this increased ego strength and flexibility, hopefully we will be able to listen more clearly to our dreams, view our fantasies with curiosity and face outer experiences as messages of growth from the deeper parts of who we are. We are left with this alchemical allegory once again: the ego development of strength and flexibility become a resource for the alchemist as he pursues the creation of gold from the prima materia; creating psychological wholeness from the current state of who we are today.

References

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Note: The cover photo on this post is an AI generated image of Carl Jung and William James.