Adler’s theory

Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

Background

In 1902 Alfred Adler was invited to join Freud’s Vienna

Psychoanalytic Society.
In1910 he was made president but by then his ideas had
diverged from Freud’s and the two of them began to dislike
each other.
In 1911 he resigned and in 1912 he founded the rival
individual psychology movement.

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Adler’s main ideas

The inferiority The

complex and the problem-solving
drive for superiority function of dreams

The importance
Social interest
of birth order

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Comparison between Adler
and Freud
Freud
• Main motivations are biological drives.
• Focus is within the individual mind.
• Relationship with same-sex parent of
primary importance.
• The Oedipus complex expresses
instinctive sexual and aggressive drives.
• Dreams express instinctive wishes.
• Personality is the product of id, ego and
superego.
Philip Allan Publishers © 2016
Adler
• Main motivation is the inferiority complex.
• Focus is on interactions between people.
• Wider family relationships including with
siblings of primary importance.
• The Oedipus complex is the result of
spoiling by the opposite-sex parent.
• Dreams facilitate problem solving.
• Personality is the result of goal
orientation.
The inferiority complex

In infancy we all have a state of inferiority. Our main motivator is to escape

this feeling of inferiority. This manifests in many ways, positive and negative:

Negative expressions Positive expressions

Arrogance results when we Accomplishment in a work or

try to assert our superiority. artistic setting.

Agoraphobia results when we Compensation for a weakness

feel too inferior to cope with by developing a
the outside world. corresponding strength.

Domestic abuse results when

we express a need to control
some aspect of the world.
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 Dreams

Adler saw dreams as a mechanism for problem solving, in which our

unconscious mind works on problems with which our waking mind
has struggled.
Adler believed that it is not so much the dream narrative that gives
us the answer to our problem but the emotional residue that guides
us towards a correct decision.
Adler’s murder dream
Adler was deciding whether to return a soldier to the First World War
front line. He dreamt that he had murdered someone. On waking he
realised this was his attempt to solve the problem and decided not
to send the soldier back.

Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

 Birth order

Adler saw family dynamics as very important in a child’s

development. One important aspect of family dynamics is birth order.
A child’s place in birth order can impact on their personality.
Firstborns experience dethronement when their siblings are born
and seek to regain their position, so are highly power seeking.
Later siblings are less power seeking. The youngest child is often
the most dependent.

Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

 Social interest

Adler proposed that we have an instinct to make social contact with

others. This extends to forming communities and cooperating in social
endeavours.
Adler saw this as an evolutionary mechanism to equip humans to live
effectively in communities
The instinct for social interest is mediated by childhood experience.
Thus pampered and neglected children are likely to be socially
irresponsible.

Philip Allan Publishers © 2016