INDIVIDUAL
PSYCHOLOGY:
ALFRED ADLER
I.
OVERVIEW OF INDIVIDUAL
He believes that the Due to experiences
actions
in
the of people in the
The two men have a contradicting point
present effects on past, it affects the
how
people behavior
in
the
perceives
the present.
of view and personal differences which
future.
lead to Adler form a new theory which is
The humans know Freud
the actions they the
PSYCHOLOGY
Individual Psychology.
FREUD
ADLER
emphasize
parts
of
in
their behavior
reasons for doing it. unconscious
the
exhibit
and
He disagrees with
Freud
about
as
are Cornerstones – Sex
motivated of striving and Aggression
people
for
OF
ALFRED
ADLER
He was born in Rudolfsheim on 7th of
are
accountable on their
own life.
BIOGRAPHY
superiority
(perfection)
Humans
II.
They do have an
February 1870, a suburb that is near
ability or not in
Vienna. He is the third born out of the
making an option or
seven children, he is a sickly child as he
choice in forming
was diagnosed pneumonia and almost
their characteristics.
died at the age of 4 or 5 years old. After
seeing his younger brother dead, he
sees the situation as an experience and
through that he decided to practice
medicine. After completing his degree
as a medical student, he served in
The main ideologies of his theory
– Adlerian Theory are:
military as he is a citizen in Hungary like
1. Striving
his father , then after completing his
3. Unified and Self-Consistent
up psychiatry and general medicine as
4. Social Interest
his specialization. He was once group
and
other
5. Style of Life
Viennese
6. Creative power
physicians, even though the two have
contradicting theories. As they have
opposing ideas he leaves the group and
formed a group called as Society for
or
2. Subjective perceptions
for his postgrad degree. Then, he took
Freud
Success
Superiority
mandatory service, he continue to study
with
for
IV.
STRIVING FOR SUCCESS OR
SUPERIORITY
with
The people strive for superiority
some former members who abandoned
as they overcome being inferior towards
Freud’s theory. He may be not well
themself or in other people in order for
known compared to Freud, but his
them to feel they are completed or full
theories and teachings are taught and
as a person.
Individual
Psychology
together
studied through lectures. He died from
Final Goal
heart attack on May 28, 1937 in
Aberdeen, Scotland.
The people who
are striving to
move forward to the final goal that either
can be classified as superiority or a
III.
INTRODUCTION TO ADLERIAN
person aiming to their success as it’s for
THEORY
all humanity.
His works gives more a deep and
Striving Force as Compensation
more complicated thought in the human
personality, but it on simple components
and the later theorists integrated his
works.
By being incompetent makes a person
feel inferior, as they pushed themselves
toward to overcome and achieved right
in the end or as it is complete. As a child
for
example,
the
child
is
being
dependent, so the result they feel
inferior because the parents or the older
people around them have strength and
authority.
Physical Inferiorities
He
emphasized
that
serves as a motivation in reaching the
success or the goals in achieving
perfection.
They perceived the goal with a hint of
VI.
UNITY
AND
concern to others or not but to his or
CONSISTENCY
herself (personal gain). An example for
PERSONALITY
their own self- interest or benefit and the
people perceived it as a social interest
or concern.
that make them unique and these
characteristics focus on one goal and
Taking the social interest into account
Organ Dialect
V.
SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS
Fictionalism
OF
distinct characteristics and differences
acts on its purpose.
herself but the humanity as a whole.
SELF-
He insisted that every person have
Striving for Success
and think of for the better not just his or
are
“blessed” with organ inferiorities, as it
Striving for Superiority
this can be a Con-artist as they hide
humans
It is condition that convey impaired
organ as to express style of life,
according to Adler.
Conscious and Unconscious
The idea of functionalism of Alder
In order to achieve the goal, the
derived from Vaihinger’s book, as the
unconscious and conscious needs to
fictions does not exist, but people
work
believed that is real “as if” it really
unconscious or does not fully clear to
occurs. The people are motivated on
her or him to understand, while in
what they believed or to expect on the
conscious he/she complete knows as
future rather than to the past or
he/she better understanding of it.
causality.
VII.
together.
The
individual
SOCIAL INTEREST
is
It is defined as relatedness towards the
thinks
humanity, as being a member of the
humanity.
ideal community through cooperation
with others rather than for one self’s own
gain.
Origins of Social Interest
VIII.
about
the
success
for
all
STYLE OF LIFE
A cognitive schema or bio psychosocial
map on how the world works. It is way
the how people’s personality, behavior
It is rooted to all of us, as it is originated
and habits strives for perfection. It is the
from the relationship of the mother and
believe style of life is mostly set by 4 -6
child. The parents can influenced the
years of age.
child’s social interest, as the job of the
mother is support their child’s interest
IX.
