Alfred Adler And Individual Psychology

Alfred Adler, along with Jung, was an early disciple of Freud, even being nominated by the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society to succeed Freud as president in 1910 (Ryckman, 2013). However, Adler did not have a submissive personality and frequently questioned Freud’s concepts. Ultimately, he resigned from the society in 1911. He then focused on the individual as an indivisible identity and created the concept of individual psychology. Individual psychology is a scientific attempt to understand an individual’s experience and behavior as an organized entity. A developmental path to psychological health, according to Adler, experienced a family life where little arguing and bickering took place. At a young age, these individuals learned to treat

Of these four types, three are faulty and one is not (Mikheeva, 2015). The ruling type often lacks social interest and courage, and when threatened will react antisocially. Their motivation is personal superiority, which drives them to such extremes measures that they will purposefully harm and exploit others in order to gain control. Next, there is the getting type, who is often passive and has little motivation to fix their own problems. They live for others to take care of them, using charm as persuasion to get others to service them. Third is the avoiding type, who lack the confidence to solve crises. They will often turn a blind eye to problems to avoid defeat. They are self-absorbed and constantly fantasize about being superior, but never actualize their fantasies (Ryckman, 2013). Finally, there is the one non-faulty type, the socially useful type. Those with this lifestyle are helpful and supportive. They face problems directly, contribute to the welfare of others thus building community, and are considered psychologically healthy in Adler’s individual

Adler believed that firstborns express outstanding intellectual achievement, which has been proven multiple times in research case studies. Belmont and Marolla found that first-borns frequently outstripped their younger siblings intellectually in the case of 400,000 Dutch men who turned 19 years old between 1963 and 1966 (Ryckman, 2013). Another research has shown that firstborns are actually overrepresented among college and graduate students, university faculty, and science professions. Zajonc believed the superior intellectual achievement by older siblings was a result of the tutor effect, because firstborns are likely to be both learners and teachers and thus the elder child experiences more intellectual growth (Mikheeva, 2015). In contrast, Adler believed that only children would become pampered since they were the sole focus of their parents, and would desire to be the center of attention at all times. However, current research has disproved this stating that only children are more like firstborns but are more cooperative and sociable. Falbo and Cooper believe this could be a result of only children having more one-on-one time with their mothers. Another possibility for only children being more sociable and cooperative, according to Lewis and Feiring, is that those children engage in more parent-child conversations, often with a greater exchange of