A thought about someone, right before they call. A question that finds its answer in a completely unexpected place. Jung coined a term for moments like these that has since become one of the more widespread, and also most commonly misunderstood, psychological concepts.

Synchronicity is a term for a "meaningful coincidence": two events that aren't causally connected, yet share a common, personal meaning for the observer. Jung developed the concept partly through correspondence with physicist Wolfgang Pauli, which shows he didn't see it as purely a mystical idea, but as a serious question at the intersection of psychology and physics: are there connections between events that aren't causal, yet are meaningful?

Synchronicity is also a natural link back to the signs covered by a separate dictionary on this site: 11:11 on the clock, a phone ringing right as you think of someone, or a recurring word are all potential examples of perceived synchronicity. The same caution applies here as with those signs: selective attention often explains why we notice a particular event at a particular moment, but that doesn't cancel out the question of why that moment mattered to you.

Which "random" moment recently carried a weight that statistics alone can't fully explain?

How synchronicity shows up

As a phone ringing at just the right timeA call from someone you were just thinking about is one of the most commonly described examples of synchronicity in everyday life.
As a recurring number or wordCombinations like 11:11 on the clock, or a recurring name, often feel like synchronicity, though they can also be the effect of selective attention.
As an answer arriving from elsewhereA question you carry inside sometimes gets answered from a completely unrelated source: a book, a conversation, or a random scene.
As a sense of connection without explanationSome moments trigger a feeling of meaning in you before you can rationally explain why.

Common questions about synchronicity

What is synchronicity according to Jung?Synchronicity is a term for a meaningful coincidence: two events that are connected in time and share a common meaning for the observer, without a causal link between them.
Does synchronicity prove that signs are real messages from outside?It doesn't prove that. Selective attention often explains why we notice a particular event at a particular moment, which doesn't cancel out the question of why that moment mattered to you.
Where did Jung develop the concept of synchronicity?He developed it partly through correspondence with physicist Wolfgang Pauli, which shows he didn't see it as purely mystical, but as a serious question at the intersection of psychology and physics.

Possible inner tension: Knowing it's most likely a coincidence, while still sensing the moment wasn't entirely empty.

Possible movement: Note the circumstances in which synchronicity appears, instead of immediately assigning it a final meaning or dismissing it entirely.

For concrete examples of synchronicity, like 11:11 on the clock or a phone ringing while you're thinking of someone, see the signs dictionary.

11:11 on the ClockThe Phone Rings While Thinking of SomeoneThe Collective Unconscious