There are many theories of personality formation and development. Many of them are opposing theories but as many try to combine different theories to reach a fuller understanding of the elusive self. The analytic psychoanalysis theory of Carl Jung is primarily modeled on the theories of Freud, with a few important distinctions, especially the collective unconscious and the de-emphasis on sexuality. The personality theory of Erich Fromm differs radically from Jung in many aspects. Perhaps the biggest divergence between Jung and Fromm is Fromm’s belief that environmental factors (family, society, education, religion, etc.) shape personality as much as biological factors. Fromm’s theory is also a blend of existentialism, humanism and Marx’s theories of capitalism and class distinctions. Jung, on the other hand, argued solely from a biological framework, following Freud in his belief that there are unconscious determinants of personality but that the unconscious consists of two lawyers, the unconscious and the collective unconscious. This analysis will compare and contrast the theories of Carl Jung and Erich Fromm. A conclusion will discuss which of these two theories of personality is the more valid.
For Carl Jung, “the goal of life is to realize the self” which is an “archetype that represents the transcendence of opposites, so that every aspect of your personality is expressed equally,” (Boeree 8). In this state, you are in a balanced position psychically, where you accept both sides of who you are. For example, you are both and neither an individual and the whole of creation, both and neither good and bad, and both and neither conscious and unconscious. When it came to the psyche, Jung divided it into three components: the ego, personal unconscious and collective unconscious. The ego and personal unconscious are quite similar to Freud’s theory of them, especially the personal unconscious which is a collec...