Ch5 Alfred Adler Flashcards
(35 cards)
Background
Alfred Adler (1870–1937) was born in Vienna, Austria. He was the second of six children.
Like Freud, he studied and worked in Vienna as a doctor and psychiatrist. Although both he
and Freud were Jewish, their experiences were different. Freud grew up in a poor Jewish area
and was always aware of being part of a minority group. Adler, on the other hand, mixed
mostly with non-Jewish people and felt more connected to Viennese culture. Later in life,
Adler even converted to Christianity.
At first, Adler worked with Freud and was interested in psychoanalysis. However, he soon
developed his own ideas and started a new theory called Individual Psychology. Adler
believed that people are shaped more by their social environment than by unconscious
biological drives (as Freud believed). He focused on how each person is unique.
How did Adler’s childhood influence his theory?
Adler had a difficult childhood. He was often sick with illnesses like pneumonia and rickets,
which made him physically weak. He felt left out because he couldn’t join in games like
other kids. He also felt jealous of his older brother, who was stronger and more active.
Because of these feelings of weakness, Adler worked hard in school to prove himself. These
experiences likely influenced his theory, especially his ideas about inferiority and
compensation, how people try to overcome their weaknesses by achieving in other areas.
Adler’s experience of being close to his father and not his mother also made him disagree
with Freud’s idea of the Oedipus complex (which focuses on a boy’s attachment to his
mother).
What was Adler’s relationship with Freud like?
Adler worked with Freud from 1902 to 1911 and even led the Viennese Psychoanalytic
Society in 1910. However, they were not close friends, and Adler was never Freud’s student
or patient.
Adler didn’t enjoy using psychoanalysis to study the unconscious mind. Instead, he focused
more on conscious thoughts and social factors. Their ideas grew further apart, and in 1912,
Adler started his own group called the Society for Individual Psychology
After serving in World War I, Adler opened child-guidance clinics in Vienna and introduced
group therapy methods. He later travelled and lectured in other countries, especially the
United States. He died of a heart attack in Scotland in 1937.
The view of the person underlying the theory
Adler’s perspective on personality is holistic, emphasizing that a person must be
understood as a whole rather than in isolated parts. Influenced by Gestalt psychology
and Jan Smuts’s concept of holism, Adler rejected the compartmentalized theories of
Freud. He avoided clear divisions between structural, dynamic, and developmental
aspects of personality and instead focused on how all aspects of human functioning
work together.
Adler believed human behaviour is teleological, driven by goals, rather than
determined by past experiences. His key concept is the striving for superiority, which
means people are motivated to overcome their weaknesses, either for personal power
or for the betterment of society (social interest). Each individual chooses their own
goals and methods to achieve them, forming a unique lifestyle.
He introduced the concept of fictional finalism, where people create imaginary goals
that shape their behaviour, even if the goals are unrealistic. This idea was inspired by
Hans Vaihinger’s philosophy of “as if,” which suggests that people act as though
certain ideals or fictions are real.
Unlike Carl Rogers, who saw personal development as fulfilling one’s innate potential
(actualising tendency), Adler believed people strive to become more than what they
are to compensate for real or imagined inferiority. Thus, Adler viewed individuals as
masters of their own destiny, prioritizing personal goals over environmental or
biological constraints.
In conclusion, Adler’s approach is person-oriented and goal-directed, in contrast to
the deterministic and mechanistic views of Freud and behaviourism.
Striving for power
a basic human motive to compensate for weaknesses
Social interest:
an innate desire to serve the community
Lifestyle
the way in which a person strives for superiority in choosing his or her own
goals and establishing his or her own methods to achieve them
Individual Psychology
A single “drive” or motivating force lies behind all our behavior and experience: the
striving for perfection
o Striving for perfection: the desire we all have to fulfill our potentials, to come
closer and closer to our ideal.
o Striving for perfection: similar to the idea of self-actualization
o Striving for perfection was not the first phrase Adler used to refer to his single
motivating force.
His earliest phrase was the aggression drive - the reaction we have when other drives
(e.g., the need to eat, be sexually satisfied, get things done, or be loved) are frustrated
o The aggression drive: might be better called the assertiveness drive
Another word Adler used to refer to basic motivation was compensation , or striving
to overcome.
We all have problems, short-comings , inferiorities of one sort or another.
NB: For Adler our personalities could be accounted for by the ways in which we do -
or do not - compensate or overcome those problems.
