Alfred Adler‘s contributions to psychology are often overlooked, but they deserve more attention. He was a great contributor to psychology, he is known for his work in understanding personality and its development. He believed that people are motivated by their own feelings of inferiority and strive to overcome them. This is what drives our choices, behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and interactions with others. His theory about how we strive to feel better about ourselves has been applied into many areas such as education and social policy.
In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of Alfred Adler’s most important contributions to Psychology and how his work can help us better understand ourselves and those around us.
Who is Alfred Adler?
Alfred Adler was born on February 7, 1870, to a wealthy Austrian family. His father was an engineer and his mother died when he was still very young. Alfred always had a desire for knowledge so he studied to be both an engineer and physician in order to fulfill his curiosity about how the world works. Alfred Adler became one of the first people in history who went against Freud’s idea that sex is the only driving force behind human behavior, but instead believed it could be attributed to other factors such as environment or upbringing.
What is the basic principle of Adleran psychology?
Adler was one of the contemporary practitioners to practice this form of psychology as their primary approach, and also authored a book entitled “The Individual Psychology.” As an approach, it emphasizes individual human understanding and dignity. It doesn’t involve blaming or punishing oneself for life’s difficulties, but instead examines how life events have influenced a person’s current beliefs and crises. A major theme in the work is productivity vs. inferiority feelings. It has been applied successfully both with children and adults, from early childhood to old age although some manifestations may be different across that span of one’s lifetime.
Adler Alfred left Austria because of the fascist regime that was rising in power.
When the Nazis came into power in Germany, they put such great stress on everything Austrian to be Germanic that it served as a reminder for Alfred Adler and many other Jewish intellectuals about why they left Vienna before Hitler took over. For fear of succumbing to Nazism’s fear-driven campaign, Adler and his wife relocated back to New York City and took up residence there permanently. He died on May 28, 1937, at the age of 67 while lecturing.
His Contrubition to Psychology
Alfred Adler’s main interests are in how people see themselves, their social interests, and what motivates them to act the way they do. He is best known for his idea that individuals possess an “inferiority complex” which he believed stemmed from feelings of inferiority about oneself as well as feelings of superiority over others. These concepts can be summarized as individual psychology.
Alfred’s contribution to psychology has been substantial whether it be through his contributions on topics such as motivation or personality development or even more so with his theories on mental illness. ( 1 ) The impact that Alfred had on the field of psychology is undeniable with many psychologists citing him as one of their influences. His contributions are still relevant today and can be applied to our society where people feel like they need to compare themselves to others.
According to Alfred Adler, an inferiority complex has many different facets and is not just restricted to one type of feeling. It can manifest as feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem; disproportionate reactions to real or imagined criticism or disapproval; feelings of general inadequacy or guilt about what the subject doesn’t possess such as physical attractiveness, intelligence, social skills, wealth, ethnicity, etc.; resentment towards others for their advantages.
It’s important because it gives people anxiety that affects their daily life. They may start avoiding certain things that could tell them they’re doing something wrong, thinking they’ll be judged if they mess up or are not successful enough.
What Is Personality According to Alfred Adler?
The personality is a functional unity and not a structural one and that personality influences and determines behavior. Early psychologists such as Alfred Adler believed that personality was shaped by one or more excessively dominant traits.
Adler’s personality legacy has proved influential to our understanding of people in modern-day psychology, mainly due to his heavy emphasis on birth order. Adler also stressed the importance of childhood socialization experiences to the shaping, development, and possible later degeneration of individual psychical life.
Adler’s work is based on the concern of childhood and later life and how they can be improved by adjusting birth order.
Adler’s theory states that we are born into a given social position, which acts as an unconscious frame of reference to identify new experiences and create personal meaning in them. Children with lower birth orders learn early on who they should emulate due to their age difference from their siblings. This provides them with a sense of importance, superiority, and leadership qualities while offering guidance for adapting to unfamiliar surroundings. On the other hand, children with higher birth orders learn early through these same means about the limitations afforded by society without providing any assurance that one can transcend this system.
His Works
The primary works of Alfred Adler include: “The Nervous Child“, “What Life Should Mean to You“, and “The Neurotic Constitution“. These texts are important because they offer a different perspective on how society should be structured. In addition to those books, “The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology” is an important read for anyone interested in learning about his theory on personality development. The book is important because it exemplifies all the different theories, practices, and perspectives in psychology.
This text coherently blends these elements with an emphasis on phenomenological-psychology. It has been praised for its ability to provide a serious discussion on the ‘individual’ without sacrificing empirical demonstration. His outlook on human behavior emphasizes the importance of social interest, feelings of inferiority, and ambition to achieve power. These three ideas are often overlooked by other psychologists but are essential to understanding why people behave the way they do.
Last Updated on December 2, 2021 by Lucas Berg
