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Psychology in the BTS UNiverse
Psychology plays a huge and very significant part throughout the BTS universe and storyline. We were first introduced to Jungian psychology during the Map of the Soul: Persona era. Ever since then, Jungian psychology has only intertwined further with the BTS universe. Understanding certain psychological terms can be difficult at times, especially if it's your first time being introduced to these psychological concepts, but fear not! Here, we will touch on the basics of Jungian psychology, as well as some of the most significant vocabularies you should know when diving into the BTS universe. Learning these terms will not only help you excel in your theory studies in the future, but it will also help you understand the meaning and better interpret certain symbolism that may appear throughout the BTS universe and storyline.
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A short summary and introduction to
Jungian Psychology:
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Carl Jung was an early 20th-century Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was known for being the father of analytical psychology. He believed that the psyche strives to maintain a balance between the opposing qualities within the psyche, while constantly striving for growth. This process would come to be known as the process of individuation. He saw the psyche as something that consisted of various different complexes and archetypal contents.
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Though the human psyche is a very complex thing that may be hard to understand, here we are going to give a short explanation on the 5 main parts of the psyche, and how they all correlate with one another.
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Figure 5: Jung's Model of the Human Psyche
Persona
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The Persona is essentially an image or a mask you wear in public in order to impose a certain image about yourself. Most of the time, your persona doesn't display yourself as who you truly are. For example, a man may wear the image or mask of a businessman when he is at work, but when he comes home to his family, he may switch his persona to an image of a father. Instagram models, politicians, celebrities, they are definitely not whom they say they are on tv in real life. As Jung stated, "Persona... is the individual's system of adaptation to, or the manner he assumes in dealing with, the world".
Ego
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The Ego is the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity. It is essentially the center of your consciousness. Think about all the times you have ever use the word "I" to describe yourself (ex. I am beautiful, I am hungry, etc.). That "I" you're talking about actually refers to your Ego.
The Ego is all your beliefs, ideas, and thoughts, in one. The Ego, is also the "I" that you like and identify with the most.
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For example, a celebrity may identify themselves as "rich, famous, and popular". In this case, this is what their ego is: rich, famous, and popular.
This is also why the popular idea of being egoistic as being prideful & narcissistic exists. For some people, they may often become obsessed with that particular trait of themselves that they identify with or like. If you project too much of your ego on to the real world, you could easily become a narcissist.
Shadow
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The shadow is the dark side of someone's personality. It's essentially the opposite of the ego. The shadow is an unknown side and area, hidden behind/under the ego, that the ego does not identify with. If you identify yourself as beautiful, but someone tells you you're ugly, that identification of you as ugly is strange to you. You don't accept it as your identity, because you identify yourself as beautiful, not ugly.
Every trait that you possess that you like about yourself will have a shadow component in which you have to repress to keep your identity consistent... in many cases, your persona. For example, if you're a very hard worker, you may repress the part of yourself that's lazy, if you pride yourself as beautiful, then you may repress the part of yourself that's ugly.
Anima/Animus
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The Anima is the unconscious or inner feminine side of a male, while the Animus is the unconscious or inner masculine side of a female. Jung referred to the Anima and Animus as the indwelling masculine and feminine energies that we all possess. When you discover your anima/animus and begin to truly understand it, the feminine and masculine sides that exist within yourself will begin to harmonize. When you begin to reach this balance between the two sides, you will be able to reach the final goal of individuation. You will start to get closer towards your inner world, towards the door that would lead you to your soul.
The Self
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The Self signifies the unification of both the unconscious and conscious side of the human psyche and represents the psyche as a whole. It is realized as the product of individuation, which in Jung's view, is the process of integrating various aspects of one's personality.
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The relationship between the different parts of the psyche
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Many people seem to often be confused about the relationship between the different parts of the psyche when they first learn it, specifically the Persona, Ego, and Shadow. So here, we will be describing the relationship between the different parts of the psyche with simple and easy to understand analogies. The diagrams below will serve as a visual for you to better understand the relationship between the different parts of the psyche:
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Think of Ego as yourself as a person. Now, you have insecurities and those are your Shadow. The Ego tries to dress up the Shadow with Persona(s) to hide away the darkness that is the Shadow. The Persona acts as a bridge that connects the ego consciousness to the outer world. You can think of the ego as an extension of the persona. Persona is what you want people to see you as, a mask you wear in public. And ego is whom you think you are. The Self is you as a whole, all the different aspects and parts of your psyche.
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Ego and Shadow are like yin and yang, opposite to one another, sitting on opposite sides of the human psyche. The Ego and Persona exist in the conscious part of the psyche, while the Shadow and Anima/Animus exists in the unconscious side of the psyche. To reach closer to the ultimate goal of the process of individuation, you must learn to overcome your fears and learn to face and embrace your shadow as a part of yourself.
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The Hero's Journey
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The Hero's Journey is a process that Carl Jung believed to be an essential part of a human's journey to individuation. The Hero's journey requires an individual to go on an adventure in which they reflect upon themselves and who they are. Eventually, after they've confronted their shadows and come to fully embrace their shadow self as a part of their psyche instead of pushing or hiding it away under their persona, they will then be able to finish their journey, ultimately reaching the end of the process of individuation. Of course, the Hero's Journey, similar to the journey of self-love, isn't necessarily something that can be achieved in a short amount of time. It's more so a process that will require a lifetime for a person to undergo and grow from.
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BTS & Psychology
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Would you like to learn more about how BTS' concepts and music correlates with psychology, specifically Jungian psychology? Check out this webinar with the prestigious Dr. Murray Stein in which he answers some of ARMY's questions and discuss topics revolving around Jungian Psychology, The Red Book, and how BTS has helped open an opportunity for people to be introduced and exposed to psychology in a unique and wonderful way:
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