Exam 1_Adler & Horney Flashcards
How did Adler’s upbringing contribute to his theory?
His weak physique and feelings of inferiority during childhood led to his theory. Being the second born of six children led to his interest in birth order constellation
What fuels inferiority and how does inferiority influence personality?
Feelings of helpless can lead to the inferiority complex in children and striving for perfection. People must have roles in society to not feel rejected. Perfection is the purpose in life.
What did Adler mean about superiority?
Superiority is being “complete”. You can either take the destructive path and dominate over others or the constructive path and improve yourself.
What is social interest?
The urge in humans to adapt to conditions of the social environment. It is NOT automatic and must be nurtured or a person will become antisocial.
Explain the “As-if” idea and how it influences personality.
Proposed that humans willingly accept falsehoods or fictions in order to live peacefully in an irrational world. Adler believed that people strive for “imagined Ideals” or guiding self-ideal that would make them a better person.
What did Adler say about personal superiority and competition?
Personal superiority is seeing others as enemies or obstacles in a path that must be removed, destroyed, or overcome. Competition can lead to cut-throat tactics of personal destruction of others that are rivals or are seen as in the way.
What are Fictions and Finalisms?
Fictions: Guiding ideas that moves us “up” in the world (sort of like scripts). Beliefs that a person hold as true but no way to prove it. (Heaven and hell, all men are created equal)
Finalism: Human behavior is guided by goals of future perfection (not past events).
Name the 4 styles of life to gain perfection, their function or purpose and how they differ.
Ruling: Lacks social interest and courage. Uses aggressive and dominating behavior toward personal superiority. They need power and control over others to feel significant. (Drug addicts, politicians, antisocials, mafia)
Leaning: Gets what they want, passive and makes little effort to solve their own problems. They are dependent on people.
Socially useful: The healthy person who has both social interest and energy. Without energy, you can’t do anything or anyone.
Avoiding: Lowest level of energy. They survive by avoiding others. When limits are pushed, they become psychotic and eventually retreat into their own personal worlds.
What role does birth order play on personality development?
Only child: Pampered, little social skill.
Oldest: more intelligent, achievement-oriented, conforming, power-hungry.
Second oldest: ambitious, competitive, try to catch up but not power-hungry.
Last-born: pampered, may feel helpless. Strives to become better than siblings.
According to Horney, how does a “hyper-competitive” society influence the personality?
Parents’ hyper-competitiveness with other members of society leads to unkept promises, indifference, lack of warmth, lack of respect for the needs of children.
This creates basic anxiety of loneliness, helplessness, and dread of social interaction
What is basic anxiety and basic evil?
Basic Evil: anything that causes insecurity in children that can lead to repressed hostility like overprotection, parental discord, isolation, and disrespect.
Neurotic Needs: Children use defenses to provide temporary relief from pain and feelings abandonment; which makes them feel safe.
Explain Horney’s neurotic trends of compliance, hostility, detachment.
Compliance: Need for affection, approval, for a partner to control their life, structured lives (military, school). Need to be liked, wanted, loved, appreciated, and guided by others.
Hostile or aggressive: Need for power, social recognition, admiration, achievement. These people believe the strong conquer the weak, and only the fit survive. The primary aim is to appear tough.
Detached: Shroud self in secrecy, work-eat-sleep alone to avoid being disturbed, will fight for beliefs to maintain integrity; but tend to be self-defeating
What is the difference between idealized and real self?
Idealized self: Who we should be (A genius, hero, god)
Real self: Who we are
People can lose touch with real self and perceptions become distorted.
Explain the Tyranny of Should concept.
“I should be doing this”. “Should” leads to ways to be perfect. People create false needs based on ideals. This superhuman complex is a way of achieving ideals and fending off insecurities.
