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Carl Jung pioneered the principles of positive psychology. An article by Llewellyn E. van Zyl Ph.D. from Psychology Today Key points Carl Jung pioneered ideas of personal growth, strengths, meaning, and well-being. Jung's individuation process mirrors modern thinking on self-actualization and personal growth. Jung stressed meaning and purpose as crucial for mental health and well-being. Jung's idea about archetypes laid the foundation for psychology's emphasis on strength-based growth. If you've ever read anything about positive psychology, you've likely come across names like Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who hailed in the discipline in 2000. But the roots of positive psychology can be traced a lot further back, all the way to Carl Jung. Yes, the same Carl Jung often associated with the shadow, archetypes, and the unconscious . While history has overlooked his contributions, Jung was perhaps the first true pioneer of what we now call positive psychology. Let's look at his contributions to a now flourishing field. The Hidden Positive Side of the Psyche Jung was deeply passionate about understanding how individuals can grow, develop, and ultimately thrive. At a time when Freud ’s psychoanalysis dominated psychology with its strong focus on psychopathology, Jung believed that every individual has the potential for growth and fulfilment. In his work, Jung (1908) challenged the negative views of the human psyche and instead proposed that individuals possess an innate ability to move toward wholeness and well-being. He didn’t just ask, “What’s wrong with you?” He also asked, “What’s right with you?” Individuation: A Journey to Wholeness One of Jung’s most significant contributions to positive psychology is the concept of individuation. This is the process of integrating all the parts of our personality to become whole or our "true selves." Unlike concepts such as self-actualisation, which focuses on reaching a final, optimal state of functioning, Jung believed that individuation was a lifelong journey of personal growth and development. He saw it as integrating all aspects of one’s personality, the good and the bad, into a unified, authentic self. Individuation is not about becoming perfect. It's really about becoming whole by embracing that we are flawed beings with both developmental areas/weaknesses and strengths. For Jung, individuation was a pathway to true personal growth and fulfilment. These ideas mirror positive psychology’s emphasis on balancing the positive and negative and reaching one’s full potential. The Importance of Meaning Jung’s influence on positive psychology is perhaps most evident in his exploration of meaning. In Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933), Jung suggested that many psychological problems stem from a lack of purpose and that searching for purpose was a central part of the human experience. Jung famously said, “Man can stand the most incredible hardships when he is convinced that they make sense.” This insight laid the groundwork for Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy and the ideas in his book Man’s Search for Meaning . By proposing that every individual needs to connect to something larger than themselves, Jung in his later theories pushed for people to find deeper meaning and purpose as a means to achieve full individuation. In the context of positive psychology, meaning is a critical component of well-being. Research consistently shows that meaning is one of the strongest predictors of happiness , success, and resilience . Jung’s early conceptual work anticipated what we now take as common knowledge: The search for meaning isn’t a luxury but a fundamental human need. Embracing Strengths, Archetypes, and Self-Reflection Jung’s exploration of archetypes as universal, recurring symbols or themes in the human experience was ground-breaking. He believed that archetypes, such as The Hero, The Wise Old Man, or The Caregiver , represent potential paths for personal growth. The archetypal patterns provide individuals with frameworks for understanding their strengths, much like how positive psychology encourages people to identify and cultivate their strengths today. Jung argued that connecting with archetypes helps individuals unlock their inner resources, which helps them develop a greater sense of self-awareness and leads them to a more fulfilled life. His idea is echoed in modern positive psychology’s emphasis on leveraging one's strengths as a path to flourishing. Further, he also promoted self-reflection and introspection as a means of self-healing, which are both central techniques used in the majority of positive psychological interventions aimed at improving well-being. The Shadow and Positive Transformation One of the more controversial aspects of Jung’s theory at the time was his concept of the shadow: the dark parts of ourselves we hide, deny, or reject. While it might seem counterintuitive, Jung saw embracing of our shadow as a pathway to personal growth. By confronting and integrating our shadow, he argued, we can achieve a more authentic and complete version of ourselves. Although positive psychology often focuses on strengths and virtues, it doesn’t shy away from the fact that growth often comes from facing challenges and adversities. More modern approaches in positive psychology states that we need to understand, and appreciate the value of negative experiences, as these are what help push us to grow. Jung’s work reminds us that happiness and well-being aren’t about avoiding negative experiences but, rather, confronting them and valuing them for the contributions they make to our growth trajectories. In this way, Jung anticipated the modern positive psychology view of post-traumatic growth , whereby individuals grow stronger and more resilient after facing adversity. Spirituality and Transcendence Another area in which Jung’s influence shines is his exploration of spirituality and transcendence. He believed that spirituality plays a crucial role in psychological well-being. Jung’s approach wasn’t about religion per se but, rather, about connecting with something greater than oneself, which echoes the positive psychology focus on spirituality as a pathway to well-being. This aspect of transcendence and connection is a cornerstone of the positive psychology movement and a core virtue in the VIA Strengths Framework. The idea that feeling part of something bigger than ourselves can enhance our sense of purpose, meaning, and happiness is deeply rooted in Jung’s theories. Conclusion So, was Carl Jung the real father of positive psychology? The evidence is hard to ignore. While he might not have coined the term, he was undoubtedly its first true champion. He mapped out the terrain long before Seligman arrived, showing us that the path to a fulfilling life isn’t about avoiding the darkness but integrating it. References Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification . Oxford University Press. Seligman, M. E., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction (Vol. 55, No. 1, p. 5). American Psychological Association. Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being . Free Press. van Zyl, L. E., Gaffaney, J., van der Vaart, L., Dik, B. J., & Donaldson, S. I. (2024). The critiques and criticisms of positive psychology: A systematic review. The Journal of Positive Psychology , 19 (2), 206-235. I'd like to thank Prof. dr. Danie du Toit for his input on earlier drafts of this manuscript.

