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collective unconscious
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collective unconscious

psychology
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Article History
Key People:
Carl Jung
Related Topics:
unconscious
archetype
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collective unconscious, term introduced by psychiatrist Carl Jung to represent a form of the unconscious (that part of the mind containing memories and impulses of which the individual is not aware) common to mankind as a whole and originating in the inherited structure of the brain. It is distinct from the personal unconscious, which arises from the experience of the individual. According to Jung, the collective unconscious contains archetypes, or universal primordial images and ideas.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.