Unit 2: Chapter 3 Adler Individual Psychology Flashcards
Define social interest
a feeling of unity with others (77)
How did Freud and Adler disagree on motivation?
Freud reduced all motivation to sex and aggression, whereas Adler saw people as being motivated mostly by social influences and by their striving for superiority or success.
Did Adler and Freud see eye to eye in the determinism vs. free will debate?
No, Freud assumed that people have little or no choice in shaping their personality, whereas Adler believed that people are largely responsible for who they are (74)
How do Adler and Freud differ on the causality vs teleology debate?
Freud’s assumption that present behavior is caused by past experiences was directly opposed to Adler’s notion that present behavior is shaped by people’s view of the future (74)
How do Adler and Freud differ on the unconscious vs. conscious debate?
in contrast to Freud, who placed very heavy emphasis on unconscious components of behavior, Adler believed that psychologically healthy people are usually aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it. (74)
What was the group of psychologist Alfred Adler and Freud were members of and what did Adler call his new group?
Psychoanalytic society
society for individual psychology
Who was the founder of individual psychology?
Alfred Adler
According to the textbook, what are the 6 major tenants of individual psychology?
-The one dynamic force behind people’s behavior is the striving for success or superiority.
-People’s subjective perceptions shape their behavior and personality.
Personality is unified and self-consistent.
-The value of all human activity must be seen from the viewpoint of social interest.
-The self-consistent personality structure develops into a person’s style of life.
-Style of life is molded by people’s creative power
Define Style of Life
Style of life 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. 86
Define Creative Power
Their creative power 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 interest. In short, creative power makes each person a free individual.
[Law of the low doorway]
When it comes to striving for success or superiority, what does Adler believe is the marker of a healthy and unhealthy person?
The social orientation of the person determines their psychological health. A person who strives for the success of all of humanity is healthy and those who strive for personal superiority are not.
What is fictionalism and how does it relate to Adler’s stance on the teleology and determinism debate?
Fictionalism is the human ability to create fictions about reality and then behave as though those realities are true (chaos magic)
If people are able to create actionable fictions, then, for Adler, it is clear that people determine their actions based on created fictions (things outside hereditery and enviornment)
What is organ dialect and which tenant of individualism does it relate to?
Organ dialect is when people communicate with their bodies in some fashion. It relates to the individualism tenant that people are fully consistent because a persons communication through the body will reflect goals consistent with their one-true goal.
Describe someone who displays little social interest. (3)
(1) set their goals too high, (2) live in their own private world, and (3) have a rigid and dogmatic style of life. These three characteristics follow inevitably from a lack of social interest. In short, people become failures in life because they are overconcerned with themselves and care little about others.
What are the three causes of external maladjustment
-neglected life style
-pampered lifestyle
-severe physical deformities
What are safeguarding tendencies?
Adler believed that people create patterns of behavior to protect their exaggerated sense of self-esteem against public disgrace. These protective devices, called safeguarding tendencies, enable people to hide their inflated self-image and to maintain their current style of life 89
What are the differences between Adler’s safegaurding tendencies and Freud’s defence mechanisms?
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 (1956) discussed safeguarding tendencies only with reference to the construction of neurotic symptoms (89)
What are the three main safegaurding tendencies?
Excuses
Aggression
Withdrawl
What are the three ways someone can engage in aggression? Describe each.
depreciation, accusation, or self-accusation
D-undervalue others acheivements and overvalue one’s own
A-blame others and seek revenge
S-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.
What are the four modes of safegaurdingthrough withdrawl that Adler identified?
(1) moving backward,
(2) standing still,
(3) hesitating
(4) constructing obstacles.
Define moving backward
The conscious action to move to an earlier, more comfortable phase of life to protect a persons inflated ego. (Kids who graduate highs school then hang out at the high school to feel good about themselves)
Define Standing Still
This withdrawal tendency is similar to moving backward but, in general, it is not as severe. People who stand still simply do not move in any direction; thus, they avoid all their responsibilities by ensuring themselves against any threat of failure. 91
Deinfe Hesitation
Some people hesitate or vacillate when faced with difficult problems. Their procrastinations eventually give them the excuse “It’s too late now.” Adler believed that most compulsive behaviors are attempts to waste time.
Define constructing obstacles
The least severe of the withdrawal safeguarding tendencies is constructing obstacles. Some people build a straw house to show that they can knock it down. By overcoming the obstacle, they protect their self-esteem and their prestige. If they fail to hurdle the barrier, they can always resort to an excuse.
List the 4 practical applications of individual psychology according to the textbook.
(1) family constellation,
(2) early recollections,
(3) dreams
(4) psychotherapy.
What was family constellation according to Adler?
In therapy, Adler almost always asked patients about their family constellation, that is, their birth order, the gender of their siblings, and the age spread between them.
(94)
Why did Alder concern himself with early recollections even though he does not believe behaviour to be largely shaped by causality?
Whether the recalled experiences correspond with objective reality or are complete fantasies is of no importance. People reconstruct the events to make them consistent with a theme or pattern that runs throughout their lives.
Describe the relationship between an early recollection and style of life for Adler.
Alder thought that people’s early memories were coloured by their style of life and not necessarily tied to objective reality. Memorie and events therefore, would not be causal. (95)
What did Adler consider to be the three problems of life people are trying to solve?
sexual love,
friendship
occupation.
How does Alderian theory score on the falsifiability measure?
Poorly
How does Alderian theory score on its ability to generate research?
Above average,
investigated early recollections, social interest, and style of life
Created social interest scales and career research
How does Alderian theory score on its ability to organize knowledge?
Even seemingly self-defeating and inconsistent behaviors can be fit into the framework of striving for superiority. Adler’s practical view of life’s problems allows us to rate his theory high on its ability to make sense out of what we know about human behavior.
How does Alderian theory score on its ability to guide action?
High
The theory serves the psychotherapist, the teacher, and the parent with guidelines for the solution to practical problems in a variety of settings.
How does Alderian theory score on its internal consistency?
Low
Due to lack of operationally defined terms like superiority or creative power
How does Alderian theory score on its ability to be parsimonious?
Average.
His writings weren’t great but other researchers have found a way to simplify his work
How does Adler stack up on the 6 dichotomies of human behavious?
we rate Adler very high on free choice and optimism;
very low on causality;
moderate on unconscious influences
high on social factors
high on the uniqueness of individuals.
What is the masculine protest?
The masculine protest—the belief that men are superior to women—is a fiction that lies at the root of many neuroses, both for men and for women.
