The Essentials of Alfred Adler's
Theory of Personality
The Essentials of Alfred Adler's Theory of Personality
     Motivation of Actions | Unity of Personality | Development of Personality | Mental Health
     Alfred Adler studied personality around the time of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung but
     developed very different ideas (Cloninger, 1996). Although he changed his theory
     many times during his lifetime, he always believed people had control over their lives
     and made choices concerning themselves. He named his theory Individual Psychology
     because he felt each person was unique and no previous theory applied to all people.
     Adler’s theory is comprised primarily of four aspects: striving towards superiority, the
     unity of personality, the development of personality, and psychological health, which
     includes intervention.
     Motivation of Actions
     Adler believed the main goal of all people is to move to a better way of life, although he
     admits the ways to achieve this goal varies among people (Cloninger, 1996). He first
     used the term inferiority complex as being overcome by feelings of lack of worth. In
     other words, the person is not achieving their goal to moving positively in life. People
     wish to move from feelings of inferiority to superiority. He wrote, "We all wish to
     overcome difficulties. We all strive to reach a goal by the attainment of which we shall
     feel strong, superior, and complete" (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Superior and
     superiority, in his usage, has a slightly different meaning than what is commonly thought.
     It is not necessarily feelings of superiority over others but more along the lines of
     self-improvement, such as striving for one’s personal best. He eventually switched from
     superiority striving to simply perfection striving. This was the final stage in the
     development of his theory. Alder also used the word superiority complex. This
     complex occurred when a person tried to overcome their inferiority complex by
     repressing their actual feelings. They are usually very arrogant and tend to exaggerate
     their achievements.
     Along with the idea of trying to overcome inferiority, Adler claimed that every person
     had an idea about what their perfect self would be like (Cloninger, 1996). He called
     this imagined goal the fictional finalism. Fictional finalism gives clearer direction as to
     what decisions to make concerning oneself. Although people may have some idea
     about their goal, they rarely fully comprehend it. Also, throughout one’s lifetime the goal
     may be altered. The general direction, however, usually remains the same. Adler wrote,
     ". . .in every mental phenomenon we discover anew the characteristic of pursuit of a
     goal, and all our powers, faculties, experiences, wishes and fears, defects and
     capacities fall into line with this characteristic" (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Adler
     believed that it was impossible to understand a person without understanding that
     person’s fictional finalism.
     Unity of Personality
     The second aspect of Adler’s theory was the unity of personality (Cloninger, 1996).
     Psychologists before him, including Freud, discussed how different parts of a person’s
     personality are at war with each other. Adler believed the conscious and unconscious
     worked in union with one another towards the fictional finalism. Both had the same
     goal. Adler claimed that each person has a unique style of life, which not only includes
     the common goal but also how the goal is going to be achieved and the person’s
     concept of one’s self and the world. Styles of life can be either positive or negative.
     Adler hated lumping large groups of people into broad categories but felt that
     describing basic lifestyles would make the concept easier to understand. His types are
     only intended to be rough estimates of the infinitely large number of personalities. Three
     of the four groups are negative styles of life. These mistaken styles include the ruling
     types, the getting types and the avoiding types. The ruling types seek to control others.
     They are not all terrible people; because high competitiveness goes along with control,
     many are high achievers. They will, however, let others know of their accomplishments
     and tend to do so in a belittling manner. Adler called this inclination the deprecation
     complex. The second type is the getting type. These people are very dependent on
     others and take on a passive attitude towards life. Adler wrote that parents who
     pamper their children encourage this lifestyle. The third type is the avoiding type. They
     try to avoid all of life’s problems to avoid defeat. They are seen as cold and usually
     prefer to be isolated. This appearance however, usually masked a superiority belief,
     albeit a fragile one. The final type is the only healthy lifestyle. It is the socially useful
     type. These people believe in doing good for the sake of society. They also believe
     they have control over their lives. Adler wrote, "[social interest] must be trained, and it
     can be trained only if one grows up in relation to others and feels a part of the whole.
     One must sense that not only the comforts of life belong to one, but also the
     discomforts. One must feel at home on this earth with all its advantages and
     disadvantages" (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956).
     Development
     Adler did believe in free will, but he acknowledged that it could be shaped by outside
     influences, such as parental behavior and birth order (Cloninger, 1996). Parental
     behavior could take on two negative extremes: pampering and neglecting. The first
     leads to a very spoiled child who experiences lack of love in the less indulgent real
     world. The second leads to people who feel incapable of completing tasks. The
     consequence of both extremes is, however, the same: adults whose fictional goal is to
     be indulged and pampered. Birth order is also a factor which contributes to personality.
     Adler went into great detail about the advantages and disadvantages of firstborn,
     middle, youngest, and only children. Essentially, the firstborn child overvalues authority
     and has very conservative values. Adler claims that most problem children are firstborn.
     Second-born children are the most well adapted of all positions. They act as the
     peacemakers. It is interesting to note Adler was a middle child. Youngest children often
     are often too pampered, also leading to problem behavior. They fail to develop
     independence because it is not necessary. Only children experience so much pampering
     they experience an unrealistic sense of self worth. Adler wrote, "[The only child} wants
     to be the center of attention all the time. He really feels that it is a right of his, and if his
     position is challenged, he thinks it a great injustice. In later life, when he is no longer the
     center of attention, he has many difficulties" (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Adler
     did acknowledge that while actual birth order was usually a good prediction of
     behavior, psychological birth order also played a role. In some situations, children
     psychologically take on a different order than that which actually occurs.
     Mental Health
     As mentioned earlier, a healthy person has strong social interest (Cloninger, 1996). A
     good word to describe social interest is empathy. Living in a society requires a general
     concern for that society. Social interest, and consequently mental health, can only be
     attained with success in the three basic tasks of life: work, love, and social interaction.
     Adler wrote, "For a long time now I have been convinced that all the questions of life
     can be subordinated to the three major problems–the problems of communal life, of
     work and of love. These three arise from the inseparable bond that of necessity links
     men together for association, for the provision of livelihood, and for the care of
     offspring" (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Work is simply what is sounds like it
     would be: having an occupation, doing some socially useful job to earn a living. Love,
     according to Adler, is between a man and woman and involves decisions to have
     children. Failing in the area of love includes not wanting to have children,
     homosexuality, and even falling in love with two people at once. Social interaction is
     non-sexual relationships, including friendship. Healthy adults attain all three tasks while
     healthy children see them as possible to attain.
     Adler’s theory of personality covers many aspects, including: what drives people, how
     the mind works to achieve goals, how personality is developed, and what constitutes
     mental health. Adler strongly disagreed with his precursors and peers because his
     theory revolved around the notion that one has control over one’s life.
Colinger, 1996
  
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