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Individual Psychology

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Presentation on theme: "Individual Psychology"— Presentation transcript:

1 Individual Psychology
Assist. Prof. Merve Topcu Department of Psychology, Çankaya University , Fall

2 Who is Adler? Influenced by Marx’s philosophy
Born in 1870, Wien Third child of seven Apparent physical comfort, but miserable in childhood Known for his efforts at outdoing his older brother Received a medical degree in 1895 Married in 1897 Eventually had four children Only son became a psychiatrist and continued Adler’s work Influenced by Marx’s philosophy Influence on Horney, Maslow, Rogers

3 Who is Adler? Joined Freud’s discussion group in 1902
Adler’s views were initially compatible with Freud’s Adler’s views changed and he began to criticize Freud’s theories In 1911, Adler and nine others broke away from Freud and formed “The Society for Individual Psychology” Involvement in WWI helped develop the concept of social interest Died in 1937

4 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

5 1. The one dynamic force behind people's behavior is the striving for success or superiority
Motivating force the striving for perfection A single "drive" or motivating force lies behind all our behavior and experience Superiority or success The desire we all have to fulfill our potentials, to come closer and closer to our ideal Similar to the more popular idea of self-actualization Personal responsibility to shaping personality Present is shaped by person’s view of future Psychologically healthy people are aware of themselves Critic to unconscious Psychologically unhealthy individuals strive for personal superiority, whereas psychologically healthy people seek success for all humanity

6 1. The one dynamic force behind people's behavior is the striving for success or superiority
Aggression drive--- the reaction we have when other drives (e.g., the need to eat, be sexually satisfied, get things done, or be loved) are frustrated Masculine protest A universal drive Have role in abnormal development will to power or a domination of others E.g., In many cultures boys are often held in higher esteem than girls are Better be called the assertiveness drive Lastly, called striving for superiority Regardless of the motivation for striving, each individual is guided by a final goal

7 1. The one dynamic force behind people's behavior is the striving for success or superiority
Final goal People strive toward a final goal of either personal superiority or the goal of success for all humankind fictional & no objective existence unifies personality and renders all behavior comprehensible Each person has the power to create a personalized fictional goal The product of the creative power; that is, people's ability to freely shape their behavior and create their own personality No effect of genetics or environment Set by the time children reach 4 or 5 years of age

8 1. The one dynamic force behind people's behavior is the striving for success or superiority
Compensation Striving to overcome We all have problems, short-comings, inferiorities of one sort or another The striving force itself is innate, but its nature and direction are due both to feelings of inferiority and to the goal of superiority Our personalities could be accounted for by the ways in which we do -- or do not -- compensate or overcome those problems Later, however, Adler rejected compensation as a label for the basic motive, because compensation makes it sound as if it is people’s problems that cause them to be what they are

9 1. The one dynamic force behind people's behavior is the striving for success or superiority
Personal superiority Goals are personal & no interest of others May be in the form of social interest but motivated by overcompensation Healthy individuals concerned with goals beyond themselves capable of helping others without demanding or expecting a personal payoff able to see others not as opponents but as people with whom they can cooperate for social benefit

10 2. People's subjective perceptions shape their behavior and personality
the manner in which they strive is not shaped by reality but by their subjective perceptions of reality by their fictions expectations of the future Fictionalism This subjective, fictional final goal guides our style of life, gives unity to ow personality Not real, acting as if real People are motivated not by what is true but by their subjective perceptions of what is true Teleology is an explanation of behavior in terms of its final purpose or aim opposed to causality considers behavior as springing from a specific cause Physical deficiencies alone do not cause a particular style of life; they simply provide present motivation for reaching future goals

11 3. Personality is unified and self-consistent
The term individual psychology each person is unique and indivisible Becoming defensive against unpredictability Ways in which the entire person operates with unity and self-consistency Organ dialect all separate actions and functions can be understood only as parts of the goal The disturbance of one part of the body cannot be viewed in isolation the deficient organ expresses the direction of the individual's goal Concious & unconscious the harmony between conscious and unconscious actions the unconscious, part of the goal that is neither clearly formulated nor completely understood by the individual

