Chapter 3- Adler Flashcards
What is the Individual Psychology Theory?
an optimistic view of people that rests heavily on the notion of social interest
How do people attempt to compensate and overcome the feelings of inferiority?
By striving for either success or superiority
What do psychologically unhealthy people strive for? What are their strivings motivated by?
personal superiority; an inferiority complex
What do psychologically healthy people strive for?
success (for all humanity)
What are fictions?
people’s expectations for the future; ideas that have no real existence yet they still influence behavior
How might physical inferiorities shape behavior?
they push people toward perfection/completion
T/F according to Adler, human behaviors are toward multiple purposes
false, he believed that all behaviors are directed toward a single purpose
What are 2 ways in which a person operates with self-consistency?
- organ dialect
2. conscious and unconscious
What is organ dialect? Give an example
when a deficient organ or body part expresses the direction of an individual’s specific goal
ex. a man whose goal is sympathy; he may use his arthritis to gain sympathy from others by saying stuff like “you can’t expect me to do manual work”
How did Adler differ from Freud in his view of the conscious and unconscious?
Adler saw them as 2 cooperating parts of the same system, rather than antagonists
What is social interest?
a feeling of oneness with all humanity
How is social interest formed?
through a social environment/parent-child relationships
What is one’s style of life?
the flavor of a person’s life, including a person’s goal, self-concept, feelings for others, and attitude toward the world
A psychologically healthy person’s style of life is____?
flexible, meaning they continually seek to create new options for themselves
What is creative power?
a person’s ability to freely choose a course of action
What is the one factor underlying all types of maladjustments?
underdeveloped social interest
What are some external factors in maladjustment?
- exaggerated physical deficiencies
- a pampered style of life
- a neglected style of life
What are the 3 safeguarding tendencies?
- excuses
- aggression
- withdrawal
What are the 3 forms of aggression (safeguarding tendency)?
- deprecation- undervaluing other’s achievements and overvaluing your own
- accusation- blame others for your failures
- self-accusation- self torture and guilt
What are the 4 forms of withdrawal (safeguarding tendency)?
- moving backwards
- standing still
- hesitating
- constructing obstacles
Give an example of “standing still”
If you don’t apply to college, you can’t be rejected
What is masculine protest?
overemphasizing the desirability of being manly
What is “moving backwards”?
psychologically reverting to a more secure period of life
what is “hesitating”?
procrastinating until you can give the excuse of “oh noooo it’s too late now :/ “
describe “constructing obstacles”
building your own obstacles so you can overcome them and seem really cool for doing so B)
describe Adler’s relation to Freud
they were besties for a bit but then Freud (being the narcissist he is) was like ew I don’t like your theory, so Adler was like bye bitch, they didn’t like each other much after the breakup
describe Adler’s childhood and how it may have influenced his theories
so Adler was pretty weak growing up while his brother wasn’t, which gave him an inferiority complex which he theorized about later in life
what was Adler’s core idea?
children are small, weak, and dependent, which leads to feelings of inferiority, which leads to social interest
According to Adler, what are the 3 major problems in life that can only be solved through social interest?
neighborly love, work, and sexual love
