Adler Flashcards
Alfred Adler and Karen Horney share one thing in common: compensation theory. What does this theory entail?
Revolves around an unfortunate incident that occurred to you in childhood, and you spend the rest of your life trying to compensate for it. That compensation then defines your personality.
What did Adler call his field of psychology?
Individual psychology
What is Adler’s core tendency?
Striving for superiority
True or false: Adler was an ego psychologist.
True. He believed that the ego had energy for its own, not for the id.
What did Adler say about striving for superiority?
He believed that striving to go upwards was a good thing, but in some people the term is misunderstood. While most people want to self-improve, others want to use superiority as a way to make themselves feel more powerful than others.
Where does this “strive” come from?
Some sort of event that occurred in childhood that triggered the strive for superiority
What is “masculine protest”?
A distortion of striving for superiority; people who exhibit this are compensating for an inner feeling of inferiority
What is Adler’s core structure?
Feelings of inferiority
What are the different types of feelings of inferiority?
Organ inferiority
Social inferiority
Psychological inferiority
Universal inferiority
What is organ inferiority?
Physically insecure
What is social inferiority?
Socially insecure
What is psychological inferiority?
Intellectually/emotionally insecure
What is universal inferiority?
An inferiority we all share; at one point, we depended on someone for nurturance, the memory of being helpless
Adler believed that we all recognized our feelings of inferiority at ___ years old, and (for the rest of our lives) we try to compensate for them.
Five
True or false: Any behaviors we adopt to compensate for our inferiority make up our personality.
True
What did Adler call personality types? How are they defined?
Style of life; an individual’s attitudes towards society, work, and love; an individual’s unique but consistent movement toward self-created goals and ideals developed beginning in childhood
How many personality types are there, according to Adler?
Infinity
What did Adler believe about children?
He believed that every child has an inferiority within their family structure (no matter if the child is the oldest, middle, or youngest).
Oldest Child’s inferiority and traits
Inferiority: Dethronement
Traits:
- conservative (maintaining the status quo)
- like to keep routines/traditions
- maintaining power
- socially responsible
- socially oriented
Middle Child’s inferiority and traits
Inferiority: being add-on
Traits:
- ambitious
- competitive
- combative
Youngest child’s inferiority and traits
Inferiority: family “pet”
Traits:
- passivity
- lack of ambition
- set unrealistically high expectations for themselves (which they can’t achieve)
List these in order:
Traits to compensate Fictional final goal Inferiority beliefs Style of life Striving for superiority
Inferiority beliefs Striving for superiority Traits to compensate Style of life Fictional final goal
Which things does the fictional final goal achieve?
1) Sets direction in life
2) Gives meaning to life
3) Compassion for others (empathy)
What are the two mistakes that parents make?
Spoiling and rejection
Why did Adler name it “individual psychology”?
It is an attempt to conceive of a unique human being as an interconnected whole, biologically, philosophically, and psychologically.
What did Adler say about inborn differences in human beings?
The same situations, experiences, and life problems have different meanings for and effects on different people. While recognizing the existence of inborn differences among people, Adler warned against over stressing them: the important thing is “not what one is born with, but what use one makes of that equipment.”
What is social interest?
Individuals’ efforts to develop social feeling
What is superiority complex?
An exaggerated, abnormal form of striving for superiority that involves overcompensation for personal weakness.
What is inferiority complex?
The consequences of an exaggerated, persistent form of inadequacy that is partly explained by a deficiency in social interest.