12 4. The value of all human activity must be seen from the viewpoint of social interest
Based on an innate disposition, but it has to be nurtured to survive Babies and small children often show sympathy for others without having been taught to do so Sense of caring for family, for community, for society, for humanity, and even for life a feeling of oneness with all humanity A matter of being useful to others perfection for all people in an ideal community marriage and parenthood is a task for social interest Influence of environment Barometer for normality

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14 5. The self-consistent personality structure develops into a person's style of life
includes a person's goal, self-concept, feelings for others, and attitude toward the world the product of the interaction of heredity, environment, and a person's creative power established by age 4 or 5 Ability to choose new ways of reacting to their environment express their social interest through action 3 major problems of life neighborly love sexual love occupation

15 6. Style of life is molded by people's creative power
the freedom to create her or his own style of life. all people are responsible for who they are and how they behave Way to solve problems ‘the law of the low doorway’ Neuroticism

16 Abnormal development ‘The creative power endows humans, within certain limits, with the freedom to be either psychologically healthy or unhealthy and to follow either a useful or useless style of life.’ Underdeveloped social interest Neurotics tend to set their goals too high live in their own private world Have rigid and dogmatic style of life Overconcerned w/ themselves & care little about others

17 Abnormal development Neurosis a matter of insufficient social interest
3 types the ruling type the getting type the avoiding type

18 Abnormal development Neurosis: The Ruling Type
From childhood on, they are characterized by a tendency to be rather aggressive and dominant over others. The strength of their striving after personal power is so great that they tend to push over anything or anybody who gets in their way The most energetic of them are bullies and sadists; Somewhat less energetic ones hurt others by hurting themselves, and include alcoholics, drug addicts, and suicides

19 Abnormal development Neurosis: The getting type
They are relatively passive make little effort to solve their own problems Instead, they rely on others to take care of them Frequently use charm to persuade others to help them

20 Abnormal development Neurosis: The avoiding type
These have the lowest levels of energy and only survive by essentially avoiding life -- especially other people When pushed to the limits, they tend to become psychotic, retreating finally into their own personal worlds

21 Abnormal development Adler, like Freud, saw personality or lifestyle as something established quite early in life Basic childhood situations that most contribute to a faulty lifestyle Exaggerated Physical Deficiencies Pampered Style of Life Neglected Style of Life

22 Abnormal development Exaggerated Physical Deficiencies
must be accompanied by accentuated feelings of inferiority They tend to be overly concerned with themselves lack consideration for others feel as if they are living in enemy country fear defeat more than they desire success life's major problems can be solved only in a selfish manner

23 Abnormal development Pampered Style of Life the heart of most neuroses
weak social interest but a strong desire to perpetuate the pampered parasitic relationship with one or both of their parents expect others to look after them, overprotect them, and satisfy their needs characterized by extreme discouragement, indecisiveness, oversensitivity, impatience, and exaggerated emotion, especially anxiety

24 Abnormal development Neglected Style of Life
Children who feel unloved and unwanted Abused and mistreated children little confidence in themselves tend to overestimate difficulties connected with life's major problems distrustful of other people and are unable to cooperate for the common welfare feel alienated from all other people more suspicious

25 Safeguarding tendencies
Enable people to hide their inflated self-image and to maintain their current style of life Kind of defense mechanisms symptoms are formed as a protection against anxiety Conscious & shield a person's fragile self-esteem from public disgrace Excuses, aggression, & withdrawal

26 Safeguarding tendencies
Excuses state what they claim they would like to do Others then they follow with an excuse ‘Yes, but’ & ‘If only’ Aggression To protect their fragile self-esteem, aggression may take the form of depreciation, accusation, or self-accusation criticism and gossip Unhealthy people invariably act to cause the people around them to suffer more than they do Self-torture & guilt including masochism, depression, and suicide as means of hurting people who are close to them

