Terms introduced by C. G. Jung to describe certain functions of the human “soul” (anima, Latin). Anima names the feminine unconscious factor in a man, while animus applies to the corresponding masculine factor in a woman’s unconscious. Noting the frequency with which he encountered such contra sexual figures in the dreams of his patients, Jung theorized that every individual is born with the potential for both sets of gender characteristics, but – under the influence of genes and socialization – only one set is developed consciously, leaving the other latent in the unconscious. Because dreams tend to “compensate” for an inevitable “one-sidedness” in conscious attitude, archetypal images of the opposite gender are common in dreams.
Gender Relations
Jung described the “masculine principle” as logos (the tendency to trust logic and verbal formulations) and the “feminine principle” as eros (the tendency to trust emotional connections and relatedness) (Jung 1959, p. 14). A logos-oriented...
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Bibliography
Haule, J. R. (1990). Divine madness: Archetypes of romantic love. Boston: Shambhala.
Jung, C. G. (1959). The collected works of C. G. Jung: Aion: Researches into the phenomenology of the self (G. Adler, Ed.; trans: Hull, R. F. C.) (Vol. 9, Pt. 2, pp. 11–35). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Jung, C. G. (1966). The collected works of C. G. Jung: Two essays in analytical psychology (G. Adler, Ed.; trans: Hull, R. F. C.) (2nd ed., Vol. 7). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Jung, C. G. (1971). The collected works of C. G. Jung: Psychological types (G. Adler, Ed.; trans: Hull, R. F. C.) (Vol. 6, pp. 408–486). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
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Haule, J.R. (2014). Anima and Animus. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_30
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