AdlerChapter 4
Early Influences Illnesses as a child
Poor student at first
Older, “perfect” brother
Domineering, socialist wife Interest in everyday problems and people
Freud
Organ InferiorityVersion 1
“Weak” Organs Compensation
try to improve weakness,
or emphasize other functions to make up for
weakness Overcompensation
Conversion of a biological weakness into a strength
Feelings of InferiorityVersion 2
Emphasis shifted from physical to subjective inferiorities
All people born “inferior” The desire to overcome inferiority is the
primary motivator in life
Masculine Protest
Inferiority Complex
Striving for SuperiorityVersion 3
Life Goal: seeking superiority or perfection Final version: striving for superior or perfect
society
Superiority Complex
Vaihinger’s “As If” Philosophy1. All experience of “reality” comes through our
senses
2. Humans have a natural tendency to give these sensations meaning, or fictions
Fictional Goals and Lifestyles
“As if” applied to lives of individuals: Because of past experiences, world views created Subjective reality more important than physical reality
Lifestyle: ways a person attempts to gain life goals
Creative Self
Free element of the personality that allows a person to choose between alternative fictional goals and lifestyles
Social Interest
Three major problems or goals in life: Occupational tasks: advance society
Societal tasks: cooperation/division of labor
Love/marriage tasks: procreation
Mistaken Lifestyles
Mistaken Lifestyle: any lifestyle not aimed at socially useful goals
Lifestyle types: Ruling-dominant type Getting-leaning type Avoiding type
Healthy lifestyle must be socially useful
Where do mistaken lifestyles come from? Physical inferiority
Spoiling/pampering
Neglecting
Safeguarding Strategies
Used by neurotics to save self-esteem Excuses
Symptoms created to explain short-comings Aggression
Deprecation Idealization: use of unrealistic standards to judge others Solicitude: giving advice to point where you believe others
cannot live w/o you Accusation: blame others for own short-comings Self-accusation: self-harm w/ the goal of gaining
attention
Safeguarding Strategies
Distancing Moving backward: revert to less complicated time to
escape social responsibilities Standing still: inability to move forward in life Hesitating: vacillating with problems, delaying, avoiding Constructing obstacles: creating minor barriers to
success Experiencing anxiety: amplification of all distancing
strategies Using the exclusion tendency: living within narrow limits
Goal of Therapy
Awareness of incorrect old lifestyles and creation of a more healthy lifestyle
Therapists avoids blame or criticism
Prevented from using neuroses to gain sympathy from therapist
Methods of Research
Birth Order Firstborn
Second born
Youngest
Only
Methods of Research
First Memories
Dream Analysis
Evaluating Adler’s Theory
Empirical Research Criticisms
Falsifiability Overly simplistic and optimistic
Contributions Social variables Influential
Horney (1885-1952)
Part 1
Early Influences
Mother: supportive, independent Father: very religious, believed women
source of evil Large family, felt unwanted Bouts w/ depression Unhappy marriage, sexual promiscuity
Influence of Freud
Trained in Freudian tradition However, she discover her clients had
different problems from the ones that Freud described
Developed her own personality theory to better explain what she saw Emphasis on culture rather than biology
What causes neuroses?
Social experiences Esp. important
Relationship between parent and child
Childhood
Two basic needs Satisfaction
Safety
If…
Need for safety satisfied
Healthy person
Need for safety not satisfied
Parental Indifference: THE "BASIC EVIL"
Neurotic person
ParentalIndifference
Basic Hostility
Basic Anxiety
Making a Neurotic Person
10 Neurotic Trends or Needs Affection/approval
Partner who will run one’s life
Live life in narrow limits
Power
Exploit others
10 Neurotic Trends or Needs Social recognition and prestige
Personal admiration
Ambition / personal achievement
Independence
Perfection
Adjustment Patterns
moving toward compliant type
moving against hostile type
moving away detached type
toward
away
against
What is mental health?
neurotic: overemphasizes one orientation
healthy: uses all 3 orientations
needs affection, approval, a partner compliant, manipulative, temper tantrums represses competition, rage, anger, hostility lives life within narrow borders "poor little me"; martyr; saint
Neurotic: MOVING TOWARD PEOPLE
Motto: "If I give in, I will not be hurt."
In healthy people, "moving toward" enables us to give and receive social support.
Healthy: MOVING TOWARD PEOPLE
needs control, dominance, recognition and power
hostile, exploitative, perfectionistic, need to be right, Machiavellian, but likeable facade
self-worth success and prestige chooses a partner to enhance prestige,
wealth, or power identifies with the ideal self
Neurotic: MOVING AGAINST PEOPLE
Motto: "If I have power, I shall not be hurt."
In healthy people, "moving against" enables us to be appropriately assertive
Notice that socially approved competition can be a "moving against" symptom
Healthy: MOVING AGAINST PEOPLE
need for privacy self-sufficient, detached, emotionally flat, lacks goals,
overly sensitive to coercion or advice belittles own potential vacillates between despised real self and ideal self attitude of "I don't care about anything"
Neurotic: MOVING AWAY FROM PEOPLE
Motto: "If I withdraw, nothing can hurt me."
In healthy people, "moving away" enables us to be self-reliant (when this is appropriate).
Healthy: MOVING AWAY FROM PEOPLE
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