Module 3 1A Flashcards
Psychodynamic Approaches: Alfred Adler
Unconscious Processes: Emphasis on unconscious motives and needs.
Early Experiences: Focus on childhood shaping personality.
Mental Representations: Role of mental images in influencing goals and behaviors.
Emotions: Connection between emotions, motivations, and behavior.
Ego Growth: Focus on ego development and individual agency.
Social/Cultural Influences: Recognition of social and cultural impacts on personality.
People who worked with Sigmund Freud eventually developed their own distinct
theoretical approaches.
Freudian Theory:
Dominant in the USA, focused on sex, aggression, and repressed memories.
Deterministic: Early life shapes later symptoms.
Challenges:
Alfred Adler: Emphasized free will, individual agency, and social influences.
Women in Psychoanalysis: Criticized Freud’s views on women and developed new theories.
Psychodynamic Approach:
Redefined unconscious mind.
Adler:
Focused on free will, ego growth, and social factors.
Cognitive Approaches:
Focused on memory, motivation, and individual agency.
Carl Jung:
Similar to Adler, focused on ego growth and agency.
Alfred Adler:
Viennese physician influenced by Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams.
Joined and later resigned from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society due to disagreements with Freud.
Had a difficult childhood with illness and rivalry with his older brother.
Created Individual Psychology after breaking with Freud.
- Freud’s “The Interpretation of Dreams”:
- Made Freud famous, exploring the unconscious and dream symbolism.
- Similarities in Early Life (Freud & Adler):
- Both had impactful early life experiences that shaped their theories.
- Adler’s Early Life:
- Struggled with health issues, including pneumonia and near-death experiences.
- Motivated by a desire to “conquer death”, which led him to pursue a career in medicine.
- Adler’s Theory - Individual Psychology:
- Emphasized individual agency, goal-setting, and personal growth in understanding personality.
- Focused on how people strive for superiority and overcome life challenges.
Additional: Childhood Influence: Adler’s feelings of being “small and ugly” likely shaped his personality theory.
Freud-Adler Break: After their split, Freud criticized Adler for simplifying psychoanalysis.
Adler in the U.S.: Moved to the U.S. in 1935, where his Individual Psychology gained followers.
Adler’s Individual Psychology:
Striving for Superiority: Key force behind behavior.
Subjective Perceptions: Shape behavior and personality.
Unified Personality: Consistent and unified.
Social Interest: Human activity viewed socially.
Style of Life: Unique personality development. or textbook: (A person’s unique way of living, shaped by goal, self-concept, and social interest. Developed by age 4-5, can be flexible or rigid).
Creative Power: Shapes one’s style of life.
Socially Nonproductive vs. Productive Striving:
Nonproductive: Striving for personal gain (self-centered, ego-driven).
Productive: Striving for social success (concern for humanity, cooperation with others).
Adler’s Approach:
Delivery: Primarily through lectures.
Freud vs. Adler:
Both studied motivation, but Adler focused on striving for superiority not past experiences.
Key Ideas:
Striving for Superiority: Main driver of behavior.
Subjective Perceptions: Shape personality.
Unified Personality: Consistent self-structure.
Social Interest: Healthy development through connection.
Style of Life: Self-created patterns.
Creative Power: People shape their lives.
Other Concepts:
Hysteria: Acknowledged in development.
Conscious Goals: Focus on goal-setting.
Differences Between Adler and Freud:
Freud’s Views:
Motivation comes from evolutionary drives (sex, aggression).
Limited choice in shaping personality.
Past experiences shape present behavior.
Heavy focus on the unconscious.
Adler’s Views:
Motivation stems from social influences and striving for superiority.
People are responsible for shaping their own personality.
Future goals shape present behavior.
Psychologically healthy people are aware of their actions and motivations.
Third point for Adler’s views: Future focus (striving after goals)
Adler’s Striving for Success or Superiority:
Core Motivation: Striving for superiority/success originates from childhood feelings of inferiority.
Healthy vs. Unhealthy Strivings:
Unhealthy: Focus on personal superiority.
Healthy: Focus on social interest and collective success.
Final Goal: A personal, constructed goal that unifies personality and guides behavior.
Goal Development: Set by age 4-5, shaped by early experiences (love/security vs. neglect).
Preliminary Goals: People pursue unconscious goals that form a consistent pattern.
Adler’s Key Concepts (Concise):
Striving for Superiority:
Unhealthy: Personal gain.
Healthy: Success for all.
Compensation:
Overcome weaknesses by developing strengths.
Inferiority Complex:
Excessive inferiority leads to stagnation.
Worldview:
Meaning is created from early experiences and future goals.
Lifestyle & Social Interest:
Healthy lifestyles focus on societal good.
Creative Self:
People shape their own meaning and destiny.
Motivating Factors: Striving for superiority drives behavior (similar to Freud).
