Inside Opinions About Alfred Adler's Theories

Theories of Personality

1. How does Adler differ from Freud and Jung?

Adler differs from Freud and Jung because his first focus was on uniqueness of personality. He studied the style of life and believed in people being their own person, rather than studying their past and future, Adler focused more on present behavior. He fashioned four basic styles of life, the type that was dominant, getting, avoiding, and socially useful. Each style of life was a pattern of characteristics, behaviors, and habits. Adler was the first to observe everything, such as body language, for his analysis. He also was very focused on goals and having clients set their goals. Unlike, both Freud and Jung, Adler believed in freewill and that we create who we are by active choice through creative power of self, instead of the environment we are in. However, he did place a large roll on the mother and thought it was the parents' job to teach. He also believed birth order and siblings had a major influence on personality, so he did incorporate family in his studies. Alder was known best for the development of his inferiority complex and superiority complex.

2. Explain/describe how your present adult life and personality reflect the Adlerian thesis that individual growth results from compensation (i.e., our individualized attempt to overcome our feelings of inferiority and attain/strive for superiority).

(a) a personal feeling of inferiority: (identify/describe)

My life reflects a personal feeling of inferiority because my all my sisters are over achievers and I tried to compensate that for working very hard throughout middle school and high school to the point where I obsessed over grades. Even though I am not their age, I strive to accomplish what they are accomplishing because I feel inferior whenever they talk of their success. For example I feel inferior to my sister Lisette because she graduated college with a good GPA, she kept a good job during and after college, she has traveled the world, and become a grad student at Princeton. When I look at what my life should be like, I look at Lisette's life. I strive to do better in school and hold down a job on top of that. I go beyond my limits sometimes just because I feel I should be more like her. I even traveled to Europe in hopes to get a small taste of what her traveling was like.

(b) how this feeling of inferiority affects your:

1. memories This affects my memories because I remember being in constant competition with my sisters to show them that I was just as physically fit or as smart as them. My memories are filled with comparing myself to my sisters. I wanted to act and dress like them. I participated in as many activities that they did to earn respect and some were even the same activities. I have admired my sisters all my life, but almost every memory I have of playing with them as a kid I remember being upset because they were able to do and go certain places I couldn't at my age.

2. attitude toward other people It has affected my attitude towards my sisters considerably. I argue with them about what I could be doing at this point in my life, but they always tell me to enjoy what I am doing at the time being. I also argue with them because they may not want me doing certain activities, such as traveling with them, because they know I will have a chance to do the same when I am older. I get upset very easily towards them, but my main emotion is resentment towards them because I am not certain I can live up to their accomplishments. My attitude toward onlookers of the situations between my sisters and I is a very upset or bitter one if they are to bring up something one of my sisters has achieved. I also tend to push friends away if they are more successful than me because it just reminds me of my relationship with my sisters.

(c) a compensatory striving for superiority motivated by this feeling of inferiority

I need to ask a question about this.

(d) identify/explain an 'expectation for the future' currently accompanying your 'striving for superiority': My main expectation for the future is to be happy with my life and if I feel I need to strive to impress my sisters and gain their respect before I am happy. I know they respect me, but maybe in the future they will respect me on a different level because interactions and goals become different as you get older. I know that somehow I will achieve success in my own eyes. However, I know when a class reunion comes along I am going to compare my life and my happiness to others. I need to feel that I have caught up with some people and mastered some things they didn't, whether it's to travel more or even be married with my dream job of being a teacher.

3. Social Interest

(a) Explain/describe one way in which you contribute to society.

I contribute to society by educating and looking out for kids in most of my job environments. It is a huge responsibility to entrust someone else with your children and I think that I have earned a lot of respect by helping out in many settings and taking that responsibility seriously. I gain trust of not only the children but the parents as well. I know parents have expectations for someone filling in as an authority figure for their child and I always try to meet those expectations and go beyond the call of duty. I do this when I help out when I am working at day care, volunteering in a classroom, and babysitting. My contribution defines my socially useful style of life and allows for creative power of the self.

(b) Do you think, like Adler, that this social interest has led to the development of your personality? Explain. I do think social interest has led to the development of my personality because social interactions or taking interest in something has broadened my thinking and my opinion of different things. Social interest is being able to put away any judgments or preconceived notions to explore different ideas and relate to other people. I have been able to learn so much from a single person by doing this. My personality benefits because I may find people bring out different qualities in me, whether good or bad, and when I am social it allows me to learn about the paths of other people. I am able to cooperate with others and I am thankful for that because that is how I have developed all my relationships. Without my social life I think I would feel very insecure, unwanted, and detached from the world.

