Individual Psychology

ADLER
 Outline
• Overview of Individual Psychology
• Biography of Adler
• Striving for Success or Superiority
• Subjective Perceptions
• Unity and Self-Consistency of Personality
• Social Interest
• Style of Life Cont’d

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 Outline
• Creative Power
• Abnormal Development
• Applications of Individual Psychology
• Related Research
• Critique of Adler
• Concept of Humanity

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Overview of Individual Psychology

• Optimistic and Emphasized Social Interest

• Differed from Freud in Four Ways
– People motivated by social influences
• Striving for superiority or success
– People responsible for who they are
– Behavior shaped by view of future
– Consciousness important

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 Biography of Adler
• Born in a Viennese suburb in 1870
• Second son of middle class Jewish parents
• Received his medical degree in 1895
• Published Study of Organ Inferiority and Its
Psychical Compensation in 1907
• Charter member of Freud’s organization
• Rivalry with Freud led to his departure from the
group
• Founded the Society for Individual Psychology
• Died in Scotland in 1937

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Introduction to Adlerian Theory
• Tenets of Individual Psychology
(1) Striving for success or superiority – the sole
dynamic force behind people’s action, creative
power-ability to freely shape our behavior;
compensate to one’s inferiority
(2) Subjective perceptions shape behavior –
subjective view of the world not reality shape
behavior; humans are “blessed with inferiorities
(3) Personality is unified and self-consistent –
All behaviors are directed toward a single purpose;
underlying motives
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Tenets of Individual Psychology
(4) Value of all activity from social interest
perspective -- the feeling of oneness with all of
humanity; yardstick for measuring psychological
health;
(5) Personality structure becomes one’s style of
life – a person’s striving; set by age 4 or 5 years
(6) Style of life molded by creative power --
shaped by people's creative power, that is, by
their ability to freely choose a course of action
 Subjective Perceptions
• Fictionalism- expectations of the future
– Final goal (which is a fiction, no objective
existence):
• Guides our style of life
• Gives unity to our personality
• Renders our behavior purposeful
– Physical Inferiorities
– All humans born physically inferior
• Need fictions of strength to overcome these
deficiencies
– Serve as an impetus towards perfection
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 Unity of Personality
• Organ Dialect
– The deficient organ expresses the
direction of the individual’s goal
• Conscious and Unconscious
– Are two cooperating parts of the same
unified person

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 Social Interest
• Social Interest: A Force that Binds Society
Together
• Origins of Social Interest
– Potentiality is found in everyone
– Found in Mother-Infant relationship
– Fostered by social environment
• Importance of Social Interest
– Measure of psychological health and maturity
– “The sole criterion of human values” and the
“barometer of normality”

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 Style of Life
• “Style of life” is the term Adler used to
refer to the flavor of a person’s life
– Includes personal goal, self-concept, empathy,
and attitude toward world
– Product of heredity, environment, and creative
power
– Mostly set by 4 or 5 years of age
– Healthy individuals express this through action
and struggle to solve problems of neighborly
love, sexual love, and occupation
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 Creative Power
• Creative power is Adler’s term for an inner
freedom that empowers each person to
create his or her own style of life
– Places one in control of his or her life
– Responsible for one’s final goal
– Determines one’s method of striving
– Contributes to the development of one’s social
interest
• Importance is not endowment but how one
uses this power
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 Abnormal Development
• General Description
• External Factors in Maladjustment
– Exaggerated Physical Deficiencies
– Pampered Style of Life
– Neglected Style of Life
• Safeguarding Tendencies
– Excuses
– Aggression
– Withdrawal
• Masculine Protest

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 Applications of
Individual Psychology
(1) Family Constellation
-1st borns – strong feelings of power and superiority,
overprotective, more anxious
- 2nd born – are likely to have strong social
interest
- Youngest -- pampered, lack of independence
- Only children - have some of the
characteristics of both the oldest and the
youngest child
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(2) Early Recollections
-- templates on which people project their
current style of life
-- they reflect a person's current view of the
world.
•Dreams --provide clues to solving future
problems
•Psychotherapy – ensure social interest
In Summary
 Related Research
• Early Recollections and Career Choice
– Kasler & Nevo (2005)
• Early Childhood and Health-Related Issues
– Belangee (2009)
– Laird and Shelton (2009)
• Early Recollections and Counseling Outcomes
– Savill & Eckstein (1987)
– Statton & Wilborn (1991)

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 Critique of Adler
• Adler’s Theory Is
– High on Generating Research,
Organizing Known Data, and
Guiding Action
– Moderate on Parsimony
– Low on Verification, Falsification,
and Internal Consistency
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 Concept of Humanity
• Very High on Free Choice and
Optimism
• High on Social Factors and Uniqueness
• Average on Unconscious Influences
• Very Low on Causality

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