CREATIVE POWER
and cooperation, while the father show
Each person has their own freedom or
the care into his wife and to other people
will to do what they want or in their style
and also they should be in same page
of life. As all people have a goal and
towards to the caring of the child. If
direction through their life and they are
there is wrong through the environment
one’s own responsibility. Their own style
of the child, it will affect the child’s
of life is the product of the environment
personality.
and heredity, as it is the building blocks
Importance of Social Interest
There is a certain degree to use in able
on creating its own persona.
X.
ABNORMAL DEVELOPMENT
to determine the worth of a person. As
He believes that people structured
the person can either be psychologically
themselves as what they want to be or it
mature and immature. An immature are
what makes them as a person. The
the self-centered, which means they are
creative power is limited, as it can be
not really concerned about others, it is
good or bad through their life.
only for their own interest or self-gain.
General Description
On the other hand, the mature are
genuinely concerned towards others and
One factor stated by Adler is the
underdeveloped
social
interest.
Furthermore, (1) setting the goals too
feel
high, (2) living in their own private world,
Because of that they have trust
(3) does have a dogmatic style of life. It
issues and lacking of cooperation
means that these people have a little
to others as they are suspicious.
concerned to others but over concerned
to themselves. They are inflexible and
unloved
and
unwanted,
Safeguarding Tendencies
uncontrollable towards to the impossible
This concept is similar to Freud’s
or impracticable goal.
The way they
concept of coping mechanism, as the
view and handle the problem is the
two concept created to act as a
factor why it is hard for them as it may
protection.
appears easy others.
Freud’s concept of defense mechanism
External Factors in Maladjustment
The
differences
is
that
operate unconsciously as serves as
protector to the ego towards anxiety,
There are three factors that contribute to
while on the safeguarding tendencies of
abnormality these are:
Adler, it acts as a shield to the disrepute
(1) Exaggerated
physical
deficiencies - as the human with
disability, they appear to be
feeling heavily inferior towards
themselves
due
to
their
incompetency and as a result
convinced his or herself that it
can only be solved by being
selfish.
(2) The pampered style of Life This style of life refers to the
people being pampered, have a
parasitic relationship towards the
parents either the two or both.
(3) Neglected Style of life – The
humans being neglected as they
of the self-esteem and it is conscious.
Masculine Protest
He believed that women are equally the
same as for men because the society
that is dominated by men is an artificial
product or produce of humankind. The
term masculine protest can be described
as a importance of being masculine as
they reject the feminine identity and
adopt to be valued and compensated
which have the same manner as the
men or by being superior.
XI.
APPLICATIONS
INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
OF
This child may have possessed a
Family Constellation
it is described as the family system,
which means the structure of the family.
parasitic attitude and pampered as the
parents only focuses on one child.
Like for instance the order of the
siblings, sex and age.
Early Recollections
First Born – defined as have an
intensive power and superiority, a high
level
of
anxiety
and
being
overprotective. If there will be a new
born in the family, him or her likely to
feel
hostility
towards
the
younger
siblings.
The memories are the template on how
to
determine
individual.
and
understand
an
the
memories
and
As
experiences have an effect into their
current style of life. The recollections
can be not accurate, but still its
significance towards the people as they
Second Born – he or she is
subjectively different due to the instance
unlike in the first born. For example, the
first born being hostile towards his
find the direction or view through their
life.
Dreams
sister, the younger will become a
Dreams can give us insight on how to
competitive as the later one focuses on
solve the future problems. But the
her
born
interpretation can be subjective which
influences the second born and its
means it is different on how the people
attitude shapes on how she perceives
perceive it.
older
sibling.
The
first
the first born.
Psychotheraphy
Third Born – he believed that are
pampered or spoiled as they likely to
feel
inferior
and
lack
sense
of
independence.
but
theory is to emphasis through the lesser
feeling of inferiority and to overcome it
by adapting it boost their social interest.
Only Child – they are socially
mature,
The main objective of the Adlerian
may
develop
competitiveness towards the parents.
References:
Feist, J., Feist, G., & Roberts, T. (2018).
Theories
of
personality.
Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
Ryckman, Richard M. (2013) Theories of
personality.
Belmont,
CA.:
Wadworth Cengage Learning.
Schultz, Duane P. & Schultz, Sydney
Ellen.
(2018).Theories
of
Personality. Australia: Cengage
Learning