Chapter 2: Individual Psychology Flashcards
“an abnormal individual driven mad by ambition”. Said by
Freud
Overview of Individual Psychology: People as being motivated mostly by ________ and by their __________.
social influences, striving for superiority or success
Are usually aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it.
Psychologically Healthy People
In 1911, who was then president of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society,
Adler
The one dynamic force behind people’s behavior.
striving for success or superiority.
People’s _____ shape their behavior and personality.
subjective perceptions
is unified and self-consistent
Personality
The value of all human activity must be seen from the viewpoint of _____.
social interest.
Self-consistent personality structure develops into _____.
person’s style of life
Style of life is molded by
people’s creative power
Adler reduced all motivation to a single drive of striving for _____.
success or superiority
_____ activate feelings of inferiority—feelings that motivate a person to strive for either superiority or success.
Physical deficiencies
Psychologically unhealthy individuals strive for
personal superiority
Psychologically healthy people seek
success for all humanity
Adler believed that was the dynamic power behind all motivation, but he soon became dissatisfied with this term.
aggression
After rejecting aggression as a single motivational force, Adler used the term which implied will to power or a
masculine protest
Regardless of the motivation for striving, each individual is guided by a strive toward either personal superiority or the goal of success for all humankind.
a final goal
However, the goal is neither genetically nor environmentally determined. Rather, it is the product of the people’s ability to freely shape their behavior and create their own personalities.
creative power
It reduces the pain of inferiority feelings and points that person in the direction of either superiority or success.
Final goal
If children feel neglected or pampered, their goal remains largely ________
unconscious
Adler used the analogy of the ______ who builds the characteristics and the subplots of the play according to the final goal of the drama
playwright
The Striving Force as _____ is when people strive for superiority or success as a means of compensation for feelings of inferiority or weakness.
Compensation
is an individualized concept and all people formulate their own definition of it.
Success
It is swayed by the forces of heredity and environment, it is ultimately responsible for people’s personality
creative power
It establishes the potentiality, whereas environment contributes to the development of social interest and courage.
Heredity
In his final theory, Adler identified two general avenues of striving
- socially nonproductive = personal superiority
2. social interest = success or perfection for everyone.
Some people strive for superiority with little or no concern for others. Their goals are personal ones, and their strivings are motivated largely by exaggerated feelings of personal inferiority, or the presence of an inferiority complex.
Striving for Personal Superiority
Striving for _____ is in contrast to people who strive for personal gain are those psychologically healthy people who are motivated by social interest and the success of all humankind.
Success
People strive for superiority or success to compensate for feelings of inferiority, but the manner in which they strive is not shaped by reality but by their subjective perceptions of reality, that is, by their fictions, or expectations of the future.
Subjective Perceptions
Our most important fiction is the goal of superiority or success, a goal we created early in life and may not clearly understand. This subjective, guides our style of life, gives unity to our personality.
Fictionalism
Adler insisted that the whole human race is “blessed” with ____________. These physical handicaps have little or no importance by themselves but become meaningful when they stimulate subjective feelings of inferiority, which serve as an impetus toward perfection or completion.
organ inferiorities
The body’s organs “speak a language which is usually more expressive and discloses the individual’s opinion more clearly than words are able to do
Organ Dialect
The second example of a _______ is the harmony between conscious and unconscious actions.
Unified Personality
_____ thoughts are those that are understood and regarded by the individual as helpful in striving for success, whereas unconscious thoughts are those that are not helpful
Conscious
_____ is Adler’s somewhat misleading translation of his original German term, Gemeinschaftsgefühl.
A better translation might be “social feeling” or “community feeling,” but Gemeinschaftsgefühl actually has a meaning that is not fully expressed by any English word or phrase
Social Interest
_____ can be defined as an attitude of relatedness with humanity in general as well as an empathy for each member of the human community. It manifests itself as cooperation with others for social advancement rather than for personal gain.
Social interest
_____ is rooted as potentiality in everyone, but it must be developed before it can contribute to a useful style of life.
It originates from the mother-child relationship during the early months of infancy.
Social interest
_____ was Adler’s yardstick for measuring psychological health and is thus “the sole criterion of human values”.
Social interest
A wealthy woman may regularly give large sums of money to the poor and needy, not because she feels a oneness with them, but, quite to the contrary, because she wishes to maintain a separateness from them. The gift implies,
“You are inferior, I am superior, and this charity is proof of
my superiority.”
_____ is the term Adler used to refer to the flavor of a person’s life. It includes a person’s goal, self-concept, feelings for others, and attitude toward the world.
It is the product of the interaction of heredity, environment, and a person’s creative power
Style of Life
Each person, Adler believed, is empowered with the freedom to create her or his own style of life. Ultimately, all people are responsible for who they are and how they behave.
Creative Power
Their __________ places them in control of their own lives, is responsible for their final goal, determines their method of striving for that goal, and contributes to the development of social
Creative Power
_____ is a dynamic concept implying movement, and this movement is the most salient characteristic of life. All psychic life involves movement toward a goal, movement with a direction.
Creative Power
People, however, are much more than a product of _____.
heredity and environment
Adler used an interesting analogy, which he called _______. When approaching the _______, you are neither compelled to stoop nor forced to bump your head. You have a creative power that permits you to follow either course
“the law of the low doorway”
According to Adler, the one factor underlying all types of maladjustments is an underdeveloped social interest.
