Personality Theory
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Transcript of Personality Theory
Personality Theory
Chapter 5:The Neo-Freudians:
Alfred Adler
The Trouble with Psychoanalysis. . .
Some very critical objections: Freud’s insistence on the significance
of the sexual motive Freud’s failure to see the importance
of family and culture in personality development
A biological emphasis: human behaviour to be understood in physical terms
A second set of objections The role of the ego
Freud: all ego activity derives from the id Psychoanalytic rebels (the neo-
Freudians) insist on an autonomous ego Two consequences
emphasis on the relations of ego to society
diminished importance of the unconscious
A third set of objections The neo-Freudians are critical of the
pessimism of psychoanalysis. Man’s nature is not necessarily evil. Human growth and cooperative living are
possible.
The Neo-Freudian trailblazer, Alfred Adler Born in 1870 in Vienna, the 2nd of 6
children Adler had many obstacles to conquer:
A sickly child who suffered from rickets A poor student in school, especially in
math He gained eventual success and
admission to medicine at the University of Vienna
Married a Russian emigré, Raissa Epstein, who was a dedicated socialist
Graduated in 1895 Adler specialized in ophthalmology,
then general medicine, before turning to psychiatry
After graduation, Adler came to Freud’s attention and was invited to join the fledgling Wednesday Society A few years later, though elected to the
presidency of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, he and Freud are at loggerheads.
Refusal to accept Freudian fundamentals Resigned and formed his own society
Served in World War I
Psychiatric practice, founding child guidance clinics, development of theory
Immigrated to the United States in 1934
A prolific writer and lecturer Individual Psychology becomes widely
known. Death in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1937
Emphases in Individual Psychology A practical theory for the
understanding of human problems The importance of courage and
common sense A psychology of the conscious ego
Recognizes self-deceit A person-society theory: the
relation of individual to society is central
A feeling of inferiority is characteristic of all humans. An innate striving for superiority
Each person develops a unique approach to living and striving, the style of life.
Behaviour stems from past causes and is directed toward future goals.
The family is a social group. The importance of:
Parent behaviour and childrearing The child’s situation in the family
The order of birth
Expressions of personality: dreams, earliest memories, symptoms
Major Concepts of Individual Psychology
Organ inferiority and compensation The body’s innate compensation for
organ inferiority A model for the psychological concept
of inferiority and compensation to overcome it
The principle of a feeling of inferiority, the fundamental motive in personality
Overcoming inferiority: the striving for superiority The idea of masculine protest
Striving to overcome inferiority is channeled by: The body, activity level, intelligence Childhood experience: what we learn
in the family
The style of life: each person’s unique form of striving Develops early Difficult to change
Fictional Finalism Humans construct their own realities
– ‘fictions’ – by which they live. Some are realistic, some not.
Belief in an afterlife guides a person’s existence.
So does belief in male dominance. Women may be oppressed by it. It makes males insufferable.
Social Interest Adler, a socialist as well as psychiatrist,
worked for human betterment. Social interest is ‘the true and inevitable
compensation’ for inferiority. It is an inborn human attribute. It can be fostered or thwarted by
experiences in childhood.
The Creative Self This is Adler’s formulation of the ego.
It’s the source of the style of life, creating it.
Three Variables of Personality Development
The family constellation The roles occupied by members of the
family The relationship between parents
and children is important Damage done by:
Pampering Neglect or rejection
The situation into which each child is born Birth order and the special situations
of: The oldest child Middle children The youngest child Only children
Expressions of Personality We may see the style of life
expressed in: Dreams
in which we struggle with problems in life we don’t know how to solve
Earliest memories which reflect the time when personality
was being formed Neurotic symptoms
Which reveal a mistaken style of life or show misguided purposes.
Research The research of Adler and those who
followed him (‘Adlerians’) was clinical Remember the problems of the clinical
method Psychologists began to study Adlerian
hypotheses in the 1920s. Prominent among them was birth order. Early studies were not well done and
were inconclusive.
In the late 1950s, social psychologist Stanley Schachter studied the psychology of affiliation experimentally. Experimental participants made anxious
by the prospect of a frightening experimental procedure must wait a few minutes – either alone or with others.
High anxiety makes them want to be with others.
Critical to Adler’s hypothesis: It is firstborns who want to be with others.
Firstborns have learned from early experience with parents to be dependent on others for emotional support.
Laterborns are largely indifferent to being with others.
Other birth-order findings Firstborns make poorer fighter pilots. Firstborns are more likely to seek
psychotherapy and remain longer. Laterborns are more independent and
rebellious.
Many birth-order findings don’t replicate. Why?
Needed: better dependent measures like Schachter’s
Judith Harris: birth-order effects are seen within the family but not in behaviour outside. She proposes context-specific learning.
Birth-order effects on intelligence have been well studied with conflicting results.
Promising research: Zajonc’s confluence model
Laterborn children show an IQ advantage early in development, but later on, the advantage goes to firstborn children.
Why? Laterborns benefit from from intellectual
stimulation and exposure to firstborn model. Later, firstborns benefit from tutoring laterborn
children.
Adler in Perspective
To us, Adler’s outstanding contribution was his insightful analysis of family and childrearing.
He taught later generations of psychiatrists and psychologists about a conscious ego, and about purposive striving.
Some Contrasts Between Adler and Freud
Patient faces therapistPsychoanalytic patient lies on couch
Post WWI: social interestPost WWI: the death instinct
Neurosis a ‘trick’ of the individual to escape duty
Neurosis inherent in civilized human condition
Feelings of inferiority and the ‘masculine protest’
‘Penis envy’ in women
The family situation and the child’s situation in the family, parent-child and sibling relationships
Family sexuality: the Oedipus Complex and its feminine counterpart
Sexuality, love, and marriage involve social interest and require the preparation of two equals.
Importance of libido
Teleological orientationCausal orientation
Philosophical optimismPhilosophical pessimism
AdlerFreud
Take-Home Messages
Troubles with psychoanalysis Sexuality Role of the ego Pessimism
Alfred Adler: personal history A sickly child, dedicated psychiatrist,
insightful theorist
Theoretical emphases: A practical theory of the ego Striving to overcome inferiority An individual style of life The social psychology of the family How personality is expressed
Theoretical concepts: Organ inferiority and compensation Feelings of inferiority The style of life Fictional finalism Social interest The creative self
3 variables of personality development: Family constellation Parent-child relations
The disasters of pampering and rejection The child’s situation in the family
It’s where you’re born in the family that counts birth order
Expressions of personality Dreams, earliest memories, symptoms
Research, good and bad The good:
Schachter’s studies of affiliation when afraid Are firstborns more conservative?
Laterborns more rebellious? Judith Rich Harris on context-specific
learning The bad:
Intelligence? How about Zajonc?
Adler in perspective The role of the family in personality
development A conscious ego and the importance
of ego functions The goal-directedness of behaviour Adler versus Freud