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diathesis–stress model

the theory that mental and physical disorders develop from a genetic or biological predisposition for that illness (diathesis) combined with stressful conditions that play a precipitating or facilitating role. Also called diathesis–stress hypothesis (or paradigm or theory). See also stress–vulnerability model.

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Psychology term of the day

March 29th 2024

personal unconscious

personal unconscious

in the analytic psychology of Carl Jung, the portion of each individual’s unconscious that contains the elements of his or her own experience as opposed to the collective unconscious, which contains the archetypes universal to humankind. The personal unconscious consists of everything subliminal, forgotten, and repressed in an individual’s life. Some of these contents may be recalled to consciousness, as in Sigmund Freud’s notion of the preconscious, but others cannot and are truly unconscious. The personal unconscious also contains complexes based on the individual’s personal experience. In Jung’s view, the personal unconscious must be integrated into the conscious ego for individuation to occur.