Later, however, Adler rejected compensation as label for the basic motive, because it
makes it sound as if people’s problems cause them to be what they are.
Human Motivation and Teleology
Motivation is about moving towards the future, rather than being driven
mechanistically by the past.
Humans are drawn towards goals, purposes, and ideals: teleology.
Although the ultimate truth will always be beyond us, we create partial truths for
practical purposes.
Adler called these partial truths fictions.
We behave as if we know the world will be here tomorrow, as if we understand good
and bad, and as if everything is as it seems, this is known as fictional finalism.
One of Adler’s earliest phrases was masculine protest.
o In many cultures boys are often held in higher esteem than girls are
o In fact, males often have the power, the education and motivation needed to do
“great things,” and women do not.
o NB. For Adler, men’s assertiveness and success in the world: not due to some
innate superiority
o Rather, boys are encouraged to be assertive and girls are discouraged
o Both boys and girls begin life with the capacity for “protest!”
o People want, often desperately, to be thought of as strong, aggressive, in
control (i.e. “masculine”) and not weak, passive, or dependent (i.e.
“feminine”). = masculine protest
Another Adlerian personality concept: striving for superiority
o Although striving for superiority does refer to the desire to be better, it also
contains the idea that people want to be better than others, rather than better in
their own right
o Adler later tended to use striving for superiority more in reference to
unhealthy or neurotic striving
Adler concepts
Adler: we should see people as wholes rather than parts : “individual psychology.”
Adler did not want to talk about a person’s personality in the traditional sense of
internal traits , structures, dynamics and conflicts
Instead, Adler preferred to talk about style of life – “lifestyle”
Life style: how people live life, how they handle problems and interpersonal relations.
The structure of the personality
Adler does not use structural components like Freud’s id, ego, and superego to explain
personality. Instead, he views personality as a holistic system that functions to achieve self-
determined goals. The only aspects he acknowledges are constitutional attributes and the
creative self, both of which interact with the social environment to shape development and
personal goals (i.e., a person’s lifestyle).
The structure of the personality
Constitutional Attributes
These are genetically inherited traits or physical weaknesses, such as illness or
disability.
They do not determine development but serve as a potential influenced by
environment and the creative self.
People respond individually to their perceived weaknesses.
The structure of the personality
Social Environment
Feelings of inferiority arise early in life due to dependency on adults.
These feelings are not inherited but stem from the child’s interaction with stronger,
more capable others.
Growth is driven by the compensation for inferiority and the striving for superiority.
The structure of the personality
The Creative Self
Refers to a person’s capacity to form goals and plan their achievement creatively.
It is not a structural part, but a dynamic capability of the whole person.
Individuals are not determined by genetics or circumstances but interpret and shape
their lives actively.
The structure of the personality
Lifestyle
Defined as the unique way each person seeks to overcome inferiority and strive for
superiority.
Adler identifies four lifestyle types:
1. Active–Constructive: Cooperative, community-oriented, optimistic, and goal-
driven.
2. Passive–Constructive: Also community-oriented but dependent on others;
friendly but less independent.
3. Active–Destructive: Self-centred, power-seeking, possibly antisocial.
4. Passive–Destructive: Lazy, passively aggressive, and selfish.
Dynamics of personality
Adler believed that people are motivated by feelings of being “less than” (inferior) and try to
improve or grow (strive for superiority or perfection). This drive comes from wanting to
overcome weakness and become better. It can show up in two main ways:
1. Striving for power (individual success),
2. Social interest (wanting to help and connect with others).
This drive starts when a person feels inferior and then tries to compensate for those feelings
by improving themselves.
Dynamics of personality
Striving for Power (Individual Success)
From birth, humans feel physically weaker than others. For example, a baby feels small and
helpless next to adults. As they grow, people may feel inferior in different ways, such as
physical weaknesses or social disadvantages.
Adler said:
We try to compensate for these feelings by developing skills or strengths.
It doesn’t matter if the weakness is real or imagined, what matters is how the person
perceives it.
People respond to weakness in three main ways:
Compensation – a healthy reaction where a person builds up a weakness into a
strength.
Examples: Helen Keller and Stephen Hawking.
Sensitivity – being overly hurt by comments about a perceived weakness.
Overcompensation – exaggerating strengths to hide weaknesses (e.g., being overly
neat to hide feeling disorganised).