4. According to Adler, only if adults feel kinship with others can they act with courage in attempting to cope with life's demands.

(a) State and describe a serious life demand with which you are currently confronted. A serious life demand that I am currently confronted with is to keep motivated in order to finish college and accomplish my goals. I need motivation to keep my spirits up and finish those things that are necessary, like college work or working at my jobs. When I am motivated I set my goals higher and achieve more. Motivation lets me look at myself in a positive way. I don't go to the gym, I don't paint, I don't interact with new people, and I don't do the things I most enjoy unless I am motivated.

(b) Name a significant person or group within your current life: My friends.

(c) Explain how: [check]

___+___a feeling of kinship with (b) gives you the courage to combat this demand (a).

______a lack of a feeling of kinship with (b) inhibits/detracts from your
having the courage to confront this demand (a).

A feeling of kinship with my friends gives me the courage to combat my motivation skills because I can rely on their motivation directed towards me. I know that my friends do not like to see me unhappy so they motivate me when I am feeling down or need to get work done. They help me with my motivation skills by making me feel secure and accomplished, When you feel secure and accomplished you are able to boost your self-esteem and motivate yourself. I am grateful that they have iproved my motivations skills through reassuring me and even taking an aggressive approach to let me know things have to be done and I can only rely on myself to finish things, but they will be there for support.

5. Assessment research findings indicate that persons high on social interest report less stress and anxiety.

Based on your own personal experience during the past year, indicate whether you
+ agree or _____ disagree [check] with such research findings. Explain.

I agree that persons high on social interest report less stress and anxiety because when you are social with people you can find those who respect you for who you are. These people can have a significant impact on your life because if you are able to vent to them or share a common interest you let your guard down more and open your mind to new ideas. When people care about you it is usually from getting to know you through a social interaction. You feel less stress or anxiety when you know someone cares and respects you because if you trust in them enough you can come to them when you feel anxious and talk, or even just knowing that someone cares for you can be extremely comforting. I never feel anxiety when I am with my closest friends because we have learned all about each other and feel comfortable with the thoughts and actions of one another. Feeling comfortable around other people will reduce the chance of stress; you just need to make the effort to be social before anything else.

6. What is your order of birth/adoption in your family? How does this support or contradict what Adler believed about birth order? I am the youngest of four girls in my family and my birth order has had a significant effect on my life. According to Adler, the youngest child may become the pet of the family or be excessively pampered. My sisters have always thought that I have gotten away with too much as far as acting up or doing things earlier than they were allowed to do at my age. I do believe my parents baby me sometimes and give into my needs easier than they would my other sisters, but I also think that because I got to witness my sisters growing up and experience things I learned from that and became more independent. Because I became independent so quickly on behalf of my sisters and the fact that everyone in our household had their own obligations, I developed a lot faster. I matured faster than I thought because even though my parents would give me special attention, most of the time I had to fend for myself. I was faced with different circumstances than my sisters as I got older including being stuck in the middle of a bad divorce when they had already left the house, so I had to fend for myself when my parents were too busy fighting. I was pushed into becoming an adult sooner than I thought I would have to be, because after raising three other children my parents didn't have the same energy for me. I have also felt driven to live up to my sisters' standards of life, but not necessarily surpass them. I want to keep up with my sisters in a way that I will be respected and admired for my own accomplishments.

7. What do you like most about Adler's theories?

I like the fact that Adler incorporates a perspective on birth order because it's interesting to see where you fit into his theory and whether you see yourself that way. What I was most intrigued by though, was his social interest theory because it can tie in so easily with his inferiority and superiority complexes. I think all social interactions lead to different beliefs, and the level of your social life can have a huge impact on you. Adler expressed this well in his inferiority and superiority complexes even if he did not mean it because depending on your level of social skills directly relates to whether you feel more inferior or superior to others.

8. What do you like least about Adler's theories?

The thing I liked least about Adler's theory was his groupings of several universal problems in his style of life theory. I don't think several universal problems can only be grouped into problems involving our behavior toward others, problems of occupation, and problems of love. It is hard to classify a person into one category because there are so many different levels of problems and there can also be combinations of problems. Adler's four basic styles of life can be applied but I don't think problems should only have four types of solutions.