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Psychologist
Reference:

Archetypal Aspects of a Person's Life Scenario

Skleynis Viktor Aleksandrovich

PhD in Psychology

Docent, the department of Social Sciences and Humanities, North-Eastern State University

685024, Russia, Magadanskaya oblast', g. Magadan, ul. Portovaya, 13

kartiala@list.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 

DOI:

10.25136/2409-8701.2022.2.37888

Received:

12-04-2022


Published:

19-04-2022


Abstract: The subject of this study is the correlation of the type of life scenario of the individual on the one hand and the components of the personality on the other. The aim of the research is to analyze the relationship between archetypal structures of the personality and his/hers life scenario. Considering the life scenario of the person and archetypal structures of his/her personality as components of the outlook, projected at the level of semantics in the form of attitudes to individual objects, situations and time intervals, the author compares the type of life scenario of the person on the one hand and the categorical axes of the archetypal space on the other. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that within the framework of this work, for the first time, the relationship between the types of the life scenario of the individual and the components of his/her archetypal space is empirically investigated. In addition, the novelty of the study lies in the fact that archetypal structures and the life scenario of a personality are considered in the framework of this study from the standpoint of the psychology of subjective semantics and are described as deep semantic structures that manifest themselves at the level of surface structures in the processes of meaning formation. In the course of the study, statistically significant data were obtained, indicating the presence of the conjugacy of the axes of the archetypal space and the type of life scenario of the individual


Keywords:

the life scenario of a person, archetype, archetypal space, psychology of subjective semantics, image of the world, meaning, conscience, activity theory, psychosemantics, psychology of meaning

This article is automatically translated. You can find original text of the article here.

 

The concept of a person's life scenario goes back to the works of E. Bern, who considered the behavior and psychological evolution of a person as a reflection of the basic models of social relations learned in childhood in the family and programming further life. Under the life scenario, he understood an unconscious life plan formed in early childhood as a result of interactions with parents, supported by further life events and manifested in those important decisions that a person makes [1]. The life scenario of a person determines the way of perception and interpretation of the surrounding world, feelings, thoughts and ways of reacting to the surrounding world, and is formed by the age of 5-6 years. It is this set of basic perception schemes that is subsequently reproduced from memory and used in interpreting information and determining the way of action, thereby determining the human life trajectory and destiny.

The key factor in the formation of the scenario, according to Bern, is the behavior and reactions of parents. Structurally, three phases are clearly distinguished in the life plan: the beginning, the middle and the end, forming a dramatic composition within which a person perceives his life and moves towards his future. A person unconsciously chooses those decisions and actions that bring him closer to the final, which is the main element of the scenario. The script not only determines the key life decisions, but also forms the subjective reality in which a person lives. 

The three basic types of scenarios described by E. Bern include the polar "Winner" and "Loser" scenarios, as well as the intermediate "Non-Winner" scenario [14]. The winner's scenario assumes that a person fulfills his obligations to the world and to himself, sets and achieves goals, knowing what to do even if he loses. A person "programmed" by the loser's scenario is not confident in his abilities and does not know what to do in case of failure. The intermediate scenario of non-winners forces a person to work hard to stay in place, not claiming victory, but also not becoming complete losers. They fit well into the team, demonstrate high loyalty and integration into the social group.

In addition to the basic life orientation in terms of achievement, scenarios structure the temporary organization of human life. With regard to the temporal aspect, E. Bern identifies six types of scenarios [14]:

– "Never" (due to the restrictions imposed by parents, a person in such a scenario never dares to do what he wants most);

– "Always" (the desire to always repeat actions aimed at satisfying some desire, which ultimately lead to failure);

– "Not yet" (the endless postponement of the fulfillment of the desired for the future, when "suitable conditions" appear for this);

– "After" (waiting for trouble or "reckoning" after the pleasures and joys of the current moment);

– "Over and over again" (a scenario illustrated by the example of Sisyphus, in which a person constantly tries to achieve something, but never achieves what he wants, remaining one step away from the goal);

– "Open scenario" (a specific scenario that does not have a purpose and instructions in itself, and occurs when a person executes all the instructions and scenarios laid down by parents and does not know what to do next, as in the case of a mother who raised a child and cannot live for herself).