Dynamics of personality
Striving for Social Interest (Helping Society)
Adler believed that humans, as a species, feel weaker than animals. To deal with this, they
work together in groups to survive. This group cooperation is called social interest, the desire
to help others and be part of a community.
Social interest is more than just joining a group; it’s about caring for all of humanity,
not just your own culture or race.
Adler described social interest as being able to:
“See with another’s eyes, hear with another’s ears, and feel with another’s heart.”
Second only to striving for perfection is the idea of social interest.
Social interest is based on an innate disposition but must be nurtured to develop fully.
Babies and small children often show unlearned sympathy for others.
Social interest is not the same as extraversion; it refers to broad concern for family,
community, humanity, and life.
It involves being useful to others.
Social failures (e.g., neurotics, criminals, problem children) lack social interest and
pursue personal superiority, leading to unfulfillment and neurosis.
Dynamics of personality
When the Striving Goes Wrong
If someone does not develop healthy social interest, their drive for superiority can turn into:
a) Inferiority complex – feeling deeply insecure or worthless, which may lead to extreme
behaviour or avoiding challenges.
Many people are overwhelmed by feelings of inferiority.
Everyone suffers from psychological inferiority in some form.
b) People respond to these feelings through compensation:
o Some improve at what they feel inferior about.
o Others excel in unrelated areas but retain feelings of inferiority.
o Some never develop self-esteem at all.
When overwhelmed, individuals may develop an inferiority complex, a
serious psychological issue.
Others may develop a superiority complex, covering up inferiority by
pretending to be superior (e.g., bullies, braggarts, or those hiding behind
addiction).
Superiority complex – acting better than others to hide feelings of inferiority.
Development of personality
How a Lifestyle Develops
Adler believed that a person’s basic lifestyle is mostly shaped during the first five years of
life. This early lifestyle becomes the foundation for how the person lives and responds to life
situations later on. While other psychologists believe major personality changes happen in
adolescence, adulthood, or old age, Adler saw these life stages as times when the existing
personality is simply tested or expressed in new ways.
However, change is possible if someone realizes that their current way of living no longer
works. For example, a young woman who once wanted to be an athlete may later decide to
become a physiotherapist to help others live healthily.
Adler didn’t define strict stages of development but believed people face key challenges at
different ages, mostly in three areas:
Work (occupational)
Relationships (social)
Love and sex (romantic)
Enrichment – The “Style of Life Tree”. Stein described personality development as a tree.
The roots represent early influences like:
Health and appearance
Family’s economic and social status
Parents’ attitudes
Birth order and gender role
These early factors shape five key attitudes:
1. Attitude toward self
2. Attitude toward others
3. Attitude toward difficulties
4. Attitude toward the opposite sex
5. Attitude toward life overall
These attitudes guide how the person deals with the life tasks of work, love, and
relationships.
Development of personality
What Influences Development?
Adler believed both genetics (like physical health) and the environment influence personality.
But more important than these, he said, is how the person responds to them, their creative
self. People can shape their own development by how they choose to deal with challenges.
Genetic/Physical Factors
Adler recognized that inherited traits (like organ weaknesses) can affect a person. But
instead of being limited by these, people can creatively find ways to overcome them
and shape their own lifestyle.
Social Environment
Similarly, a person’s environment (like their family and community) influences them,
but it doesn’t determine their personality. What matters is the meaning the person
gives to their experiences.
A big influence is the family constellation, the relationships in the family and the
child’s birth order. Adler believed birth order strongly affects personality.
Development of personality
The Effect of Birth Order
Even in the same family, children have different experiences depending on when they were
born. Adler described three main birth order types:
First-borns
Get all the attention at first but feel “dethroned” when a sibling is born. They may feel
jealous or resentful. As adults, they may become perfectionists, rule-followers, and
conservative. Some first-borns struggle emotionally, and Adler found that many
neurotics or criminals were first-born.
Second-born
Grow up in competition with the first-born. This pushes them to achieve and be
ambitious. They are often optimistic and driven. But if they feel they can never “win”
against the older sibling, they may give up and underachieve. Adler identified himself
as a second-born and shared many of these traits.
Youngest children
Don’t experience being “dethroned” but are often spoiled. This can make them overly
dependent on others and struggle with adult responsibilities. They may develop a
passive personality.
* Only Child
The only child is more likely than others to be pampered. Parents of the only child are
more likely to take special care - sometimes anxiety-filled care - of their first born. If
the parents are abusive, on the other hand, the only child will have to bear that abuse
alone.
