Researchers Michael Faber and John Mayer
Faber say that mass media uses archetypes - prototypical
characters - in their narratives.
Carl Jung first proposed the concept of universal archetypes,
which include caregivers, heroes, jesters, lovers, and
outlaws.
The researchers found that how people react to and are
affected by such characters in cultural media - their
''''resonance" to archetypes - predicts their personal
life themes and media preferences.
"Such
findings offer surprising new evidence for the possible
existence of dominant archetypal themes in our lives.
These themes appear to run the gamut from the carer, who
enjoys romance movies and fashion books, and is agreeable
and accommodating, to the striver, who enjoys action movies,
sports television, and books about espionage, and may
be outgoing yet low on conscientiousness. Such themes
may also plumb the sometimes-hurtful depths of the conflictor,
who enjoys hardcore and heavy metal music, and horror
movies, and is low in agreeableness," they said.
In the study, they first asked 100 study participants
to identify 13 specific archetypes across various media.
For example, the study participants readily identified
the caregiver archetype, which exhibits the traits of
compassion, generosity, devotion, and helping, with the
movie ''The English Patient'', the music of James Taylor,
and Henry Tanner's oil painting ''The Banjo Lesson''.
The researchers then used these responses to create a
Rich Culture Archetype Scale - a master scale that associates
each of the 13 archetypes with specific personality traits.
For example, the caregiver and innocent archetypes were
associated with characters who were found to be caring
and loyal. The hero and ruler archetypes were associated
with characters who were striving and driven. The shadow
archetype was associated with characters who were conflicted
and destructive, such as those portrayed in horror films.
The researchers noted that understanding a person's archetypal
life themes may be useful in planning targeted communications,
from artwork to public health messages and advertising.
"Organizations from nonprofits to movie studios
could potentially communicate more effectively if they
identified resonance patterns in their target audiences.
Archetypal life themes may be used not only to predict
personal preferences, but also how we interact socially
with others through our interests, and how we identify
with archetypal characters," they said.
"For example, by identifying with a particular archetype,
the individual has an automatically-created support group
for his or her tastes. People exhibiting the general life
themes of the shadow may show high interest in the dark,
preferring horror movies and books, and hardcore and industrial
music, and join with one another on that basis,"
added the researchers.
In addition, the researchers note that understanding the
archetypes to which an individual resonates may help further
the understanding of personality disorders.
The study has been published in the Journal of Research
in Personality.
MORE
INFORMATION
This story first appeared
on WFAA-TV in August, 2009. Their website can be found
at www.wfaa.com.
Music without words means leaving behind the mind. And leaving behind the mind is meditation.
Meditation returns you to the source. And the source of all is sound. — Kabir
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