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

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