How do you perceive the world? In this animation video we introduce Sensing (S) and Intuition (N). We explain the two different ways of perceiving our outer and inner worlds in a visual and musical way. This animation video was produced by BAPT member, Josh Leach. Script, Animation, Voiceover and Music by Josh Leach, BAPT member Script and Production by Jerry Gilpin, BAPT Treasurer Editing by Shaun Hill

In this animation video we explore two different decision-making styles, Thinking and Feeling, and how they can be Extraverted or Introverted.

How is introversion different from extraversion? And what's this 'ambivert' thing that everyone's talking about? It's NOT actually about how sociable you are. We hope this little explainer video can help you understand the differences. Produced by Josh Leach, BAPT member.

'Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have received teaching from the late Otto Kroeger, an eminent type guru, will know that he was a firm advocate of ‘type watching’ to learn more about the expression of type preferences in individuals' This has been taken further by BAPT member Peter Malone through the use of film to illustrate type preferences in the characters in various movies. This e-book contains reviews of 24 films previously published in 'TypeFace'. Films include The Lost King, The Two Popes and Les Miserables.

In this episode of the Personality Hacker podcast, Joel and Antonia feature a talk with Dr. Dario Nardi delivered on the main stage at Profiler Training talking about avoiding one-sidedness in our personality.

How psychological type relates to cybersecurity by John Hackston World Economic Forum has identified data fraud and cyber-attack as major issues facing society, so anything that we can do to avoid becoming a victim should be very useful – not just for ourselves, but for anyone who we connect to online. With this in mind, The Myers-Briggs Company set out to investigate the links between psychological type and cyber-security attitudes and behaviours. We wanted to develop personality-based guidelines, hints and tips, to help anyone who knew their psychological type to improve their online security. So we sent out a survey, asking people for their best-fit type and also for their answers to questions about cyber-security. We also wanted IT professionals to be aware that people do have differences from each other, and that type is a really useful way of looking at this. So, what were these results? Well, before I tell you, I’m going to ask you a few questions. Please answer them, just in your head if you like, before you read further: Have you experienced phishing or any other cyber-attacks in the last year? How about the last month? The last week? If you are working for a business, in the public sector or for another organisation, to what extent would you agree with the following statement: “A data breach would be disastrous for my organisation”? Do you use a password or passcode to unlock your laptop or tablet? Have you occasionally written down a password and left this note next to your computer? Let’s look at your answers. If you said “no” to the first question, you may be one of the lucky ones. In our survey, two-thirds of respondents said that they had experienced cyber-attacks in the last year. 30% in the last month, and 15% in the last week. How about “A data breach would be disastrous for my organisation”? If you agreed with that statement, then you were in good company. 82% of our respondents agreed or strongly agreed, with only 8% disagreeing and 10% unsure. In general, our sample showed good security behaviours; almost all used a password or passcode, and very few said that they had occasionally written down a password and left this next to their computer. There were however some common security mistakes; you might want to consider if you do any of the following (until I carried out this research, I certainly did): Submitting information to websites without first checking that it will be sent securely Assuming that it is safe to access your email on someone else’s computer Re-using the same password where you can Using the same password at work and at home Using the same password for most accounts and apps Over-confidence that you won’t be caught out by cyber-attacks Assuming that if you have installed all the security updates required by your system administrator, you are 100% safe and don’t need to worry about viruses Assuming that if a public network is passworded, it is safe enough to use for sensitive activities (such as online banking) Although there were some general trends, there were, as we predicted, differences according to type. For example, individuals with preferences for Introversion and Thinking were more likely than others to use their IT knowledge to take care online by checking that sites are secure, checking links before clicking, and verifying attachments before opening, while those with Sensing and Judging preferences were more likely to conscientiously follow IT security rules and processes. Looking at whole type, there were some significant differences in how people with different preferences answered individual questions. For example, most people with ESTJ preferences agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I have never ignored or contravened any of the security policies of my organisation” but a significant proportion of those with ESTP preferences disagreed or were unsure. We used these and other findings to put together cyber-security hints and tips for each of the 16 types. For example, many people with my type preferences (INTP) are knowledgeable about cyber-security issues and are well aware that anyone can be caught out by cyber-attacks. However, we do find it difficult to follow security rules and we tend to think we know best, which is not always good news when it comes to cyber-security. You can download the full set of tips, as well as a detailed research report, as PDFs from this page. There is also a copy of the questionnaire, if you want to test yourself! I hope that this short article has helped you to think a little about your IT security; carrying out the research certainly has made me more careful. Going beyond that, this research is yet another example of how we can apply the lens of type to so many aspects of our everyday lives, and just how useful this framework is. And as we wanted IT professionals to be aware that type is a useful approach to thinking about personalising security advice, it is gratifying that the research has featured in several cyber-security publications and websites. About the Author John Hackston is a Chartered Psychologist and Head of Thought Leadership at The Myers-Briggs Company. He has over thirty years of experience in helping clients to use psychometric tests and questionnaires. John carries out research to bring personality assessments, in particular the MBTI, to life, helping practitioners and end users apply the insights they gain both inside and outside work. jhackston@themyersbriggs.com; www.themyersbriggs.com [Photo from Pixabay]

