The Psychology Behind Fairytales

Fairytales and Children
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Okay, so fairytales are timeless. But why? I mean, there's so much violence and sexuality in fairytales, are they really good for children?

Well, yes. Why? Because just like in Disney movies, children tend duck right under all the stuff that adults think twice about. When you heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood as a kid, even the most cleaned up version, did you ever think about the horror behind the fact that a wolf just devoured Red's grandmother? Not really. You just accepted that she was gone and the wolf was responsible.

Okay, but does that mean that fairytales are necessarily good for kids? Well, yes. Studies have shown that in most cases, fairytales can teach children some very important lessons in life. Respect for elders, to cherish family, to look after siblings, to gain independence and confidence. But most of all, fairytales give children hope. And hope is the most important thing life to have.

Freud's Influence on Fairytale Psychology

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So, we've established that fairytales are good tools in the upbringing of children. But what do they do for adults? Well, that's were more involved psychology comes into play. Not many put stock in psychology, and one can argue that there wasn't much thought really put into the writing and development of fairytales. But you have to admit that even then, they still have an effect on us when we read them. Part of the thought process behind these stories, in fact, is very simple: People are programmed to try to find meaning in the world. Fairytales, like much of literature, can supply some answers to those questions we all ask and paths for us to follow in life.

One of the most important psychologists in history was Sigmund Freud. Much of Freud's work is actually comes a lot from the study of physics and a lot of his work related mainly to the sexuality of the human mind, and the importance of the subconscious. He believed that the subconscious was what held the most important aspects of the human psyche: violent motives, secret fears, unacceptable desires, etc...

Freud developed three main levels of understanding which are often used in the psychological study of fairytales: the id, the ego, and the superego. Id is a human's basic primative drives, or the primary process. I'm hungry, so I eat. I'm tired, so I sleep. The basic needs of function are satisfied with the id. The ego is the intermediary for reality, or the secondary process. The ego defines what a person is capable of, what a person can do. The id says "I'm hungry, let's eat." and the ego says "I'm in class and I have to wait til it's over before I can eat." Then, there's the super ego, which is mostly influenced by culture and surroundings. The super ego is the moral conscious. One can relate these three to the example of an angel and a demon on either shoulder. The id is represented by the demon, "This person is a threat to me, attack them." The ego is the person, "Physically, I'm matched, so I might actually be able to win in a fight with this person." And the super ego is the angel, "This person didn't actually do anything wrong to me, it would not be right to attack them." It sounds silly, but this is a very basic way to explain Freud's theory of the how subconscious works.

Okay, that's great. But what does this have to do with fairytales? Well, you can actually see a lot of influence in fairytales. Take Hansel and Gretel. They are walking through a forest, starved, and come across a house made of bread. The id takes over and without a thought, without the super ego to kick in, they simply start eating someone's house. In fact, a lot of fairytales represent the struggles people experience between the id, the ego and the superego.

How Fairytales are Used in Psychology
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That sounds terrific, but it still doesn't explain how fairytales aid adults. Well, keeping in mind the idea that there are eight defensive/coping mechanisms that people use to deal with conflict in life (repression, projection, denial, rationalization, regression, reaction formation, displacement, and sublimation), fairytales can illustrate how people react to and deal with problems in their lives. For example, a psychiatrist once used fairytales to treat a patient; the patient was asked to tell the story of a little girl who aids three strangers, a child, a woman and an old man, the patient skipped over the old man. Through extensive insight, it was brought forth that the patient had been subjected to abuse by an older uncle--who, in her mind, was represented by the old man. Though, there are many other ways that fairytales have been used in the work of psychiatry, this is one example.

Jung and the Collective Unconscious
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The most influential person in the field of fairytale psychology, however, is Carl Jung. Jung believed in the idea of a collective unconscious. This was his way of explaining universal morals and beliefs, i.e. respect for elders, an official union of two lovers (marriage), etc... Jung explained collective unconscious as the repository of racial memories, encoded in the cells and passed on genetically.  These are especially apparent when one looks at fairytales that were written around the world in different cultures and eras and contain many similar elements.

One example is in the study of archetypes. Archetypes result from energy that centres in the unconscious. They are based on universal experiences and expressions of dreams. Some examples of archetypes include the Wise Old Man, Mother Earth, and the Trickster. Archetypical themes in fairytales include the family romance, which focuses on growth and reconciliation of opposites, or the hero's journey, which focuses on transformation and the gaining of wisdom.

Conclusion?
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While there is much in fairytales that is open for interpretation, one method to go about understanding their influence on people is through the use of psychology. There are many reasons that fairytales have lasted this long. They have helped to shape generation after generation of children and have even aided adults in life. In anyway you look at them, they are still a source of entertainment and are likely to continue to stand the test of time. Psychology is merely one tool used in their interpretation and study.