E. Bern's works laid the foundation not only for further research into how the model of relationships and interactions in early childhood programs further human life, but also for the development of applied techniques for psychological counseling, diagnostics and behavior correction. According to the ideas of E. Bern and his colleagues, understanding the scenarios that a person unconsciously follows allows one to reflect on the driving forces of one's own behavior and the causes of certain life turns, and find ways to change the negative course of life, overcoming the deterministic force of scenarios. The ability to reflect on their scenarios and act contrary to them forms what E. Bern called an anti-scenario, which underlies the self-determination of the individual.

The development of the theory of life scenarios and scenario analysis took place in various directions, both scientific and psychological, and more applied, psychotherapeutic. Thus, K. Steiner [19], considering scenarios as factors that violate a genuine, autonomous human life, identifies three basic types of life scenarios:

1. Depression ("Without love") is a scenario based on a constant feeling of lack of love and disbelief that someone can love you; more typical for women.

2. Insanity ("Without mind") is a scenario based on the inability to cope with problems and control one's own life, the perception of oneself as stupid, incapable and powerless; in its extreme form, it turns into the fear of going crazy.

3. "Drug addiction" ("Without joy") is a scenario expressed in a widely understood dependence on any external means acting on the body (from coffee and aspirin to drugs themselves) and meaning fear and unwillingness to perceive and understand the signals of your body, trying instead to artificially correct its condition.

A significantly new stage in scenario theory was R. Erskine's hypothesis that scenarios are life plans that are determined by decisions made at any stage of development and limit the flexibility and spontaneity of reactions [17]. In this case, life scenarios become not so much a reflection of the system of transactions in which a person is involved in early childhood, as a mechanism of psychological protection, becoming an unconscious strategy of life. Nevertheless, at their core, the scenarios are also pathological in nature, being a limiting factor, restrictive for the individual.

The thesis of the inevitable pathology of scenarios is criticized in a number of theories [18]. Thus, A. Adler believes that the process of forming a life scenario as a way of uncritical comprehension of one's experience is not pathological in itself, becoming dysfunctional only when a person ossifies in their cognitive content, leaving no room for a new perception and interpretation of reality. A number of theorists, in particular, F. English, go even further and claim that scenarios represent a "valuable asset", an evolutionary advantage of humans that other animals do not possess. Although scenarios can be dysfunctional, they play an important role in structuring our life, time, behavior, provide the integrity of the personality and a prospective vision, without which it is impossible to build your life and move towards distant goals.

A number of subsequent works present new versions and approaches to the study of life scenarios, their structure and typology, the mechanisms of their functioning, the relationship with various environmental factors, in particular, cultural [16]. An important role in the development of the theory was played by conducting cross-cultural studies and identifying the cultural background of scenarios. The result was an idea of cultural life scenarios, that is, culturally shared ideas about key life events and decisions, their interpretation and temporary organization. This allowed us to take the study of the determinants of life scenarios beyond the narrow social circle and place them in a broader context. Other approaches connect life scenarios with the peculiarities of the cognitive architecture of the human mind and the functioning of autobiographical memory, typologies of personality traits, as well as the intergenerational dynamics of the content of scenarios.

The theory of life scenarios forms an important part of modern psychology, clinical research and psychotherapeutic practice, is characterized by active discussions and has applications in various scientific and practical fields: personality psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis, organizational and cross-cultural psychology. One of the directions of the analysis of the life scenario of the personality is its consideration as a form of manifestation of the archetype. Thus, V.M. Smirnov [12], considering the manifestations of archetypal images in cinematic works, points to the relationship of the scenario and archetypal components. Thus, the orientation and dynamics of the hero's life transformations are determined, in the author's opinion, by his archetypically given type, while the initial context that determines the actions and life choices of the heroes of the work is determined by the basic categories of space and time.  A.A. Nikiforova and V.V. Selivanov [4] consider archetypal scenarios the result of the realization of the archetype, which is a component of the deep layer of the psychosemantic space of personality. Similarly, the phenomenon of the archetype is understood by J. Bain [13], who considers the archetype as the basis for building a life path.

