INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY: ALFRED ADLER COURSE CODE

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SECOND SEMESTER | ACADEMIC YEAR: 2023-2024 | JENICKA JUNI

CORE CONCEPT: SOCIAL INTEREST SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS

People’s subjective perceptions shape their behavior

People are born with weak and inferior bodies
and personality
Feeling of inferiority and dependence of other
People strive for superiority or success to compensate
Feeling of unity to others (social interest) for feelings of inferiority, but the manner in which they
strive is not shaped by reality but by their subjective
perceptions of reality, that is, by their fictions, or
SIX TENENTS OF INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
expectations of the future.
○ Fictionalism - fictions are ideas that have no
STRIVING FOR SUCCESS OR SUPERIORITY real existence, yet they influence people as if
they really existed.
The one dynamic force behind people’s behavior is ○ Physical Inferiorities - serve as an impetus
the striving for success or superiority. toward perfection or completion. Some people
compensate for these feelings of inferiority by
Striving for superiority to those people who strive for moving toward psychological health and a useful
personal superiority over others and introduced the term style of life, whereas others overcompensate and
striving for success to describe actions of people who are are motivated to subdue or retreat from other
motivated by highly developed social interest. people.
Psychologically unhealthy individuals strive for personal
superiority, whereas psychologically healthy people seek UNITY AND SELF-CONSISTENCY OF PERSONALITY
success for all humanity.
○ The Final Goal - the final goal is fictional and
Personality is unified and self-consistent.
has no objective existence. Nevertheless, the
final goal has great significance because it Individual psychology insists on the fundamental unity
unifies personality and renders all behavior of personality and the notion that inconsistent behavior
comprehensible. does not exist. Thoughts, feelings, and actions are all
○ The Striving Force as Compensation - People directed toward a single goal and serve a single purpose.
strive for superiority or success as a means of ○ Organ Dialect - the deficient organ expresses
compensation for feelings of inferiority or the direction of the individual’s goal, a condition
weakness. People are continually pushed by the known as organ dialect.
need to overcome inferiority feelings and pulled ○ Conscious and Unconscious - Conscious
by the desire for completion. thoughts are those that are understood and
○ Striving for Personal Superiority - Some regarded by the individual as helpful in striving
people strive for superiority with little or no for success, whereas unconscious thoughts are
concern for others. Their goals are personal those that are not helpful.
ones, and their strivings are motivated largely by
exaggerated feelings of personal inferiority, or
SOCIAL INTEREST
the presence of an inferiority complex.
○ Striving for Success - psychologically healthy
The value of all human activity must be seen from the
people who are motivated by social interest and
viewpoint of social interest.
the success of all humankind. These healthy
individuals are concerned with goals beyond
German term, Gemeinschaftsgefühl. A better translation
themselves, are capable of helping others
might be “social feeling” or “community feeling,” it
without demanding or expecting a personal
means a feeling of oneness with all humanity; it implies
payoff, and are able to see others not as
membership in the social community of all people. A
opponents but as people with whom they can
person with well-developed Gemeinschaftsgefühl strives
cooperate for social benefit. Their own success is
not for personal superiority but for perfection for all
not gained at the expense of others but is a
people in an ideal community. Social interest can be
natural tendency to move toward completion or
defined as an attitude of relatedness with humanity in
perfection.
general as well as an empathy for each member of the
 INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY: ALFRED ADLER COURSE CODE
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SECOND SEMESTER | ACADEMIC YEAR: 2023-2024 | JENICKA JUNI

human community. It manifests itself as cooperation ● Neglected Style of Life - Abused and mistreated
with others for social advancement rather than for children develop little social interest and tend to create
personal gain. Social interest is rooted as potentiality in a neglected style of life. They have little confidence in
themselves and tend to overestimate difficulties
everyone, but it must be developed before it can
connected with life’s major problems. They are
contribute to a useful style of life. It originates from the
distrustful of other people and are unable to cooperate
mother-child relationship during the early months of for the common welfare. They see society as enemy
infancy. country, feel alienated from all other people, and
experience a strong sense of envy toward the success
STYLE OF LIFE of others.

SAFEGUARDING TENDENCIES
The self-consistent personality structure develops into
a person’s style of life.
Adler believed that people create patterns of behavior to
protect their exaggerated sense of self-esteem against public
Style of life is the term Adler used to refer to the flavor of
disgrace. These protective devices, called safeguarding
a person’s life. It includes a person’s goal, self-concept, tendencies, enable people to hide their inflated self-image and
feelings for others, and attitude toward the world. It is to maintain their current style of life.
the product of the interaction of heredity, environment,
and a person’s creative power. ❖ Excuses - The most common of the safeguarding
tendencies are excuses, which are typically expressed
in the “Yes, but” or “If only” format.
CREATIVE POWER
❖ Aggression - some people use aggression to
safeguard their exaggerated superiority complex, that
Style of life is molded by people’s creative power. is, to protect their fragile self-esteem. Safeguarding
through aggression may take the form of depreciation,
Creative power places them in control of their own lives, accusation, or self-accusation.
is responsible for their final goal, determines their
method of striving for that goal, and contributes to the Depreciation is the tendency to undervalue other people’s
development of social interest. In short, creative power achievements and to overvalue one’s own.
makes each person a free individual. Creative power is a
dynamic concept implying movement, and this Accusation is the tendency to blame others for one’s failures
and to seek revenge, thereby safeguarding one’s own tenuous
movement is the most salient characteristic of life.
self-esteem.

ABNORMAL DEVELOPMENT Self-Accusation is the tendency to blame others for one’s

failures and to seek revenge, thereby safeguarding one’s own
GENERAL DESCRIPTION tenuous self-esteem.

Besides lacking social interest, neurotics tend to: ❖ Withdrawal - Personality development can be halted
● set their goals too high when people run away from difficulties.
● live in their own private world
● have a rigid and dogmatic style of life.
Moving backward - the tendency to safeguard one’s fictional
goal of superiority by psychologically reverting to a more
EXTERNAL FACTORS IN MALADJUSTMENT secure period of life.

● Exaggerated Physical Deficiencies - People with Standing - People who stand still simply do not move in any
exaggerated physical deficiencies sometimes develop direction; thus, they avoid all responsibility by ensuring
exaggerated feelings of inferiority because they themselves against any threat of failure
overcompensate for their inadequacy. They tend to be
Hesitating - Some people hesitate or vacillate when faced with
overly concerned with themselves and lack
difficult problems. Their procrastinations eventually give them
consideration for others. the excuse “It’s too late now.”
● Pampered Style of Life - Pampered people have weak
social interest but a strong desire to perpetuate the Constructing obstacles - Some people build a straw house to
pampered, parasitic relationship they originally had show that they can knock it down. By overcoming the obstacle,
with one or both of their parents. They expect others to they protect their self-esteem and their prestige. If they fail to
look after them, overprotect them, and satisfy their hurdle the barrier, they can always resort to an excuse.
needs.