1. Alfred Adler
1870 –1937

2. Alfred Adler

3. •First
member of the psychoanalytic group to
break with Freud
•Developed his own society, own journal, new
approach – individual psychology
•The word individual means ‘undivided’- Adler
stressed the importance of seeing people as
wholes as opposed to a series of parts
Major Contributions…

4.  1.Style of Life
 2. Striving for Superiority
 3.
Parental Influence on Personality
Development
 4. Birth Order
Major Contributions

5. 1. Style of Life

6.  Refers to how you live your life, handle
problems and interpersonal relations.
 Nowadays called LIFESTYLE!
 Developed a typology to illustrate
characteristics under different styles of
life.
Style of Life

7.  Getting/Leaning: selfish, no give-just take.
Anti-social with low activity levels
 Avoiding: hate being defeated. May be
successful but without risks. Low social
contact, fear of rejection/defeat.
 Ruling/Dominant: Strive for power; willing
to manipulate. Prone to anti-social behaviour
 Socially Useful: very outgoing and active.
Lots of social contact, strive for the good.
Adler’s Four types of Style of Life

8. 2. STRIVING FOR
SUPERIORITY

9.  Life begins with a sense of inferiority.
 This perception of inferiority = lifelong struggle
to overcome such feelings: striving for
superiority.
 Believed striving for superiority was THE
motivating force in life.
Striving for Superiority

10.  “I began to see clearly in every
psychological phenomenon the striving for
superiority. It runs parallel to physical
growth and is an intrinsic necessity of life
itself. It lies at the root of all solutions of
life’s problems. All our functions follow its
direction”
Adler, in Ansbacher&Ansbacher, 1956, p.103

11.  Adler argued that the MORE we perceive
ourselves to be inferior, the stronger our
superiority striving might be.
WHY?

12.  Adler believed the well-adjusted person expresses
the striving for superiority through concern for the
social interest.
The well adjusted

13.  Reflects his strong belief that humans are social creatures
 Believed people can be motivated by positive social urges, an
innate instinct which makes community gain a higher priority
than personal gain, where people lower their own needs for
the greater good.
 Potential is innate, but needs proper nurturance/ guidance
 Believed that marital conflict, unloving relationship etc
hindered development of social interest
 According to Adler, a person’s degree of social interest
indicates their psychological health
SOCIAL INTEREST

14.  Superiority complex
 Inferiority complex
 Compensation.
Other Responses to inferiority

15.  These people are poorly adjusted and
expresses through selfishness and a concern
for personal glory at the expense of others.
Superiority complex

16.  A belief that one is so inferior to everyone else that
the reaction is helplessness rather than motivation
to establish superiority.
 Primary inferiority: the original, normal feeling e.g.
physiological difficulties, obstacles
 Secondary inferiority: feelings of insufficiency from
adopting an unrealistically
high/impossible compensatory
goal – perfection
 It is a NEUROSIS
Inferiority Complex

17.  Adler also stresses on the concepts of
compensation and overcompensation:
the pursuit of activities that are designed
to make up or overcome the inferiority.
COMPENSATION/OVERCOMPENSA
TION

18. 3. PARENTAL
INFLUENCES

19.  Adler placed great emphasis on the role of
parents in the formation of personality.
 Two types almost certain to lead to problems:
 Pampering
 Neglect
Parental Influence

20.  Too much attention and overprotection.
 Robs the child of independence  stronger
feelings of inferiority  basis for adult neurosis.
 How to avoid: allow children to be
independent, make a few of their own choices
and mistakes.
Pampering

21.  Children who are not given enough
attention.
 According to Adler, they will grow up cold
and suspicious of others.
 Incapable of developing strong
interpersonal relationships  inability to
love
Neglect

22. 4. ROLE OF BIRTH
ORDER

23.  First psychologist to outline a theory on the role of
birth order in personality development.
 First child = much parental attention and
pampering.
 Second child = first born ‘dethroned’ and attention is
shared.
 First born = problem children, neurotics
criminals, drunkards and perverts
 Middle child = strong superiority striving to surpass
older sibling.
 Last borns= spoiled by all members.
Dependent, strong feelings of inferiority.
BIRTH ORDER

24.  Scientific?
 How do we measure striving for success?
Inferiority complexes?
 Too anecdotal – does not have generality
CRITICISMS