Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Alfred Adler

Satisfactory Essays
345 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler
Born on February 7th, 1870 and died of a heart attack on May 28 1937
Received a medical degree from the university of Vienna in 1895
Married in 1897 and had four children
Apparent physical comforts but suffered in childhood and physically and emotionally
Almost died from pneumonia at the age of 5

His one goal was to make a psychological way that fought for the holistic point of an individual as well as social equality

Adler’s theories that he came up with were:
Spirituality, ecology and community
Adler's approach to personality
Psychodynamics and teleology
Constructivism and metaphysics
Holism
Typology
On birth order
On homosexuality
Parent education

Adler’s approach to personality:
“Psychologist Alfred Adler believed that a person's behavior is motivated by a desire to achieve success or superiority. This is often moderated by social environments.”

Adler’s approach to Holism:
He argued for it saying that individuals holistically rather than simply, the final being the dominant outlook for viewing human psychology.

We chose to study and research Alfred Adler because of his famous concept which is the inferiority complex which speaks to the problem of self-esteem and its negative effects on human health. Since all three of us had heard of him, we decided it would be beneficial to study his work. His work consisted of creating a movement that disputed for the holistic view of an individual as well as social equality. Adler’s beliefs, as well as our most important beliefs, are that the social field is equally as important to psychology as the internal field of a person.

Some hardships Alfred Adler endured were what Sigmund Freud blamed Adler for his ambitious and obstinate ways. Calling him a “heretic” and a “plagiarist”. Adler also disagreed with Sigmund’s over emphasis on sexual conflicts during childhood as a for mental illness.
"About Alfred Adler: History: About: Adler School of Professional Psychology." Home: Adler School of Professional Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. .
"Alfred Adler: Theory and Application | Adler Graduate School." Practical Psychology, Inspiring Change | Adler Graduate School. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. .

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    CNSL 642: Human Development

    • 3656 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Adlerian therapy-Striving for superiority to overcome basic inferiority is a normal part of life. Adlerian therapy also focuses on birth constellation how this has an impact on one’s later personality and functioning.…

    • 3656 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Psy250 Week1 Individual

    • 1265 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sigmund Freud, was an Austrian physician, he was responsible for the development of the psychoanalytic theory in the early 1900s. “According to Freud’s theory, conscious experience is only a small part of our psychological makeup and experience. He argued that much of our behavior is motivated by the unconscious, a part of the personality that contains the memories, knowledge, beliefs, feelings, urges, drives, and instincts of which the individual is not aware.” (Feldman, 2011).…

    • 1265 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Week 3 Team Paper

    • 1318 Words
    • 5 Pages

    3. Vaughan, W. (1927). The psychology of Alfred Adler. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 21(4), 358-371 EbsocHost…

    • 1318 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Sigmund Freud was the father of psychoanalytic theory of personality. He was under fire due to his theories. He was criticized for his unique obsession with sexuality. That is why his Neo-Freudians tried to restate Freudians theories to sociological and cultural rather than only sexuality. Since he refused Jung and Adler left and stated their own schools. Freud continued with his studies the way he wanted.…

    • 1442 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    2. At one time Adler was the head of Freud's famous Wednesday night meetings. Disagreements arose between the two men and Adler parted company with Freud and would not even admit that he knew Freud. Sigmund Freud stated that we are "guided by sex and aggression". Adler did not adhere to Freud's approach and implied that "All behavior is guided by striving for superiority". Much of our understanding of Theorists and Personality is our interpretation of what is postulated. What are your thoughts on what the two men stated…

    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    18. Adler’s theory stimulated hundreds of studies on the effect of ¬___. Although these studies generally failed to find support for their hypotheses, more recent family environment studies focusing on the Big Five traits have found some support.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    inferior. For many, such moments will lead them to strive to compensate for that weakness. When this happens, it leads to what he calls “superiority striving,” in which the person is motivated by his or her feelings of inferiority to overcome and strive for betterment, achievement, and perfection. Adler believed that superiority striving is different from simply striving for power. Adler considered this an unhealthy desire because the sole goal is power. The way that someone strives to meet his or her goals from an Adlerian point of view is Adler called a style of life. I will compare President Barack Obama’s superiority striving to Adlerian Theory…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Birth Order Report

