ADLER

OVERVIEW OF INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY

- Freud vs Adler
o Freud – reduced all motivation to
sex and agression; ppl have little to
no choice in shaping their
personality; present behavior is
caused by past experiences; heavy
emphasis on unconscious
components of behavior
o Adler – ppl motivated mostly by
social influences and by striving for
superiority or succes; ppl are largely
responsible for who they are;
present behavior is shaped by
peoples view of future;
psychologically healthy people are
usually aware of what they are doing
and why
BIOGRAPHY
- Born February 7, 1870
- Nearly died of pneumonia at age 5
- Sigmund Adler – healthy older brother
- Had a younger brother who died in infancy
- Has lots of parallelisms with Freud
INTRODUCTION TO ADLERIAN THEORY
- Adler is less popular than Freud and Jung
- Did not establish a tightly run organization
to perpetuate his theories, he was not a
particularly gifted writer, many of his vies
were incorporated into the works of such
later theorists (masloq, rogers, ellis, etc)
thus are no longer associated with Adler’s
name.
- People are born with weak, inferior bodies =
feelings of inferiority and consequent
dependence on other people
1. The one dynamic force behind people’s
behavior is the striving for succes or
superiorty
2. People’s subjective perceptions shape
their behavior and personality
3. Personality is unified and self-
consistent.
4. The value of all human activity must be
seen from the viewpoint of social
interest.
5. The self-consistent personality structure
develops into a person’s style of life
6. Style of life is molded by people’s
creative power.