In our works [11], the life scenario of a personality and archetypal structures are considered from the standpoint of the psychology of subjective semantics as forms of meanings. At the same time, the life scenario of a person is a component of the deep structures of the image of the world, manifested at the level of semantic structures in the form of specifics of evaluating objects associated with the implementation of the scenario. The forms of manifestation of the life scenario in semantic structures include the specifics of the subject's assessment of the characteristics of his own personality, structuring time, as well as his lifestyle [9, 10].

In turn, the concept of the archetype in psychology includes a wide range of diverse phenomena. In a narrow sense, the concept of an archetype includes a basic tendency localized at the level of deep psychic structures and manifesting itself at the underlying levels through expression in a symbolic form. In a broad sense, this concept includes a set of manifestations of basic tendencies in the structures of individual consciousness and cultural phenomena [9].

Thus, both archetypal structures and the life scenario of a personality from the point of view of the psychology of subjective semantics can be considered as deep semantic structures projected onto the level of surface structures in the process of meaning formation [3].

To compare the type of life scenario on the one hand and the leading archetype, we conducted an empirical study. The definition of the type of life scenario of a personality was carried out using a questionnaire that includes a number of questions related to various manifestations of the life scenario of a personality. When filling out the questionnaire, the subjects were asked to note their typical ways of structuring time and life roles, describe their life motto and early memories, as well as point out a number of typical recurring life situations, pleasant and unpleasant. The subject was also asked to write and name a fairy tale about himself, describing its main character, his own role in the fairy tale and the final scene. The sample of the study is represented by subjects in the number of 150 people aged 18 to 61 years; 67 of them are women and 83 men. Based on the results of this technique, we formed 3 groups of subjects differing in the type of life scenario: the winner (58 people), the invincible (60 people) and the defeated (32 people).

To study the deep structures of the image of the world, the "12 archetypes plus" technique proposed by T.V. Kapustina was used [3]. This technique is a set of metaphorical associative maps corresponding to the personality archetypes identified in the archetypal space model by M. Mark and K. Pearson. [18], which includes 12 archetypes structured according to two motivational axes: "Stability – Change" and "Belonging – Independence". The relationship between archetypes and motivational axes is shown in table 1.

 

Basic motivation

Archetype

Stability

Creator

Guardian

Leader

Affiliation

Jester

A normal guy / girl

Loving

Changes

Hero

Bandit

The Magician

Independence

Innocent

Researcher

The Sage

Table 1. The relationship between archetypes and motifs in the model of M. Mark and K. Pearson

The determination of the relationship between the type of life scenario of the individual on the one hand and the axes of the archetypal space on the other was carried out as follows. In each of the groups of subjects, identified in accordance with the type of life scenario of the individual, we identified 4 subgroups, based on the affiliation of the leading archetype to one of the motivational axes. The comparison of the above parameters was carried out using the Pearson coefficient of mutual conjugacy ?2.

 

 

 

The type of a person's life scenario

 

 

Winner

Invincible

Defeated

Axes of archetypal space

Stability

12

20

6

Changes

12

10

13

Affiliation

10

8

8

Independence

24

22

5

Table 2. Comparison of the types of a person's life scenario and the axes of the archetypal space

The result obtained ?2=13.846 is statistically significant at the significance level p?0.05. Thus, we can talk about the presence of the conjugacy of the archetypal space and the type of life scenario of the individual.

