Alfred Adler - Individual Psychology (Lecture Notes)

A comprehensive set of question-and-answer flashcards covering Adler's Individual Psychology concepts, including motivation, social interest, final goals, safeguarding tendencies, birth order, external factors in maladjustment, and key contrasts with Freud.

What is the central drive in Adler's Individual Psychology?

The striving for success or superiority driven by feelings of inferiority, shaped by social interest and future goals.

What is the Final Goal in Adler's theory?

A fictional, imagined goal that guides behavior, such as personal superiority or collective success with social interest.

What is Social Interest (Gemeinschaftsgeffcll) and its origin?

A sense of unity with humanity and cooperation for mutual benefit, rooted in early mother-child bonding and shaped by both parents.

What is Creative Power in Adlerian psychology?

The ability to shape one’s life and personality, using heredity and environment as raw materials.

What is Style of Life?

The unique pattern of goals, self-concept, and attitudes that guide behavior, largely formed by age 4–5.

What are the two types of Striving?

Nonproductive striving toward personal superiority; socially productive striving toward success that benefits all (social interest).

What is Teleology?

Behavior explained by future goals (even if unconscious), as opposed to Freud’s past-deterministic causality.

What are Subjective Perceptions?

People's behavior and personality are shaped by subjective perceptions of reality, not necessarily by objective reality.

What is Fictionalism (Fictions) in Adler's theory?

The belief in fictional goals that guide life and unify personality, even if not true or reachable.

What is Organ Dialect?

The body’s physical symptoms express the direction of an individual’s goals (e.g., arthritis signaling a desire for sympathy).

What does Unity and Self-Consistency mean in Adler's theory?

Personality is unified and self-consistent, with thoughts, feelings, and actions directed toward one overarching goal.

What are Safeguarding Tendencies?

Conscious strategies to protect inflated self-esteem and avoid failure or disgrace.

Name the safeguarding strategy: Excuses

Using statements like 'Yes, but…' to avoid responsibility while maintaining superiority.

Name the safeguarding strategy: Aggression (Depreciation, Accusation, Self-accusation)

Aggression to protect self-esteem by undervaluing others, blaming others, or blaming oneself to gain sympathy or control.

Name the safeguarding strategy: Withdrawal

Distancing from problems via moving backward, standing still, hesitating, or constructing obstacles.

What is Masculine Protest?

An exaggerated emphasis on being 'manly' as a reaction to societal values, not biological sex differences.

How does Adler differ from Freud on gender and masculine protest?

Adler argued masculine protest is socially constructed; Freud claimed biology (anatomy) dictated female psychology.

What are External Factors in Maladjustment?

Exaggerated physical deficiencies, pampered style of life, and neglected style of life—especially with low social interest.

What are Exaggerated Physical Deficiencies?

Congenital, injury, or illness-based weaknesses that lead to overcompensation and self-focus.

What is Pampered Style of Life?

Low social interest with dependence on others, indecision, anxiety, and expectation of special treatment.

What is Neglected Style of Life?

Children feel unloved or abused, leading to low self-confidence, suspicion, antisocial tendencies, and envy.

What characterizes Neurotic Traits in Abnormal Development?

Setting overly high goals, living in a private world, and rigid, dogmatic lifestyles.

What is Social Interest vs. Charity?

Social interest emphasizes genuine cooperation and collective welfare; charity can be motivated by superiority.

What is the Law of the Low Doorway?

Life’s problems resemble low doorways; you can creatively adjust (healthy) or repeatedly bump into them (neurotic).

What is the Final Concept of Adler’s theory?

People are motivated by a final goal that directs behavior and gives unity to personality.

What is the Socially Useful Style?

A healthy style expressing social interest through neighborly love, sexual love, and occupation with cooperation and courage.

How do heredity and environment interact in Adler's theory?

Heredity provides potential; environment shapes the development of social interest and courage; individuals use creative power to shape life.

What are the roles of Mother and Father in social interest origins?

Mother fosters genuine love and care; Father provides a caring, cooperative approach, avoiding detachment or authoritarianism.

How do examples like Demosthenes and Beethoven illustrate Adler's ideas?

Handicaps or difficulties can be used as motivation to contribute significantly, showing how inferiority can fuel success.

What is parasitic dependency in Adlerian terms?

An unhealthy final goal where one relies on others for support, illustrating a maladaptive striving pattern.