27 Safeguarding tendencies
Withdrawal safeguarding through distance moving backward Like regression protects people against anxiety-filled experiences standing still Withdrawal tendency avoid all responsibility by ensuring themselves against any threat of failure never do anything to prove that they cannot accomplish their goals Hesitating procrastinations excuse, "It's too late now." most compulsive behaviors are attempt to waste time constructing obstacles Some people build a straw house to show that they can knock it down

28 Family constellation birth order the gender of their siblings
the age spread between them

29 Family constellation Only Child Family Situation
Birth is a miracle Parents have no previous experience Retains 200% attention from both parents May become rival of one parent Can be over-protected and spoiled If the parents are abusive, the only child will have to bear that abuse alone Child’s Characteristics Likes being the center of adult attention Often has difficulty sharing with siblings and peers Prefers adult company and uses adult language

30 Oldest Child Family Situation Child’s Characteristics
Dethroned by next child Has to learn to share Parent expectations are usually very high Often given responsibility and expected to set an example Child’s Characteristics May become authoritarian or strict be relatively solitary and more conservative than the other children in the family Feels power is his right Can become helpful if encouraged May turn to father after birth of next child Intensified feelings of power and superiority, high anxiety, and overprotective tendencies

31 Second Child Family Situation Child’s Characteristics Peacemaker
There is always someone ahead Child’s Characteristics Is more competitive, wants to overtake older child May become a rebel or try to outdo everyone Competition can deteriorate into rivalry

32 Middle Child Family Situation Child’s Characteristics
Is “sandwiched” in May feel squeezed out of a position of privilege and significance Child’s Characteristics May be even-tempered, “take it or leave it” attitude May have trouble finding a place or become a fighter of injustice

33 Youngest Child Family Situation Child’s Characteristics
Has many mothers and fathers Older children try to educate him Never dethroned Child’s Characteristics Wants to be bigger than the others May have huge plans that never work out Can stay the “baby” Frequently spoiled

34 Twin Child Family Situation Child’s Characteristics
One is usually stronger or more active Parents may see one as the older Child’s Characteristics Can have identity problems Stronger one may become the leader

35 “Ghost child” Family Situation Child’s Characteristics
Child born after the death of the first child may have a “ghost” in front of him Mother may become over-protective Child’s Characteristics Child may exploit mother’s over-concern for his well-being, or he may rebel, and protest the feeling of being compared to an idealized memory

36 Adopted child Family Situation Child’s Characteristics
Parents may be so thankful to have a child that they spoil him They may try to compensate for the loss of his biological parents Child’s Characteristics Child may become very spoiled and demanding He may resent or idealize the biological parents

37 Only boy among girls Only girl among boys Family Situation
Usually with women all the time, if father is away Child’s Characteristics May try to prove he is the man in the family, or become effeminate Only girl among boys Family Situation Older brothers may act as her protectors Child’s Characteristics Can become very feminine, or a tomboy to outdo the brothers May try to please the father

38 Personality Assessment
In order to help people to discover the "fictions" their lifestyle is based upon, Adler would look at a great variety of things: birth-order position Early recollections any childhood problems you may have had dreams and daydreams pay attention to how people express themselves.

39 Psychotherapy Enhance courage, lessen feelings of inferiority, and encourage social interest ‘Everybody can accomplish everything.’ The therapeutic relationship awakens their social interest in the same manner that children gain social interest from their parents Once awakened, the patients' social interest must spread to family, friends, and people outside the therapeutic relationship

40 Alfred Adler Style of Family Fictional Creative Life Life Finalisms
Self Fictional Finalisms Healthy – Social Interest Neurotic – Overcompensation Inferiority/Superiority Complex Birth Order Family Constellation Family Atmosphere 4 Major Types Ruling Getting Avoiding Socially Useful


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