Who sets the standard by which I measure my worth or lack of worth? When one is in a state of inferiority, one grants this standard unquestioned validity, obediently accepting it as a definitive, authoritative judge. This judge itself needs to be examined; unquestioned standards are usually the result of patterns of relationship internalized in childhood. One task of psychotherapy is to re-evaluate this valuing/devaluing authority. Much freedom may be gained by discovering the unconscious ties between this authority and the value systems embodied by significant others from one's past.
In many cases this judgmental authority corresponds not only to the internalized value system of one's parents but to the grandiose self as well. This is especially so when a certain perfectionism predominates, giving one the feeling, "Whatever I am, whatever I can accomplish, is never good enough." The quest for perfection becomes one's most consuming pre-occupation, though this aspiration is aborted at the slightest disappointment. Any appearance of deficiency becomes a cause for shame, plunging one into an abyss of humiliation and self-loathing. At the same time, one is ashamed of even having the grandiose expectation of being able to achieve something perfect in the first place.
The analytical psychology of Jung holds that the criterion resides finally within each of us. If we learn to listen closely, we can make out something like a "voice" of the inner Self and develop a sensitivity for what "sounds" right for us.
Whether our imperfections result in an actual inferiority complex depends on the attitude that we take toward our inadequacies, and whether specific shortcomings — of mind, body, character — result in a global negative self-estimation.
One of the characteristics of a complex is that it acts like a magnet, attracting large portions of psychic experience into its field, bending them to its "power." We not only perceive our limits and inadequacies with great pain, trying to improve, work on, or reconcile ourselves to such deficiencies; in addition, the perception of a certain defect can affect our whole underlying mood. We must also consider the possibility that persons whose underlying mood is one of self-torment will seek out real personality defects in themselves in order to justify their feeling of complete inferiority. Complexes have archaic roots. Thus, when they begin to dominate experience they convey a feeling of all or nothing. The perception of certain specific inadequacies then snowballs into a conviction of one's complete inferiority — a fertile ground for susceptibility to shame.
Mario Jacoby
Shame and the Origins of Self-esteem: a Jungian Approach[from pp 62-63]
In many cases this judgmental authority corresponds not only to the internalized value system of one's parents but to the grandiose self as well. This is especially so when a certain perfectionism predominates, giving one the feeling, "Whatever I am, whatever I can accomplish, is never good enough." The quest for perfection becomes one's most consuming pre-occupation, though this aspiration is aborted at the slightest disappointment. Any appearance of deficiency becomes a cause for shame, plunging one into an abyss of humiliation and self-loathing. At the same time, one is ashamed of even having the grandiose expectation of being able to achieve something perfect in the first place.
The analytical psychology of Jung holds that the criterion resides finally within each of us. If we learn to listen closely, we can make out something like a "voice" of the inner Self and develop a sensitivity for what "sounds" right for us.
Whether our imperfections result in an actual inferiority complex depends on the attitude that we take toward our inadequacies, and whether specific shortcomings — of mind, body, character — result in a global negative self-estimation.
One of the characteristics of a complex is that it acts like a magnet, attracting large portions of psychic experience into its field, bending them to its "power." We not only perceive our limits and inadequacies with great pain, trying to improve, work on, or reconcile ourselves to such deficiencies; in addition, the perception of a certain defect can affect our whole underlying mood. We must also consider the possibility that persons whose underlying mood is one of self-torment will seek out real personality defects in themselves in order to justify their feeling of complete inferiority. Complexes have archaic roots. Thus, when they begin to dominate experience they convey a feeling of all or nothing. The perception of certain specific inadequacies then snowballs into a conviction of one's complete inferiority — a fertile ground for susceptibility to shame.
Mario Jacoby
Shame and the Origins of Self-esteem: a Jungian Approach[from pp 62-63]
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