Module 3.1: Alfred Adler (Individual Psychology)

optimistic view; social interest

Individual psychology presents an _____________ of people while resting heavily on the notion of _____________

social influences and striving for superiority or success

Adler believed that people are largely motivated by these two factors:

psychologically healthy people

These people are usually aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it.

striving for success or superiority

the dynamic force behind people's behavior

physical deficiency

everyone begins life with this condition that activate feelings of inferiority

The Final Goal (Adler)

it is fictional and has no objective existence and has great significance because it unifies personality and renders all behavior comprehensible.

inferiority

People strive for superiority or success as a means of compensation for feelings of __________

Striving for Personal Superiority

individuals have little concern for others, and goals are personal; they are motivated largely by exaggerated feelings of inferiority or the presence of an inferiority complex.

Striving for Success

They are psychologically healthy people who are motivated by social interest and the success of all humankind.

subjective perceptions

it is, not the reality, what shapes people's behavior and personality

it is their fcitions

Fictions (Adler)

it is their expectations of the future that may not be doable.

goal of superiority or success

the most important fiction that we created early in life and may not clearly understand.

fictionalism

a belief system about expectations of the future(real or not, that belief is treated "as if" real). it guides our style of life and gives unity to our personality.

physical inferiorities

Because people begin life small, weak, and inferior, they develop a fiction or belief system about how to overcome these physical deficiencies and become big, strong, and superior.

individual psychology

it insists on the fundamental unity of personality and the notion that inconsistent behavior does not exist.

unified and self-consistent

adler believes that personality is ________ and __________

organ dialect

The deficient organ expresses the direction of the individual's goal

unified personality

personality, according to Adler, in which there is harmony between conscious and unconscious actions.

unconscious (adler)

it is the part of the goal that is neither clearly formulated nor completely understood by the individual (adler)

conscious (adler)

thoughts that are understood and regarded by the individual as helpful in striving for success (adler)

Gemeinschaftsgefühl

it means a feeling of oneness with all humanity; it implies membership in the social community of all people.

english trans: social feeling or community feeling

social interest

it is Adler's somewhat misleading translation of his original German term, Gemeinschaftsgefühl

social interest

it was Adler's yardstick for measuring psychological health and is the sole criterion of human values

1. Problems involving our behavior towards others

2. Problems of occupation

3. Problems of love

three categories of universal problems according to Adler

1. The dominant type

2. The getting type

3. The avoiding type

4. The socially useful type

the four basic style of life according to adler

the dominant type

displays dominant or ruling attitude with little social awareness

the getting type

They expect to receive satisfaction from other people and so become dependent on them.

the avoidant type

Individuals who consistently avoid or ignore problems or challenges.

the socially useful type

a healthy person who cooperate with others and act in accordance with their needs.

Creative Power (Adler)

Adler's term for what he believed to be an inner freedom that empowers each of us to create our own style of life

it places them 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

underdeveloped social interest

the one factor underlying all types of maladjustments as according to adler

1. Set their goals to high

2. Live in their own private world

3. Have a rigid and dogmatic style of life

Besides lacking social interest, neurotics tend to:

Exaggerated Physical Deficiencies

whether congenital or the result of injury or disease, are not sufficient to lead to maladjustment. · They must be accompanied by accentuated feelings of inferiority.

Pampered Style of Life

people have weak social interest but a strong desire to perpetuate the pampered, parasitic, relationship with originally had with one or both parents

neglected style of life

children who feel unloved and unwanted are likely to develop this feeling.

safeguarding tendencies (adler)

it protect the person's fragile self-esteem from public disgrace and is limited mostly to the construction of a neurotic style of life. it can be partly conscious.

excuses (adler)

Claiming that someone would like to do something that sounds good to others then follow with an excuse.

aggression

It is a safeguarding tendency that involves behaving in an aggressive way to protect oneself from a superiority complex.

depreciation, accusation, self-accusation

3 types of aggression

depreciation (adler)

tendency to undervalue other people's achievements and to overvalue one's own

accusation (adler)

Tendency to blame others for one's failures and to seek revenge

self-accusation (adler)

Tendency marked by self-torture and guilt.

withdrawal (adler)

Safeguarding one's exaggerated sense of superiority by establishing a distance between oneself and one's problems.

moving backwards, standing still, hesitating, constructing obstacles

types of withdrawal by adler

moving backwards (adler)

It is the tendency to safeguard one's fictional goal of superiority by psychologically reverting to a more secure period of life.

standing still (adler)

Safeguarding tendency characterized by lack of action as a means of avoiding failure

hesitating (adler)

Safeguarding tendency characterized by vacillation or procrastination designed to provide a person with the excuse "It's too late now."

constructing obstacles

Safeguarding tendency in which people create a barrier to their own success, thus allowing them to protect their self-esteem by either using the barrier as an excuse for failure or by overcoming it.

masculine protest

In Adler's version of psychoanalysis, the idea that a particular urge in adulthood is an attempt to compensate for one's powerlessness felt in childhood.

adler believed that

the psychic life of women is essentially the same as that of men and that a male-dominated society is not natural but rather an artificial product of historical development.

family constellation (adler)

The influence of number, age, and sex of sibling on personality development

oldest child (adler)

the first born children in a given family would receive plenty of attention. However, the great amounts of attention would only last until the second child was born. When the second child is born, the first child would be "dethroned"; oldest children are achievement oriented and protective of younger soblings

second child (adler)

will often try to compete with a firstborn child and often surpasses the first child's performance

youngest child (adler)

According to Adler, it is the second-worst birth position after the first-born. This child is often spoiled and therefore loses courage to succeed by his or her own efforts.

only child (adler)

does not learn to share or cooperate with other children, learns to deal with adults