4: Adler - Social Interest

Question 1

Adler’s final term for our “single motivating force” - the desire we all have to fulfill our potentials and come closer to our ideal (resembles self-actualization)

Answer 1

striving for perfection

Question 2

earliest Adler term for a “single motivating force” - the reaction we have when other drives (need to eat, finish tasks, be loved, etc.) are frustrated - appears as fighting, competition

Answer 2

aggression drive

Question 3

early Adler term for a “single motivating force” - humans’ drive to overcome problems and inferiorities within themselves, which accounts for the nature of our personalities

Answer 3

compensation

Question 4

early Adler term for a “single motivating force” - capacity for both boys and girls to be strong, aggressive, assertive, “in control” but which is socially encouraged in men and discouraged in women - seeking privileges associated with men

Answer 4

masculine protest

Question 5

early Adler term for a “single motivating force” - desire to be better in our own right as well as better than other people

Answer 5

striving for superiority

Question 6

philosophical approach stating that in order to understand humans, you need to understand them as unified wholes in the context of their physical/social environment, and not just as bits and pieces (on a more physiological level)

Answer 6

holism

Question 7

Adler’s holistic and “undivided” approach to understanding human psychology

Answer 7

individual psychology

Question 8

how one goes about living, addresses problems and handles interpersonal relations - Adler preferred to speak on this then traditional notions of personality

Answer 8

style of life

Question 9

view of motivation as a matter of moving towards the future (goals, purposes, ideals) rather than being driven by the past

Answer 9

teleology

Question 10

title of a book by philosopher Hans Vaihinger - belief that “ultimate truth” is beyond our understand, so we must create “partial truths”

Answer 10

The Philosophy of “As If”

Question 11

“partial truths” described by Hans Vaihinger that we accept “as if” they were true to advance our limited understanding of reality

Answer 11

fictions

Question 12

living our lives “as if” we know tomorrow is guaranteed, we understand right from wrong, everything is as it seems, etc. (ex. believing Heaven or Hell is in your future)

Answer 12

fictional finalism

Question 13

Adler’s concept second in importance to striving for perfection - concerns relationship with larger social world - both inborn and learned, innate but must be nurtured to survive

Answer 13

social interest

Question 14

original term for social interest - means “community feeling”

Answer 14

Gemeinschaftsgefuhl

Question 15

the fact that each of us has weaker and stronger parts of our anatomy/physiology, compensation for weakness leads to strength in a different aspect - a basis for Adler’s theoretical work

Answer 15

organ inferiority

Question 16

internal feelings of weakness due to certain differences in cognitive/physical traits and abilities and beliefs imposed by society (peers, family, etc.)

Answer 16

psychological inferiorities

Question 17

general sense of being “not good enough” in some aspect, developed from combined effects of psychological inferiorities - stagnation of growth because difficulties seem too immense to overcome

Answer 17

inferiority complex

Question 18

mental condition of irrational anxiety, stress, obsession etc. that becomes a “life-size” problem - according to Adler, a result of insufficient social interest

Answer 18

neurosis

Question 19

covering up feelings of inferiority by pretending to be better than everyone else, inflating your own sense of importance - making everyone else feel small

Answer 19

superiority complex

Question 20

work put in by neurotic people to address their negative feelings - high or low

Answer 20

energy

Question 21

type of neurotic person with high energy - tendency to be aggressive and dominant, push over anyone who gets in their way

Answer 21

ruling type

Question 22

type of neurotic person with low energy - sensitive, rely on others to carry them through life (anxiety, OCD, phobias, etc.)

Answer 22

leaning type

Question 23

type of neurotic person with extremely low energy - avoids life and other people almost entirely, may become psychotic and retreat into “inner world”

Answer 23

avoiding type

Question 24

healthy person without neurosis - has both social interest and energy

Answer 24

socially useful type

Question 25

four bodily fluids, the relative presence of which was believed by Greeks to be responsible for four types of neurosis

Answer 25

humors

Question 26

humor resulting from too much yellow bile, with a constant state of anger - parallel to ruling type

Answer 26

choleric

Question 27

humor resulting from too much phlegm, with a constant state of sluggishness - parallel to leaning type

Answer 27

phlegmatic

Question 28

humor resulting from too much “black bile” (not an actual thing), with a constant state of sadness - parallel to avoiding type

Answer 28

melancholy

Question 29

state of friendliness and positivity resulting from relative balance of the humors - parallel to socially useful type

Answer 29

sanguine

Question 30

a fiction that has use in describing certain concepts but does not describe an absolute reality (ex. Adler’s four types)

Answer 30

heuristic device

Question 31

foundation of your personality / style of life that is established around 5 years old

Answer 31

prototype

Question 32

child-raising situation that leads to a faulty lifestyle, in which a child is given anything they please, doesn’t learn to do things for themselves (feels inferior) - takes without giving, only knows how to give commands

Answer 32

pampering

Question 33

child-raising situation that leads to a faulty lifestyle, in which a child is told and shown that they are of no value or not cared about, don’t develop an understanding of love and fail to trust others - may become selfish

Answer 33

neglect

Question 34

child who never has siblings and is more likely to be pampered - parents give special attention to them

Answer 34

only child

Question 35

child who begins life as an only child, but has their position as center of attention dethroned by a second child - more independent and conservative, may become disobedient/rebellious or sullen/withdrawn

Answer 35

first child

Question 36

when a second child usurps the position as center of attention from the first child

Answer 36

dethroning

Question 37

child who views the first child as a “pace-setter” and model - becomes competitive, constantly wants to “surpass” first child

Answer 37

second child

Question 38

child likely to be the most pampered in a family with multiple children, only one who is never dethroned - may feel inferior due to older age, greater maturity of siblings

Answer 38

youngest child

Question 39

supposed first recollection from life that’s viewed in Adler’s therapy more as an indication of the early prototype for your lifestyle

Answer 39

earliest childhood memory

Question 40

a concern for your community, a need to be with others, and a need to work with and for others

Answer 40

social feelings