On this episode of the Personality Hacker podcast, Joel and Antonia connect Carl Jung's concept of Persona & Shadow Work to the political sphere.
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"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." ~ Carl Jung
In this week's podcast episode, we dive into the intriguing intersection of shadow work and the political landscape, exploring how our unprocessed shadow material manifests in the social and political arenas.
While we don't discuss politics directly, we take a meta approach to uncover the underlying reasons behind our projections.
Drawing on Jung's insights about the persona & shadow, we explore how our unacknowledged & unprocessed shadow aspects often get projected into the world around us, shaping our social and political views and behaviors.
Related Podcast: Personality Type & Our Persona Masks
Jung emphasized that our persona is the mask we present to the world, while our shadow contains the parts of ourselves we reject or deny.
When these shadow elements remain unprocessed, they tend to surface in our interactions, including our political and social engagements.
In this episode, we connect shadow, persona, and politics, providing a framework for understanding how shadow work can transform our approach to politics and society.
As you listen, consider how your own shadow material might be influencing your views and actions:
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What unprocessed aspects of yourself might you be projecting onto others or the world?
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How can recognizing and integrating these shadow elements lead to a more balanced and authentic engagement with social and political issues?
We hope this episode offers you valuable insights into the deeper motivations behind our social and political behaviors.
After you listen, we'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences...
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3 comments
Hi! I am starting to listen to this episode and I have an insight that might be useful. I wish I could remember where I first heard it, but there is a concept of political affiliation of something that’s assigned to you by other people even when you’re trying to be apolitical.
That doesn’t mean you aren’t being neutral, you could be. But people will see that as a sign that you’re not “with them” so you must be “against them.”
I think of one time my Dad (ISTJ) got very confused about why his coworkers assumed he voted for the candidate they didn’t support when he told them “I don’t want to discuss who I voted for at work.” This is a completely reasonable statement and was true. But, to the other people it was a sigh “oh if you’re not enthusiastically being like “hey me too!” Then you must not be with us.”
I think that’s probably what you’ve experienced when people thought you were making a stand by not making a stand.
It can also work in a way that what you believe politically is assigned to you. I grew up in a paradigm where what you believed politically was very much assigned and tied to specifically the religion (or the brand of the religion). So there was an assumption that you had to buy into both. And if you didn’t buy into the political belief part, well that’s not what God wants for you and you’re not really in the religious group.
So when I started showing up in a way that wasn’t seen as “okay” and started realizing there were parts I absolutely disagreed with both spiritually and politically, I ended up having to leave both.
(INFP) Great episode, it was very practical and though provoking. While you did address it briefly I think one thing that should be clarified is that being politically literate, involved, and active in the political process does not mean one is unhealthy and has a lot of shadow work to do. The key problem is when a person becomes vicious, divisive, and insulting when discussing politics. We should not be discouraging healthy people from engaging in politics. We desperately need more healthy people who have done shadow work to be involved in politics. I also think we shouldn’t dismiss the idea that there are sides in politics that are more destructive to society than others. Sometimes it is healthy for people to feel anger when things like free speech are threatened and to process that emotion in a healthy way and take real steps to fight to preserve our society’s freedom and culture.
An example in my area were some parents who were angered by things happening in my child’s school district and they stood up and fought the schoolboard. One of these parents even got fired from her job over it but she later got elected to the schoolboard and is now fighting for our children against the very people who got her fired. These parents are healthy people who have done their shadow work and our protecting my children from people who haven’t done shadow work.
In the spirit of the episode I think we should acknowledge that not all politics are bad and we shouldn’t think in a black and white way and always demonize political involvement. Politics is the primary way we avoid violence, bloodshed, lawlessness, and war. So healthy people need to be involved and be passionate and vote.
I get so much out of all of your podcasts, and today’s episode regarding shadow work and politics was no exception. I am conflict avoidant and this has had a very negative impact on some of my most important relationships. The material on shadow work was so informative and eye-opening. I want to become a person who can not only tolerate tough discussions, but can accept them and hopefully find what is so triggering within me and work to find common ground. Thank you both and continue with the great content!