by Ray Moody, Mark Majors, and Mina Barimany (Read the first article and the third article in this series) (Watch the YouTube video of the conference session) David Hume found the ancients’ moral and natural philosophy “entirely hypothetical, & depending more upon Invention than Experience.”[1] Apparently, little has changed. One of the assumptions type experts have incorporated into their publications and presentations is the idea that about age 50 we shift our process usage. At this point we reduce usage of the Dominant and Auxiliary and increase the usage of the Tertiary and the Inferior. The goal, it is assumed, is to develop a more equal balance in process development. As the MBTI manual explains: “During midlife, people appear to be naturally motivated toward completing their personalities through gradually adding the previously neglected tertiary and inferior functions to the sphere of operation.” (Myers et al., 1998, 2003, pp. 27-28) We call this notion the Switcharoo Hypothesis. We tested it in two ways. One was by correlation analysis, age with process usage scores for each of the eight processes from MajorsPTI instrument. If process scores go up as age goes up, a positive correlation would indicate an increase in usage. If process scores go down as age goes up, a negative correlation would indicate a decrease in usage. Our second testing approach was to construct a stratified sample, six 10-year age groups, for each function, Dominant, Auxiliary Tertiary, Inferior, and each of the four Complements. The result was a line graph for each function. With an increase in usage over time, the line would go up. With a decrease in usage, the line would go down. We got a big surprise. For the correlation analysis, the 128 correlations were almost as chaotic as contemporary Washington, D.C. Some processes went up, but not the same processes for each type. Some processes went down, but not the same processes for each type. Some processes didn’t change at all. Two types didn’t shift anything. ENTJs and ISTPs appeared to be happy as a clam without adjusting their usage of any process. The largest significant correlation was -0.404, for INTJs: according to the Switcharoo Hypothesis, wrong process and wrong direction. You can imagine how the line graph went. We’ll show you (at the BAPT conference). Beautiful lines. Wrong direction, according to the Switcharoo Hypothesis and the empirical evidence. The Old McDonald was another hypothesis we tested. This hypothesis says that, if you arrange the processes from most used to least used, you get an alteration in attitude: E-I-E-I-Oh. This alteration, Old McDonald assumes, provides the necessary balance. Jung mentioned balance or counterbalance 15 times in Chapter 10 of Psychological Types (pars. 623, 637, 639-2, 643, 689, 693-3, 694-3, 772, 872, 902; the number after the hyphen is the number of occurrences in the attached paragraph). “… I regard the activity of the unconscious (q.v.) as a balancing of the one-sidedness of the general attitude (q.v.) produced by the function of consciousness (q.v.).” (694) “….These statements correspond exactly to my own view of the theory of libido, which seeks to maintain the balance between the two psychological opposites of extraversion and introversion.” (872) With our measurements, we find that balance works very differently than we assumed. Jung’s conception of balance involves either Perception or Judgment and opposite processes and opposite attitudes, all at once. The same pattern is very clear in each type. Mina Barimany is the one who showed us this. She understood what Jung said better than we did. A picture is worth a thousand words. We’ll show you. So, for the Switcharoo and Old McDonald Hypotheses…. No, sorry. Our empirical evidence shows that’s not the way the system works. We have much new to learn about type. (Read the first article and the third article in this series) [1] Gazzaniga, M. S. (2018). The consciousness instinct. Unraveling the mystery of how the brain makes the mind. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, p. 38. About the authors Ray Moody (INTJ) works with Mark Majors and collaborates with a variety of colleagues including Mina Barimany in organizing type and culture research. This ongoing research on the measurement of Jung’s eight mental processes has been presented at various APTi conferences. Lifetime Achievement Award from APTi, 2017. Mark Majors (ENFP) Dr Mark S. Majors is a counselling psychologist with extensive psychometric credentials. He is the author and developer of the MajorsPTI and Majors PT-Elements. He has developed and presents leadership training seminars that train leaders to serve others by using personality and individual differences to facilitate optimum performance. Mina Barimany (INTJ) is a psychotherapist, counselor educator, and researcher from Washington, DC. Originally trained as a family therapist, she completed a doctorate in counselor education from George Washington University, where she is the Assistant Training Director of the counseling center and researches the development and application of Psychological Type theory.