Adler - Individual Psychology PDF

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES Adler: Individual Psychology I. Overview of Adler's Individual Psychology An original member of Freud's psychoanalytic group, Alfred Adler broke from that group and advocated a theory of personality that was nea...

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES Adler: Individual Psychology I. Overview of Adler's Individual Psychology An original member of Freud's psychoanalytic group, Alfred Adler broke from that group and advocated a theory of personality that was nearly diametrically opposed to that of Freud. Whereas Freud's view of humanity was pessimistic and rooted in biology, Adler's view was optimistic, idealistic, and rooted in family experiences. II. Biography of Alfred Adler Alfred Adler was born in 1870 in a town near Vienna, a second son of middle-class Jewish parents. Like Freud, Adler was a physician, and in 1902, he became a charter member of Freud's organization. However, personal and professional differences between the two men led to Adler's departure from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1911. Adler soon founded his own group, the Society for Individual Psychology. Adler's strengths were his energetic oral presentations and his insightful ability to understand family dynamics. He was not a gifted writer, a limitation that may have prevented individual psychology from attaining a world recognition equal to Freud's psychoanalysis. III. Introduction to Adlerian Theory Although Adler's individual psychology is both complex and comprehensive, its main tenets can be stated in simple form. The following is adapted from a list that represents the final statement of individual psychology (Adler, 1964). 1. The one dynamic force behind people’s behavior is the striving for success or superiority. 2. People’s subjective perceptions shape their behavior and personality. 3. Personality is unified and self-consistent. 4. The value of all human activity must be seen from the viewpoint of social interest. 5. The self-consistent personality structure develops into a person’s style of life. 6. Style of life is molded by people’s creative power IV. Striving for Success or Superiority The sole dynamic force behind people's actions is the striving for success or superiority. A. The Final Goal The final goal of either success or superiority toward which all people strive unifies personality and makes all behavior meaningful. B. The Striving Force as Compensation Because people are born with small, inferior bodies, they feel inferior and attempt to overcome these feelings through their natural tendency to move toward completion. The striving force can take one of two courses: personal gain (superiority) or community benefit (success). C. Striving for Personal Superiority Psychologically unhealthy individuals strive for personal superiority with little concern for other people. Although they may appear to be interested in other people, their basic motivation is personal benefit. D. Striving for Success In contrast, psychologically healthy people strive for the success of all humanity, but they do so without losing their personal identity. V. Subjective Perceptions People's subjective view of the world-not reality-shapes their behavior. A. Fictionalism Fictions are people's expectations of the future. Adler held that fictions guide behavior, because people act as if these fictions are true. Adler emphasized teleology over causality, or explanations of behavior in terms of future goals rather than past causes. B. Organ Inferiorities Adler believed that all humans are "blessed" with organ inferiorities, which stimulate subjective feelings of inferiority and move people toward perfection or completion. VI. Unity and Self-Consistency of Personality Adler believed that all behaviors are directed toward a single purpose. When seen in the light of that sole purpose, seemingly contradictory behaviors can be seen as operating in a self-consistent manner. A. Organ Dialect People often use a physical disorder to express style of life, a condition Adler called organ dialect. B. Conscious and Unconscious Conscious and unconscious processes are unified and operate to achieve a single goal. The part of our goal that we do not clearly understood is unconscious; the part of our goal that we fail to fully comprehend is conscious. VII. Social Interest Human behavior has value to the extent that it is motivated by social interest, that is, a feeling of oneness with all of humanity. A. Origins of Social Interest Although social interest exists as potentiality in all people, it must be fostered in a social environment. Adler believed that the parent-child relationship can be so strong that it negates the effects of heredity. B. Importance of Social Interest According to Adler, social interest is "the sole criterion of human values," and the worthiness of all one's actions must be seen by this standard. Without social interest, societies could not exist; individuals in antiquity could not have survived without cooperating with others to protect themselves from danger. Even today, an infant's helplessness predisposes it toward a nurturing person. VIII. Style of Life The manner of a person's striving is called style of life, a pattern that is relatively well set by 4 or 5 years of age. However, Adler believed that healthy individuals are marked by flexible behavior and that they have some limited ability to change their style of life. IX. Creative Power Style of life is partially a product of heredity and environment-the building blocks of personality-but ultimately style of life is shaped by people's creative power, that is, by their ability to freely choose a course of action. X. Abnormal Development Creative power is not limited to healthy people; unhealthy individuals also create their own personalities. Thus, each of us is free to choose either a useful or a useless style of life. A. General Description The most important factor in abnormal development is lack of social interest. In addition, people with a useless style of life tend to (1) set their goals too high, (2) have a dogmatic style of life, and (3) live in their own private world. B. External Factors in Maladjustment Adler listed three factors that relate to abnormal development: (1) exaggerated physical deficiencies, which do not by themselves cause abnormal development, but which may contribute to it by generating subjective and exaggerated feelings of inferiority; (2) a pampered style of life, which contributes to an overriding drive to establish a permanent parasitic relationship with the mother or a mother substitute; and (3) a neglected style of life, which leads to distrust of other people. C. Safeguarding Tendencies Both normal and neurotic people create symptoms as a means of protecting their fragile self-esteem. These safeguarding tendencies maintain a neurotic style of life and protect a person from public disgrace. The three principal safeguarding tendencies are (1) excuses, which allow people to preserve their inflated sense of personal worth; (2) aggression, which may take the form of depreciating others' accomplishments, accusing others of being responsible for one's own failures, or self-accusation; and (3) withdrawal, which can be expressed by psychologically moving backward, standing still, hesitating, or constructing obstacles. D. Masculine Protest Both men and women sometimes overemphasize the desirability of being manly, a condition Adler called the masculine protest. The frequently found inferior status of women is not based on physiology but on historical developments and social learning. XI. Applications of Individual Psychology Adler applied the principles of individual psychology to family constellation, early recollections, dreams, and psychotherapy. A. Family Constellation Adler believed that people's perception of how they fit into their family is related to their style of life. He claimed that firstborns are likely to have strong feelings of power and superiority, to be overprotective, and to have more than their share of anxiety. Second-born children are likely to have strong social interest, provided they do not get trapped trying to overcome their older sibling. Youngest children are likely to be pampered and to lack independence, whereas only children have some of the characteristics of both the oldest and the youngest child. B. Early Recollections A more reliable method of determining style of life is to ask people for their earliest recollections. Adler believed that early memories are templates on which people project their current style of life. These recollections need not be accurate accounts of early events; they have psychological importance because they reflect a person's current view of the world. C. Dreams Adler believed that dreams can provide clues to solving future problems. However, dreams are disguised to deceive the dreamer and usually must be interpreted by another person. D. Psychotherapy The goal of Adlerian therapy is to create a relationship between therapist and patient that fosters social interest. To ensure that the patient's social interest will eventually generalize to other relationships, the therapist adopts both a maternal and a paternal role.