Interpreting the results obtained, it should be noted that the differences between the groups of subjects according to the type of life scenario of the individual may largely be due to the type of life scenario. Thus, the leading archetype related to the motivational pole "stability" is most often found in subjects with the type of life scenario "winner", while among subjects with the type of life scenario "defeated", the leading archetype related to the pole of "change" is found with the highest frequency. The reason for this correlation may be the features of life strategies associated with each of the above poles of the motivational axes. Thus, the strategy of the pole of "stability" is more focused on planning one's own actions, while the strategy of the pole of "change" is associated with risky behavior associated with a greater probability of a negative outcome.  As for the motivational axis "belonging-independence", archetypes related to the pole of independence are more common among subjects with the types of life scenario "winner" and "defeated", while the archetypes of the axis "belonging" correlate with the type of life scenario "invincible". This pattern may also be due to the high degree of involvement of the latter in a social group.

 

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Review of the article "Archetypal aspects of a personality's life scenario" The subject of the study is not stated by the author of the article directly, but is traced in its title and clarified in the purpose – this is an analysis of the archetypal aspects of a personality's life scenario. The research methodology is based on traditional methods of psychological research. In the first part, methods of analysis, systematization and generalization of literary data are applied, and a review of 20 literary sources is used. The empirical part of the study is presented quite extensively. The author compares the type of life scenario on the one hand and the leading archetype. A very extensive sample of subjects is involved in this work – 3 groups of subjects who were identified on the basis of primary scoring in the form of a questionnaire. These groups are distributed depending on the different types of life scenarios: the winner (58 people), the invincible (60 people) and the defeated (32 people). Various methods are used in the study: 1. A questionnaire on the analysis of manifestations of the life scenario of a personality; 2. Writing a fairy tale 3. The technique of "12 archetypes plus" by T.V.Kapustina, the analysis of average values and the Pearson coefficient of mutual conjugacy 2 were used as mathematical research methods. The relevance of the presented article is beyond doubt. The interest in the study of personality, taking into account life scenarios and archetypes, has always been the focus of psychological science. Recently, in the context of the crisis of the humanitarian paradigm, this topic requires more in-depth study. The author devotes a significant amount of the article to an overview of the concepts of a person's life scenario, an analysis of key factors in the formation of scenarios. It would be valuable to confirm the relevance of the littered topic with the results of modern statistical data on psychological crises. Scientific novelty is manifested in the fact that the authors consider the life scenario of a personality and archetypal structures from the standpoint of psychology of subjective semantics as forms of meanings. Style, structure, content The article has a traditional structure – introductory, main and final parts. The introductory part justifies the choice of topic. It is important that the author accompanies the literature review with voluminous materials and extensive research by foreign and domestic scientists (E.Bern, A.Adler, A.A. Nikiforova, V.V. Selivanov, etc.). The introductory part is characterized by a high level of elaboration. The main part of the article provides a detailed description of the organization of the study. But the author did not provide a description of the sample. There is only data on the number of subjects, but there is no information about the nature of the sample, the criteria for selecting subjects. In general, the question remains – who participated in the study? There is also a question about the methodology of using fairy tales as a research method. In conclusion, the author concludes that the differences between the groups of subjects according to the type of life scenario of a personality can largely be determined by the type of life scenario. It is important that in the text of the article these conclusions are confirmed by graphic materials (informative tables and figures) with the interpretation of the data obtained. The style of presentation of the material meets the requirements of science, but at the same time it is quite accessible to perception. The bibliography includes 20 sources, including editions in English. Among the literary sources are monographs, articles, classical publications, collections of conference materials, materials of electronic resources. They are dated from different periods, including 2019-21. This list of references can be considered as a collection of sources on the issues of archetypes and life scenarios of a personality. Appeal to opponents – the article can be recommended for publication after correcting the comments. An indication of the relevance of the stated topic with confirmation of the author's position is required. It is also important to describe the sample of subjects who participated in the study and to detail the fairy tale method. Conclusions, the interest of the readership – the article will arouse the interest of the readership – consultants and coaches, psychologists and psychodiagnostics, researchers, psychology teachers.
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