Inferiority: Feelings of inferiority push for autonomy and growth.
Defense Mechanisms: Freud: Anxiety protection; Adler: Overcoming inferiority.
Healthy vs Unhealthy: Unhealthy: Superiority over others; Healthy: Growth to help others.
Fiction: Goals are acted on as if real; inferiority faced by 4-5 years old.
Criticism: Inferiority is vague; neglect may cause inferiority, but non-neglected kids may lack autonomy.
Striving for Superiority: Compensation for inferiority or weakness.
Inferiority Complex: When inferiority overwhelms, leading to overcompensation.
Overcompensation: Striving for personal superiority, sometimes masking selfishness as concern for others.
Striving for Superiority: A continuum, can cause anxiety, leading to compensation.
Inferiority: People compensate for perceived deficiencies (e.g., comparing to others).
Adler vs. Freud: Adler focuses on compensation; Freud on unconscious drives.
Behavior: Striving reflects feelings of inferiority.
Style of Life: A unique, freely chosen framework shaped by early experiences, set by age 4-5.
Creative Power: Individuals shape their destiny by striving for goals, creating meaning.
Flexibility: Style of life evolves, though early influences are strong.
Subjective Perceptions/Fictions: People are driven by beliefs or expectations (fictions) about the future, which shape their current behavior.
Teleology vs. Causality: Unlike Freud’s view that behavior is caused by unconscious forces, Adler believed behavior is motivated by its purpose or aim (teleology).
Influence of Fictionalism: Adler’s concept is influenced by Hans Vaihinger, who suggested that people act as if certain beliefs (even if untrue) are real, guiding their actions and decisions.
Social Interest: Feeling of oneness with humanity.
Origins:
Found in everyone.
Originates from the mother–child relationship.
Fostered by early social environment.
Importance:
Key measure of psychological health and maturity.
Described as “the sole criterion of human values.”
“Barometer of normality.”
Lack of social interest = maladjustment and unhealthy personality.
One enduring idea from Adler’s work is his view of the role of birth order
Adler thought that birth order was an important influence on personality development as it provided different opportunities for the creation of the final goal (Adler’s final goal is the ultimate life goal that drives personal growth and social contribution.) and a style of life
First born: At first they are the favored “only child,” but later they are “dethroned” and need to learn to share parental attention with siblings
This leads to tendencies for independence, but also striving to regain status
Second born: born into situations of rivalry and competition
These can be motivating, but repeated failures can be damaging to self-esteem
Last born: Usually more pampered as the “baby of the family”
Can lead to high levels of ambition, but too much comparison may be overly pressuring, leading to a “lazy” response and dependency on others
Only Child: Overly self-confident, lacks cooperation.
self-style refers to the unique way an individual approaches life, shaped by their goals, values, and responses to challenges.
Therapeutic Technique: Clients describe first memories (early recollections).
Purpose: To understand a person’s current style of life.
Adler’s View:
Memories don’t have causal effects (contrary to Freud).
Memories are reconstructed to fit life themes/patterns. Including dreams.
Help identify strivings causing adjustment challenges.
Abnormal Development: Lack of social interest, exaggerated goals, and rigidity lead to neuroses.
Adler’s Safeguarding Tendencies
Neurotic style of life
Protects self-esteem
Partly conscious
Includes excuses, aggression (depreciation, accusation, self-accusation), and withdrawal (moving backward, standing still, hesitating, constructing obstacles)
Freud’s Defense Mechanisms
Found in everyone
Protects ego from anxiety
Operate unconsciously
Includes repression, reaction formation, displacement, fixation, regression, projection, introjection, sublimation
Freud saw women as inferior and unknowable
Adler saw women as equal to men, with the same needs
Freud’s wife was subservient; Adler’s wife was independent and politically active
Research on Adler’s Concepts
Birth Order: Some effects on intelligence, academic achievement, and rebelliousness
Firstborns: Higher IQ, better educational outcomes
Laterborns: More socially interested and rebellious
Birth order has little impact on personality traits like Neuroticism or Conscientiousness
Adler’s Theory on
Rebelliousness: Laterborns more likely to challenge authority (supported by studies on scientists and judges)
Early memories predict career choice.
Matches with adult interests (social, realistic, artistic).
SDS questionnaire measures vocational interests.
Narcissism vs. Self-Esteem:
Narcissism = superiority, lack of social interest.
Self-esteem = worthiness, healthy self-regard.
Critique of Adler’s Theory:
Concepts hard to verify (e.g., “creative power”).
Generates research but lacks precise definitions.
Strong in guiding action, weak in internal consistency.
Adler’s Concept of Humanity:
Personality shaped by perception of experiences.
Motivated by future goals, not past instincts.
Social interest = psychological health.
Free to change, but early goals set direction.
