The document summarizes key aspects of Alfred Adler's theory of personality. According to Adler, the fundamental motivating force in humans is the striving for superiority or success. He believed people strive for superiority in order to compensate for feelings of inferiority. Adler also thought behavior and personality are shaped by early childhood experiences, particularly birth order and relationships with parents. He saw healthy individuals as motivated primarily by conscious goals and drives rather than unconscious factors.

1. Name: ___________________ Theories of Personality Quiz # 2 Adler
1. Adler believes that dynamic force motivating all human activity is
a. organ dialect
b. a feeling of superiority
c. the striving for superiority or success X
d. inferior physical endowment
2. The tendency toward completion, Adler believed,
a. was a result of birth order
b. was innate but needed to be developed
c. was learned during preadolescence
d. resulted from the masculine protest X not sure
3. Adler believed that people strive for superiority
a. in order to compensate for feelings of inferiority X
b. in order to survive in a competitive society
c. as a means of attaining sexual satisfaction
d. in imitation of parents and other authority figures
4. According to Adler, the behavior of psychologically healthy individual is
a. unmotivated
b. motivated mostly by conscious goals and drives X
c. motivated mostly by unconscious goals and drives
d. motivated by exaggerated feelings of inferiority
5. From an Adlerian perspective,
a. all behavior is inconsistent
b. psychological conflict leads to inconsistent behavior
c. inconsistent behavior serves multiple purposes
d. inconsistent behavior serves a single purpose X (not sure)
6. Adler believed that behavior & personality are shaped by
a. early childhood experiences
b. organ inferiorities
c. subjective perceptions
d. sexual and aggressive impulses
e. birth order X
7. Adler said that all humans are “blessed” at birth with
a. well-developed social interest X

2. b. inferior bodies
c. superior intellect
d. the need to become superior to other people
8. According to Adler, social interest is strongest in people who strive for
a. success X
b. personal gain
c. superiority
d. inferiority
9. Adler held that children who received love and affection from their parents typically develop
a. strong social interest X
b. a pampered style of life
c. a neglected style of life
d. a variety of safeguarding tendencies
e. a parasitic style of life
10. Adler’s notion of moving backward is similar to Freud’s notion of
a. sublimation
b. fixation
c. progression
d. repression
e. regression X
11. Adler believed that the typical second born child
a. develops moderate competitiveness
b. becomes extremely competitive X
c. becomes easily discouraged
d. is fearful of authority
12. Adler believed that dreams
a. are expressions of infantile wishes
b. provide clues for solving future problems (ITO)
c. are prophetic
d. can be easily understood by the dreamer (OR ITO)
13. Which of the following statements best expresses Adler’s concept of humanity?
a. The environment basically determines personality
b. People are by nature good (ITO)
c. Early childhood experiences are the single most important factor in shaping personality (ITO)

3. d. People’s interpretations of experiences are more important than the experiences themselves
14. Unlike other psychiatrists of his time, Adler treated
a. large numbers of schizophrenics
b. mentally retarded children
c. patients without medical insurance
d. large numbers of middle-and-lower-class patients X
15. One of Adler’s strongest beliefs was in
a. the equality of the two sexes** X
b. his Jewish faith
c. his Protestant faith
d. the communist doctrine
Essay: Distinguish between striving for superiority and striving for success.
(BASICALLY they differ from their spelling!) <-Just kidding!
Initially, these two; (striving for superiority and success) develops depending upon how an
individual was brought up by his or her parents. Striving for success develops when an individual
acquired a maladjusted style of life wherein he or she tends to view other people as rivals thus, he or
she seems to be always ahead of them another manifestation of striving for superiority is whenever and
individual is highly inclined in attaining power. Wherein striving for success is a more positive character
of an individual resulting from a well-adjusted style of life. This characteristic allows an individual to a
more of a pro-active type of individual, he or she tends to aims greater things for the benefit of a lot of
people.