Importance of the Environment

Jung thought that that heritage can play a role in the balance of a personality. Man can have inherent extrovert or introvert tendencies, or he can be a rather emotional type instead of an intellectual, and his anima can be strong or weak.

The other major component in the development of a personality is the environment. The environment in which one grows up or lives, can deform, stimulate, or stabilize one’s development. The environment can interfere with the growth of the personality by taking away the necessary stimuli or by making inappropriate contacts.

Parents play an extremely important role in the development of the character of the child. They are responsible for the mistakes of the child and for stimulating his good tendencies. During its first years, the child does not have its own identity. His psyche is a reflection of the psyche of his parents. Every psychic disorder of the parents is reflected in the child. When the child goes to school it starts to develop its own individuality. The influence of its parents can still be strong if they are overprotective, make decisions that the child should have made, and prevent the child from having sufficient experiences. Under these circumstances the individuation of the child is stunned.

The individuation process is also limited by parents who try to impose their own psychic tendencies onto the child, or when one of the parents is seeking to  compensate for his/her own shortcomings through the child.

Jung was convinced that the educators have a much stronger influence on the individuation of a child than the parents. The educators should bring the unconscious in the student into the conscious. They could expand the conscious of students by providing him with a multitude of experiences. Educators are in a position to discover imbalances in the child and to help it to overcome weaknesses in it's character. A child who is an overly developed intellectual type could be stimulated to come into contact with his feelings. An introvert student could be stimulated to show his extrovert side. However, the most important task of educators is the recognition of the individuality of each student and the promotion of a balanced development of individuality.