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Alfred Adler Theorypdf
Alfred Adler Theorypdf
experiences and behaviour of each person as a single, indivisible, self-consistent and unified
entity. He believed that no person can be viewed in isolation, but instead, must be seen as
embedded in a larger context, the social-ecological system of which he/ she is an integral part.
Furthermore, no person can be understood without reference to his/ her goals and that all
individuals are creative agents of their own possibilities, actively directing and creating their
own growth and future. Humans are motivated primarily by social urges for which they are
inherently social beings (having balanced amount of cognition, conation and affection).
The person has been regarded as an indivisible unity both in regard to mind-body relationship
and to the various activities and functions of the mind. Adler believed that the foremost
challenge confronting individual psychology is to prove this unity in each individual in every
expression of personality. This self-consistent and unified personality structure has been
designated as the style of life of the individual. The distinctiveness and uniqueness of an
Life cannot be conceived without an on-going movement in the direction of growth and
expansion. It is only in the movement toward identifiable goals that an individual can be
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perceived as a unified and self-consistent entity. The life goals are largely self-selected whose
attainments help to enhance their personal self-esteem and provide themselves with niches in
the world. The concept of the striving for superiority is of much importance here.
Adler insisted that the individual is distinctly depicted as possessing a creative power that
places him in control of his lives. It is the creative power which is then responsible for unity,
subjective opinions, the manner of striving, the level of social interest and essentially, one’s
Adler saw the individual not only as a unified, rational system but also as an integral part of
larger systems – the family, community and indeed humanity itself. All behaviour occurs in a
social context and the essence of human nature can only be grasped through the
understanding of social relationships. Thus, every individual has a natural aptitude for
community feeling/ social interest. It provides a sort of social apriori for the individual.
5. Individual subjectivity:
The subjective opinions of the individual shape behaviour and personality for they are much
dependent on their own schema of apperception. Besides, people are much motivated by
fictional goals – privately held beliefs about present and future events – that regulate
behaviour.
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It should be noted that the affective element of personality has been highlighted by Adler’s
theory like those of Freud and Jung (though being distinct from them in different ways as well)
Adler proposed that in each individual, certain organs are somewhat weaker than others,
making the person more susceptible to illnesses and diseases involving these organs. Such
inferiority may exist either by virtue of heredity or because of some developmental abnormality
– being often the product of social comparison. He observed that a person with a defective
organ often tries to compensate for the weakness by strengthening it though training and
exercise, that often results in the development of the individual’s greatest skill or strength.
According to Adler, it is not the defect itself that produces the striving, but the person’s
attitude toward it for which individuals are often driven to compensate not only for organ
inferiorities but for subjective feelings of inferiority. As such, the process of compensation can
proceed in the psychological sphere as well. Besides, Adler (1956) viewed inferiority feelings as
the motivational basis for essentially all human striving. In fact, inferiority feelings and the
resultant efforts at compensation are the cause of all improvement in humanity’s lot, serving as
Adler believed that feelings of inferiority or inadequacy begin in infancy, owing to his prolonged
period of dependency during which he is quite helpless and must rely upon adults to survive. An
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inability to overcome inferiority feelings frequently reinforces the feelings and leads to the
development of inferiority complex which may occur due to three contributory factors as:
a. Organ inferiority
b. Spoiling/ pampering
c. Neglect
tendency to exaggerate one’s physical, intellectual or social skills. It should also be noted that
as long as the individual acknowledges the presence of certain inferiorities/ superiorities, there
is no scope of having complexes. Complexes arise only when individual has inferiority or
Adler’s thinking. As early as 1908, he believed aggression to be the dynamic power behind all
motivation. Soon after, he changed the name to the masculine protest, which implied will to
power, ie, a striving to dominate others. Weakness was equated with feminity and power with
effort to supplant feelings of inadequacy and infertility. By 1912, Adler rejected the concept and
instead developed the much broader viewpoint of striving for superiority. Thus, there were
three distinct stages in his theorizing on the ultimate goal of human life:
To be aggressive
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To be powerful;
To be superior.
The striving for superiority is the dynamic power in people itself that provides the great upward
drive from minus to plus, from below to above, from incompletion to perfection, and from
inability to capability in facing the problems of life. It is innate in nature and is present at birth
as potentiality, and not actuality, and as such, it must be developed. It remains for each
individual to actualize this potential in his/ her own manner, in accordance of one’s style of life.
separate urges.
b. It is universal in nature.
(constructive) direction;
3. Style of life
It represents the most distinctive feature of Adler’s dynamic theory of personality. It refers to
the flavour of a person’s life and includes not only the person’s goals, but also self-concept,
feelings towards others, and attitude toward the world. It refers to the unique patterns of
traits, behaviours, and habits which when taken together, define the particular route one has
charted for him to reach the life-goal. It is the product of the interaction of heredity,
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environment, goal of success, social interest and creative power. The style of life becomes
firmly implanted by the age of 4/5 yrs and is totally resistant to change thereafter. It becomes
It should be noted that the style of life is similar to Freud’s concept of the Ego in that it is the
governing force of personality. However, it does not include the Id/ Superego waging war
against the self. Style of life encompasses the whole person plus the flavour or attitude that
makes the person unique. Thus, it constitutes the flame in our personality.