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Alfred Adler’s theory of birth order, was partly based on his own ailing childhood experiences, which almost everyone has, unless they are an only child, his original theory consisted of a belief that people strive to overcome organ deficiencies (physical weaknesses) or psychological deficiencies, which he later revised and called it “striving for superiority;” Alder also introduced the concept of the “inferiority complex,” which occurs when an individual cannot compensate for his/her deficiencies (GCU, n.d.). Adler was the first theorist to emphasize the role of “birth order” in shaping one’s personality, based on the parental influence associated with personality development (Burger, 2008).…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    d. Latent e. Genital 5. Criticisms of Freud ii. Neo-Freudians 1. Carl Jung a. Collective unconscious b. archetypes 2. Alfred Adler a. Inferiority complex b. Birth order theory 3.…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Theoretical Orientation

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This was developed by Alfred Adler, it emphasizing the drive to overcome feelings of inferiority by pay and the need to accomplish individual goals that have value for society. An individual derives his personality traits from external factors. The character of the individual is formed by his responses to their influence.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Political Personalities

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Observation and theories of personality, psychopathology, and psychotherapy developed by philosopher and psychiatrist Alfred Adler concluded that the desire and goal of every human being is to belong and to feel significant (Adler Graduate School 2012). Adler believes that when such desires are not achieved it can lead an individual to an unhealthy desire for superiority he calles “superiority striving”…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today the topic of discussion will focus on the famous Sigmund Freud and his viewpoints on developmental psychology. This discussion seeks to answer four questions about Sigmund Freud’s life. The first topic is Sigmund Fraud’s influences and environment in psychological development. Second the discussion seeks to reveal Sigmund Freud’s view of family issues or support systems that influenced Freud’s developmental growth and adjustment. Third the discussion seeks to explain two different theories of personality. The discussion seeks to explain how each theory differs in terms of the explanation of Freud’s unique pattern and traits. The fourth and final topic of discussion seeks to explain the theatrical approach that explains both Freud’s behaviors and achievements. The reason this paper chose to write about famous Sigmund Freud explained.…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This essay aims to provide a psychological personality analysis of Gilbert Grape, the main character of the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, through Alfred Adler’s fulfillment theory. In his approach to personality psychology, Adler places great emphasis on the analysis of the individual’s personal experiences in interpreting their own personality. Throughout the movie Gilbert Grape describes of his experiences living in the town of Endora, where “nothing much ever happens and nothing much ever will.” With this gloomy outlook, Gilbert seemed destined and determined to live a monotonous existence in which there is little hope for anything more. Little that is, until he meets Becky, a refreshingly unique character who stumbles into Endora and shakes his world (and ultimately, his personality). In order to analyze and explore Gilbert Grape and what really ate at him, this essay will divulge into certain aspects of Adler’s theory including its peripheral personality types, its distinct developmental factors, and finally, the core tendency crucial to Adler’s view on personality.…

    • 2613 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adler’s Inferiority Complex is ever present in modern day. This complex can be evoked in someone who lives by the media’s implicit expectations of humans, but also occurs for other reasons. Sometimes, I think I suffer from an Inferiority Complex. Thinking about my upbringing from an Adlerian perspective, my complex may be present because of my position in my family system. I am the first child in my family and I have one sister. This could have been a factor in the development of the complex because when my sister was born, she commanded a lot of attention. My parents began to accommodate her needs and therefore, I assumed that I didn’t deserve the plethora of attention that I was receiving before her birth. Plausibly because of this shift, I began to feel deficient in many areas of my life.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    individual psychology

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Alfred Adler was born in 1870 in a town near Vienna, a second son of middle-class Jewish parents. Like Freud, Adler was a physician, and in 1902, he became a charter member of Freud's organization. However, personal and professional differences between the two men led to Adler's departure from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1911. Adler soon founded his own group, the Society for Individual Psychology. Adler's strengths were his energetic oral presentations and his insightful ability to understand family dynamics. He was not a gifted writer, a limitation that may have prevented individual psychology from attaining a world recognition equal to Freud's psychoanalysis.…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays