Ch. 3 Individual Psychology Flashcards
individual psychology
(Adler) optimistic approach
- emphasizes social interest
- people motivated by social influences
- people responsible for who they are
- behavior shaped by view of future
- behavior based on goals for personal superiority or social success
- conscious = important
**think SOCIAL
tenets of individual psychology
1) strive for success is the force behind behavior
2) subjective perceptions shape behavior
3) personality is unified and self-consistent
4) value of all activity from social interest perspective
5) personality structure becomes one’s style of life, which is molded by creative power
striving
final goal of behavior
compensation (esp. in those w/ physical deficiencies)
for personal superiority
for success
key concepts of subjective perception
fictionalism
physical inferiorities
serve as impetus (force) toward perfection
fictionalism
(subjective perception) a final goal, which is a fiction, that guides our style of life
- gives unity to our personality
- renders our behavior purposeful
**heaven is a fiction (cannot be physically proven) but acts as a guide to life and makes life purposeful
physical inferiorities
(subjective perception) all humans are born physically inferior
- need fictions of strengths to overcome these deficiencies
key concepts of unity of personality
organ dialect
conscious and unconscious
organ dialect
(unity of personality) a deficient organ/health problem expresses the direction of the individual’s goals unconsciously
**a man is sterile b/c he is unconsciously afraid of having children
**w/ many deadlines coming up, a person starts having migraines – the migraines give him sympathy from coworkers and perhaps an extension date
unified personality
function of harmony between conscious and unconscious processes aimed toward a single goal
social interest
a force that binds society together
- measures psychic health and maturity
**key concept of individual psychology
origins of social interest
potentially found in everyone
found in mother-infant relationships
fostered by social environment
style of life
“flavor of a person’s life”
a person’s individuality that expresses itself in any circumstance or environment
- product of heredity, environment and creative power
includes:
- personal goal
- self-concept
- empathy
- attitude toward the world
ways to express style of life
action/struggle to solve problems of neighborly love, sexual love and occupation
creative power
“freewill”
an inner freedom that empowers each person to create his or her own style of life
- regardless of birth, physical deficiencies (heredity)
**it’s not what we’re given but how we use what we’re given
types of abnormal development
lack of social interest
external factors in maladjustment
safeguarding tendencies