Adler proposed different types of life-style attitudes (personality types) on the basis of
people’s attitudes and behaviour toward the three major life tasks – work, friendship and love
and marriage.
Degree of activity
Avoiding type
Social interest represents a feeling of empathy for each member of the human race and
manifests itself as cooperation with others for social advancement rather than personal gain. It
constitutes the major criterion of psychological maturity in Adlerian theory and is the opposite
of selfish interest.
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Degree of activity refers to the individual’s movement toward the solution of life’s internal and
Individuals are assertive, aggressive, and active with little social awareness and interest. They
possess a domineering attitude toward the outside world. They approach life’s major
Such individuals relate to the outside world in a parasitic manner, depending on others to
satisfy most of their needs. They possess a low degree of activity and little social interest. They
are not especially dangerous, but contribute little to the society. Dependent in character, they
Such people have neither sufficient social interest nor activity to participate in any way in life.
Their lives are marked by socially useless behaviour of running away from the tasks of life, ie,
they are characterized by an attitude of avoidance. They lack the courage to face problems.
Such an individual is the epitome of psychological health in Adler’s theory. He embodies both a
high degree of social interest and a high level of activity. They see the three major tasks of
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occupation, friendship and love as social problems. They also realize that solution to social
the welfare of others. It thus accounts for a balanced personality. They tend to face life
confidently.
4. Social interest
for each member of the human race. It manifests itself as cooperation with others for social
advancement rather than for personal gain. It is also rooted as potentiality in everyone (innate)
like striving for success, and needs to be developed. It has to be nourished through guidance
and training. Its development takes place in a social environment. It is initially the mother and
later on the other family members (father, being the 2nd important figure) who contribute to
the developmental process. The mother performs the crucial task of encouraging mature social
interest in her child. Thus, social interest reflects Adler’s belief that human beings are social
beings and that one must consider his relationship to others and to the larger socio-cultural
According to Adler, the degree of social interest represents a useful yardstick for measuring
criterion to be used in judging the worth of a person’s life. It is necessary for every
advancement of humanity and even for our existence. Thus, social interest is the platform on
the basis of which social motives/ urges are developed that ultimately give the final shape of
personality.
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5. Creative self
Adler maintained that the style of life is developed by the individual’s creative power. This
creative power is responsible for the person’s life goals, determines the method of striving for
the goal, and contributes to the development of social interest. It also influences perception,
memory, imagination, fantasy and dreams. It makes each person a free (self-determined)
individual. According to Adler, people are more than the products of heredity and environment
– they are creative beings who not only react to their environment, but act on it and make it
react to them. This idea of people’s acting as creative agents is similar to Allport’s concept of
pro-action.
Creative power is essentially a dynamic concept. It implies movement which is the most salient
characteristic of life. All psychic life involves free movement toward a goal, movement with a
direction. Creativity is the able part of personality, which provides an individual a sense of
satisfaction.
6. Order of birth
The child’s order of birth in the family provides a subjective influence on personality
development as told by Adler. It is the child’s perception of the situation into which he/ she is
born and not the numerical rank per se that helps to shape his personality for the ordinal
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Adler often referred to the first-born as the king-dethroned, which might be a very traumatic
experience. He is likely to have intensified feelings of power and superiority, high anxiety, and
overprotective tendencies.
c. Youngest child:
The youngest child is the fighting youngest child, according to Adler, who is most likely to
become a revolutionary. He has got high motivation to surpass the older siblings. He is likely to
d. Only child:
exaggerated sense of superiority, an inflated self-concept and a feeling that the world is a
dangerous place (especially if the parents are overly concerned with the child’s health).
7. Fictional finalism
Adler believed that everything we do in life is marked by our striving for superiority, for
perfection. This striving for superiority is a general motivation that takes concrete form
The concept of fictional finalism is that fictional goals guide one’s present behaviours.
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Adler theorized that our ultimate goals are fictional goals, that can neither be tested nor can be
confirmed against reality, ie, people are motivated more by fictions, or expectations of the
future, than by experiences of the past. The goal does not exist in the future, but in the
people’s present perception of the future. Then according to Adler, the concept of fictional
finalism reveals the extent to which he emphasized a goal-directed view of human motivation.
Although the fictional goals have no objective existence, they nonetheless exert an enormous
It should also be noted that the fiction of greatest importance is the final goal of superiority/
success, which is in fact, the product of free creative power. It finally enables in unifying
However, Adler is still criticized on a number of grounds. Firstly many of his tenets do not
readily lend them to empirical investigation. Eg. His concept of birth order cannot be definitely
second weakness is the lack of precise operational definitions. Eg. Terms like goal of
superiority, style of life, social interest and especially creative power have no scientific
definition. As such, Individual Psychology is rated low on internal consistency. Further, studies
of birth-order effects have yielded little data consistent with Adler’s theorizing (Blake, 1989;
Ernst et al, 1983; Schooler, 1972). Nevertheless, Adler’s theory still requires to be cherished for
it stresses on the prime role of social motive in one’s personality and provide a unique
approach to the study of personality; it being an eminent side of a glittering crystal (in the form
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of personality). It must also be rated high on both its ability to generate research and on its
applicability.
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