Abnormal Development
Besides lacking social interest, ______ tend to (1) set their goals too high, (2) live in their own private world, and (3) have a rigid and dogmatic style of life
neurotics
Whether congenital or the result of injury or disease, are not sufficient to lead to maladjustment. They must be accompanied by accentuated feelings of inferiority.
Exaggerated physical deficiencies
Style of Life: people have weak social interests but a strong desire to perpetuate the pampered, parasitic relationship they originally had with one or both of their parents. They see the world with a private vision and believe that they are entitled to be first in everything
Pampered Style of Life
Style of Life: Children who feel unloved and unwanted are likely to borrow heavily from these feelings in creating a neglected style of life.
Neglected Style of Life
Adler believed that people create patterns of behavior to protect their exaggerated sense of self-esteem against public disgrace. These protective devices, called ___________, enable people to hide their inflated self-image and to maintain their current style of life
safeguarding tendencies
Freudian defense mechanisms operate unconsciously to protect the ego against anxiety, whereas Adlerian safeguarding tendencies are largely _____.
conscious and shield a person’s fragile self-esteem from public disgrace
Also, Freud’s defense mechanisms are common to everyone, but Adler discussed safeguarding tendencies only with reference to the construction of _____.
neurotic symptoms
Safeguarding Tendencies: The most common of the safeguarding tendencies are _, which are typically expressed in the “Yes, but” or “If only” format.
Excuses
Adler held that some people use aggression to safeguard their exaggerated superiority complex, that is, to protect their fragile self-esteem.
Aggression
_____ is the tendency to undervalue other people’s achievements and to overvalue one’s own. This safeguarding tendency is evident in such aggressive behaviors as criticism and gossip
“The only reason Kenneth got the job I applied for is because he is an African American”
“If you look closely, you’ll notice that Jill works hardest at avoiding work”
Depreciation
The second form of an aggressive safeguarding device, is the tendency to blame others for one’s failures and to seek revenge, thereby safeguarding one’s own tenuous self-esteem.
“I feel distressed because I wasn’t nicer to my grandmother while she was still living. Now, it’s
too late”.
Accusation
The third form of neurotic aggression, ________, is marked by self-torture and guilt. Some people use self-torture, including masochism, depression, and suicide, as means of hurting people who are close to them. Guilt is often aggressive, self-accusatory behavior.
self-accusation
Safeguarding Tendencies: Personality development can be halted when people run away from difficulties. Adler referred to this tendency as _______, or safeguarding through distance
withdrawal
Withdrawal: is the tendency to safeguard one’s fictional goal of superiority by psychologically reverting to a more secure period of life. Similar to Freud’s concept of regression in that both involve attempts to return to earlier, more comfortable phases of life
Moving backward
Withdrawal: Psychological distance can also be created by _______. This withdrawal tendency is similar to moving backward but, in general, it is not as severe.
standing still
Withdrawal: Closely related to standing still is _______. Some people hesitate or vacillate when faced with difficult problems. Their procrastinations eventually give them the excuse “It’s too late now”.
hesitating
Withdrawal: The least severe of the withdrawal safeguarding tendencies is _________. Some people build a straw house to show that they can knock it down
constructing obstacles
In contrast to Freud, Adler believed that the psychic life of women is essentially the same as that of men and that a male-dominated society is not natural but rather an artificial product of historical development.
Masculine Protest
Applications of Individual Psychology:
- Family Constellation
- Early Recollections
- Dreams
- Psychotherapy
Family Constellation: are likely to have intensified feelings of power and superiority, high anxiety, and overprotective tendencies. Experiencing a traumatic dethronement when a sibling is born.
Firstborn children
If firstborn children are less than ___ years old, their hostility and resentment will be largely unconscious, which makes these attitudes more resistant to change in later life.
3
Family Constellation: begin life in a better situation for developing cooperation and social interest.
secondborn children
If this attitude is one of extreme hostility and vengeance, the second child may become highly
competitive or overly discouraged
If some success is achieved, the middleborn child is likely to develop a _____ attitude and feel that any authority can be challenged.
revolutionary
Family Constellation: Adler believed, are often run a high risk of being problem children. They are likely to have strong feelings of inferiority and to lack a sense of independence. They are often highly motivated to exceed older siblings and to become the best.
Youngest children
Family Constellation: are in a unique position of competing, not against brothers and sisters, but against father and mother
Only children
Applications of Individual Psychology: To gain an understanding of patients’ personality, Adler would ask them to reveal their _____.
Early Recollections
Applications of Individual Psychology: Any interpretation of or any dream must be tentative and open to ______
reinterpretation
Applications of Individual Psychology: Adler applied the
golden rule of individual psychology to dream work, namely _________. If one interpretation doesn’t feel right, try another.
“Everything can be different”
Applications of Individual Psychology: results from lack of courage, exaggerated feelings of inferiority, and underdeveloped social interest.
Psychopathology
Applications of Individual Psychology: Thus, the chief purpose of Adlerian psychotherapy is to (3)
enhance courage, lessen feelings of inferiority, and encourage social interest
Applications of Individual Psychology: Through the use of ______________, Adler tried to increase the patient’s courage, self-esteem, and social interest
humor and warmth
Adlerian Related Research: Adler’s theory of inferiority, superiority, and social feeling can be applied to explain health-related behaviors such as
eating disorders and binge drinking
Adlerian Related Research: According to Susan Belangee, dieting, overeating, and bulimia can be viewed as common ways of expressing _____________
inferiority feelings
Adlerian Related Research: Consistent with Adlerian theory, this finding indicates that when counseling is successful, patients change their
early recollections
