1) Alfred Adler developed Individual Psychology, which views people as motivated by social influences and a striving for superiority rather than by sex and aggression as Freud believed. 2) Adler saw personality as shaped more by the future than the past and people as usually aware of their behavior and reasons for it rather than driven by unconscious forces. 3) Individual Psychology presents an optimistic view of human nature and potential.

1. Individual Psychology:
Adler’s Theory of Personality
PSY136 – Personality 1

2. Freud and Adler
• Man is motivated by • Man is motivated by
Sex and Aggression. social influences &
striving for superiority.
• People have no choice • People are largely
in shaping their responsible for who
personality. they are.
• Present behavior is • Present behavior is
caused by the past. shaped by the future.
• Emphasis on the • People are usually
unconscious. aware of what they are
doing and why.

3. Individual Psychology
• Presents an optimistic view of people.
• People are born with weak, inferior bodies,
that lead to dependence on other people.
• Social interest – feeling of oneness with
humanity, is inherent in all individuals.

4. Alfred Adler - Biography
• Born February 7, 1870
• Sickly child, led to his ambition to be a doctor
• Considered childhood as an unhappy experience.
• Resented an older brother, Mother’s favorite.
• Pursued medicine at the University of Vienna.
• Opthalmology, General Practice, Psychiatry
• 1902 – First Association with Freud

5. Alfred Adler - Biography
• 1907 – Paper on Organ Inferiority and
Compensation
• 1911 – Break from Freud, established SOCIETY
FOR FREE PSYCHOANALYTIC RESEARCH
• Eventually led to Individual Psychology
• Interest in Child Psychology and Guidance in
Schools.

6. Alfred Adler - Biography
• Experience in WWI led to his ideas of social
interest (Army Doctor)
• Went to the United States in 1934 to escape
Nazi Persecution.
• Lectured in various parts of the US and
abroad.
• Died of a heart attack while on a lecture tour
in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1937.

7. Individual Psychology
1. The one dynamic force behind people’s behavior is the
striving for success or superiority.
2. People’s subjective perceptions shape their behavior &
personality.
3. Personality is unified and self- consistent.
4. The value of all human activity must be seen from the
viewpoint of social interest.
5. The self- consistent personality structure develops into a
person’s style of life.
6. Style of life is molded by people’s creative power.

8. Striving for Success or Superiority
• Single drive of motivation
• Physical deficiencies activate feelings of inferiority.
• Psychologically unhealthy individuals strive for
personal superiority. (Superiority)
• Psychologically healthy individuals seek success for all
humanity. (Success)
• Guided by a Final Goal
• Acts of Compensation

9. The Final Goal
• Fictional
• No objective existence
• Unifies personality
• Renders all behaviors
comprehensible
• Unconscious for neglected or
pampered children.
• Conscious for children who
experienced love and security.

10. Subjective Perceptions
• Fictions – expectations of the future
• Goal of superiority or success
• Teleology – explanation of behavior in terms
of its final purpose or aim.
• Physical deficiencies serve
an impetus toward perfection
or completion.

11. Unity and Self- Consistency in Personality
• Each person is unique and indivisible.
• Inconsistent behavior do not exist.
• All actions are directed at a single goal
and serve a single purpose.
– Organ Dialect – speaks a language
– Harmony between Conscious and
Unconscious Actions –
dichotomous nature

12. Social Interest
• Membership in a social community of all
people.
• Attitude of relatedness
• Empathy for each member of the community.
• For social advancement rather than personal
gain.
• Fruits of early social environment
• Sole criterion of human values

13. Style of Life
• Flavor of a person’s life
• Includes a person’s goal, self- concept, feelings for
others, and attitude towards the world.
• Fairly established by age 4 or 5.
• Unhealthy individuals = rigid Style Of Life
• Healthy individuals = flexible Style Of Life
• Problems: Neighbourly love, sexual
love, and Occupation
• Means: cooperation, courage, and
willingness to contribute to another

14. Creative Power
• Implies movement toward a goal, and
direction.
• Enables people to be in control of their lives.
• It makes each person a free individual.

15. Abnormal Development
• Due to underdeveloped social interest.
– Setting goals too high
– Living in their own private world
– Rigid and dogmatic style of life

16. External Factors
• Exaggerated Physical
Deficiencies
– Exaggerated feelings of
inferiority
– Overcompensation for
their inadequacy
– Results in narcissism
and lack of
consideration for
others.

17. External Factors
• Pampered Style of Life
– Weak social interest
– Maintains parasitic
relationship with other
people.
– Feelings of being
unloved because their
parents have done
everything for them.

18. External Factors
• Neglected Style of Life
– Low self- confidence
– Overestimating
difficulties
– Distrust
– Refusal to cooperate
– Strong sense of envy
and hostility

19. Safeguarding Tendencies
• Compared to Freud’s Defense Mechanisms.
• Largely conscious
• Protects self- esteem from public disgrace
• Includes Excuses, Aggression, & Withdrawal

20. Excuses
• People state what they claim they would like
to do, that others will like, then follow it up
with an excuse.
• Protects a weak sense of self- worth and
deceive people into believing they are more
superior than they really are.

21. Aggression
• Depreciation
– Undervaluing other people’s achievement and
overvaluing one’s own.
• Accusation
– Tendency to blame others and seek revenge.
• Self- accusation
– Self- torture or guilt
– People devalue themselves to inflict suffering on
others.

22. Withdrawal
• Running away from difficulties
• Safeguarding through distance
– Moving backward (reverting to a secure period of
life
– Standing still (avoiding responsibilities)
– Hesitating (vaccillation, procrastinations)
– Constructing obstacles (creating problems or
trials)

23. Masculine Protest
• Overemphasis on the importance of being
manly.
• Resulting from cultural and social influences.
• Women want the same things that men have.

24. Applications of Individual Psychology
• Family Constellation
– Birth order, gender of siblings, age spread
• Early Recollections
– Consistent with a person’s style of life
– reflects patterns of one’s life
• Dreams
– May present inconsistencies
• Psychotherapy
– Enhance courage, lessen feelings of inferiority,
and encourage social interest

25. Birth Order – Oldest Child
Positive Traits Negative Traits
• Nurturing and protective • Highly anxious
• Exaggerated feelings of
power
• Unconscious hostility
• Fights for acceptance
• Must always be right
• Highly critical of others
• uncooperative

26. Birth Order – Second Child
Positive Traits Negative Traits
• Highly motivated • Highly competitive
• Cooperative • Easily discouraged
• Moderately cooperatine

27. Birth Order – Youngest Child
Positive Traits Negative Traits
• Realistically ambitious • Pampered
• Dependent
• Wants to excel in
everything
• Unrealistically ambitious

28. Birth Order – Only Child
Positive Traits Negative Traits
• Socially mature • Exaggerated superiority
• Low cooperation
• Inflated sense of self
• Pampered style of life

29. Critique
• Adler’s Theory Is
– High on Generating Research,
Organizing Known Data, and Guiding
Action
– Moderate on Parsimony
– Low on Verification, Falsification,
and Internal Consistency