Final answer:
The collective unconscious refers to common psychological tendencies that have been passed down from one generation to the next. These tendencies, called archetypes, are universal themes expressed in various cultures through literature, art, and dreams.
Step-by-step explanation:
The collective unconscious is a universal version of the personal unconscious, holding mental patterns, or memory traces, which are common to all of us (Jung, 1928). These ancestral memories, which Jung called archetypes, are represented by universal themes in various cultures, as expressed through literature, art, and dreams (Jung). Jung said that these themes reflect common experiences of people the world over, such as facing death, becoming independent, and striving for mastery. Jung believed that through biology, each person is handed down the same themes and that the same types of symbols-such as the hero, the maiden, the sage, and the trickster-are present in the folklore and fairy tales of every culture.
In Jung's view, the task of integrating these unconscious archetypal aspects of the self is part of the self-realization process in the second half of life. With this orientation toward self-realization, Jung parted ways with Freud's belief that personality is determined solely by past events and anticipated the humanistic movement with its emphasis on self-actualization and orientation toward the future.