Alfred Adler

Tuesday, 4 October 2022 4:44 pm

Background:
- Born in Vienna (1870)
- 2nd of six children
- He almost died of pneumonia at age of 5.
- Received his medical degree from the University of Vienna in the year 1895.

Earlier years:
- Spent much of his childhood in his older brother's shadow.
- He received special treatment from his mother because of his physical inferiority.
- However, it only lasted for 2 years until his younger brother was born and he felt "dethroned"
Working with Freud
- 1902: Freud invited Adler to attend his discussion group.
- 1910: Adler was named the first president of the group
- 1911: Had growing disagreements to Freud that led to his resignation.
- Eventually, he founded the Society of Free Psychoanalytic Research. He later on changed the name to Individual
Psychology.

ADLERIAN THEORY
- To Adler, people are born with weak, inferior bodies - a condition that leads to feelings of inferiority and a consequent
dependence on other people. Therefore, a feeling of unity with others (social Interest) is inherent in people and the
ultimate standard for psychology health.
○ Optimistic approach with emphasis on social interest

1. The one dynamic force behind people's behavior is the striving for success or superiority.
i. Unlike Freud's that our motives are driven from our sex and aggression

2. People's subjective perceptions shape their behavior and personality.

i. Internal Interpretation is important
3. Personality is unified and self-consistent.
i. No conflict with the self
4. The value of all human activity must be seen from the viewpoint of social interest.
i. We become healthy when we have social interest.
5. The self-consistent personality structure develop into a person's style of life.
6. Style of the life is molded by people's creative power.
i. We have the power to design our lives

1. Striving for Success or Superiority

- Striving for Success
○ Motivated by highly developed social interest.
- Striving for Superiority
○ For those people who strive for personal inferiority over others (inferiority complex).
- Types of Final Goal :
□ Personal Superiority
 If not realized, then there will be identity distortion (Selfish goals)
□ Success of Humanity
 Unify with the society (Social Interest)

- Aggression (Means) >> Masculine Protest >> Striving for Superiority >> Striving
for Success

2. Subject Perceptions
- People's subject perceptions shape their behavior and personality.
○ Fictionalism (Final Goal) - No objective meaning
▪ Expectations of the Future
▪ Goal of superiority or success
○ Physical Inferiorities
▪ It depends how we perceive our condition

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 ▪ It depends how we perceive our condition

3. Unity and Self-consistency of Personality

- Though, feelings and actions are all directed toward a single goal and serve a single purpose.
- Mind and body are one.
- Organ Dialect
○ The body's organs "speak a language which is usually more expressive and discloses the individual's opinion more
clearly than words are able to do"
○ Part of personality because it speaks more of them.
- Unity of conscious and unconscious.
○ Conscious - thoughts we need
○ Unconscious - thoughts we do not (may help but not the driving force)
4. Social Interest
- Gemeinschaftsgefuhl
○ Social feeling or community feeling
○ It means a feeling of oneness with all humanity; it implies membership in the social community of all people.
○ We are part of the society
○ If want superiority, we develop social interest
○ Not self-centered goals, but

Figure 1. Psychodynamic Theories: The basic Methods of Striving toward the Final Goal

5. Style of Life
The term Adler used to refer to the flavor of a person's life.
Pampered Style of Life
- Overprotected and dated upon by parents; weak
social interest.
- Feeling left out, mistreated, or neglected when
forced to be independent.
- Characterized by extreme discouragement,
indecisiveness, oversensitivity, impatience and
exaggerated emotion (anxiety).
Neglected Style of Life
- Abused and mistreated children
- Little social interest
- Distrustful and unable to cooperate for common
interest.
- Alienation and envy towards other success.
- More likely to be dangerous to others.

6. Creative Power
- People's ability to freely shape their behavior and create their own personality.
- Their creative power places then in control of their own lives, is responsible for their final goal, determines their method
of striving for that goal, and contributes to the development of social interest.
- Heredity and environment as the bricks and mortar to build personality
- Law of the Low Doorway

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 - Law of the Low Doorway
○ You can duck down to pass through it
○ You can bump your head until it breaks down

Safeguarding Tendencies
- People create patterns of behavior to protect their exaggerated sense of self-esteem against public disgrace.
- Conscious defense mechanism; to shield self-esteem from public disgrace.
1. Excuses
i. "if only" and "but" phrases
2. Aggression
i. Depreciation - to undervalue others and overvalue self.
ii. Accusation - blame others for one's failures.
iii. Self-accusation - self torture and guilt
3. Withdrawal
i. Moving backward
ii. Standing Still
iii. Hesitating
iv. Constructing Obstacles

Comparison of Safeguarding Tendencies with defense Mechanism

Adler's Safeguarding Tendencies Freud's Defense Mechanisms
1. Limited mostly to the construction of neurotic 1. Found in everyone
style of life. 2. Protect the ego from the pain of anxiety
2. Protect the person's fragile self-esteem from 3. Operate only on an unconscious level
public disgrace 4. Common types include:
3. Can be partly conscious 1. Repression
4. Common types include: 2. Reaction formation
1. Excuses 3. Displacement
2. Aggression 4. Fixation
a. Depreciation 5. Regression
b. Accusation 6. Projection
c. Self-accusation 7. Introjection
3. Withdrawal 8. Sublimation
a. Moving backward
b. Standing still
c. Hesitating
d. Constructing obstacles

APPLICATION OF INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY

1. Family Constellation
2. Early Recollections
3. Dreams
4. Psychotherapy
- The chief purpose of Adlerian Psychotherapy is to enhance courage, lessen feelings of inferiority, and encourage social
interest.

Adler's View of Some Possible Traits by Birth Order

Positive Traits Order Negative Traits
Nurturing and protective of others OLDEST CHILD Highly anxious
Good organizer Exaggerated feelings of power
Unconscious hostility
Fights for acceptance
Must always be "right" whereas others are
always "wrong".
Highly critical of others
Uncooperative
Highly Motivated SECOND CHILD Highly competitive
Cooperative Easily discouraged
Moderately Competitive
Realistically Ambitious YOUNGEST CHILD Pampered style of life

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Realistically Ambitious YOUNGEST CHILD Pampered style of life
Dependent on others
Wants to excel in everything
Unrealistically ambitious
Socially mature ONLY CHILD Exaggerated feelings of superiority
Low feelings of cooperation
Inflated sense of self
Pampered style of life

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