COmplexes

The term complex has become part of our everyday language, as in, “he has a mother complex” or “she has a superiority complex.” The term was first used by the Swiss psychiatrist, Carl G. Jung, to designate groups of related images, memories, and ideas having a common emotional tone within the unconscious.

Jung’s discovery of complexes within the unconscious was remarkably scientific for his time. Using word association tests, similar to modern implicit bias experiments, participants were presented with a long series of 100 words, like angry, happy, fear, to marry, to pray, etc. and asked to answer as quickly as possible with the first word that occurred to them. Jung then measured response times and followed up by asking participants about their feelings and thoughts toward the words to which they took a relatively long time to respond. The understanding was that response time indicated underlying psychological functions that caused friction or resistances to responding more readily, which were then confirmed through follow-up interviews. Ultimately, this provided confirmation for the basic idea that our lives can be unconsciously influenced by a cluster of emotions and thoughts around a particular psychological theme or complex.

Simply put, a complex is an emotionally charged, internalized experience, which can be triggered by various experiences relevant to our personal history. Most complexes form early in life as a result of experiences, which may be pleasant or unpleasant. Some experiences present an obstacle to the developing personality. In such cases, a complex may emerge as a self-protective mechanism to defend ourselves from emotional harm and play a role in adaptation.

Early experiences with our primary caregivers constitute our core complexes. Other complexes may involve themes of authority, inferiority, dependency, power, victim, savior, etc. For example, a child with overly strict or controlling parents may internalize these experiences as an authority complex and subsequently project excessive power onto authority, while experiencing themselves as less powerful. When confronted by authority, such a person may respond with overly submissive or pleasing behavior. Furthermore, they may become bothered or angry when they see others react with assertiveness in the face of authority.

Complexes are thought to act independently of conscious control and exert an unconscious influence on an individual’s attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. In this sense, they have been referred to as provisional identities or splinter personalities, such that they can momentarily take over our ego or primary conscious personality. When a complex is activated, it has a strong impact on our state of mind, which can influence how we react to a given person or situation. Think of an invading spaceship coming up from the unknown and temporarily taking control of the mothership.

Understanding complexes within our own lives can be difficult. However, a focus on patterns and reactions is typically a useful place to begin.

When and with whom do you find yourself experiencing excessive emotional reactions, often disproportionate to the situation at hand?

In what ways do you find yourself repeating the same behaviors despite a desire to act differently?

At what times do you feel like you are not acting like yourself or feel a pressure to respond in certain ways?

When or with whom are you most annoyed or irritated?

All of these questions are good starting points for understanding the nature and influence of complexes in your life. Once identified, we can develop some capacity to slow down and take note of how a complex is taking over, along with a greater ability to step back and exert some amount of conscious control. Over time, a complex can be integrated into our awareness such that it is less powerful in taking over and influencing our behavior.

Thomas Lindquist, Psy.D.

Licensed Psychologist

Contact: t.lindquist.psyd@gmail.com