Ab Dev and then some

• Abnormal Development Adler believed that people are what they make of themselves. The creative power en dows humans, within certain limits, with the freedom to be either psychologically healthy or unhealthy and to follow either a useful or useless style of life
• According to Adler (1956), the one factor underlying all types of maladjustments is underdeveloped social interest. Besides lacking social interest, neurotics tend to (1) set their goals too high, (2) live in their own private world, and (3) have a rigid and dogmatic style of life.
• The exaggerated and unrealistic nature of neurotics’goals sets them apart from the community of other people. They approach the problems of friendship, sex, and occupation from a personal angle that precludes successful solutions. Their view of the world is not in focus with that of other individuals and they possess what Adler (1956) called “private meaning”
• Why do some people create maladjustments? Adler (1964) recognized three con tributing factors, any one of which is sufficient to contribute to abnormality: (1) ex aggerated physical deficiencies, (2) a pampered style of life, and (3) a neglected style of life
• Exaggerated physical deficiencies, whether congenital or the result of injury or dis ease, are not sufficient to lead to maladjustment. They must be accompanied by ac centuated feelings of inferiority. These subjective feelings may be greatly encour aged by a defective body, but they are the progeny of the creative power.
• relationshipA pampered style of life lies at the heart of most neuroses. Pampered people have weak social interest but a strong desire to perpetuate the pampered, parasitic rela tionship they originally had with one or both of their parents. They expect others to look after them, overprotect them, and satisfy their needs. They are characterized by extreme discouragement, indecisiveness, oversensitivity, impatience, and exagger ated emotion, especially anxiety. They see the world with private vision and believe that they are entitled to be first in everything
• Abused and mistreated children develop little social interest and tend to create a neglected style of life. They have little confidence in themselves and tend to over estimate difficulties connected with life’s major problems. They are distrustful of other people and are unable to cooperate for the common welfare. They see society as enemy country, feel alienated from all other people, and experience a strong sense of envy toward the success of others.
• Adler believed that people create patterns of behavior to protect their exaggerated sense of self-esteem against public disgrace. These protective devices, called safeguarding tendencies, enable people to hide their inflated self-image and to maintain their current style of life.
• Freudian defense mechanisms operate unconsciously to protect the ego against anxiety, whereas Adlerian safeguarding tendencies are largely conscious and shield a person’s fragile self-esteem from public disgrace.
• most common of the safeguarding tendencies are excuses, which are typically expressed in the “Yes, but” or “If only” format. In the “Yes, but” excuse, people first state what they claim they would like to do—something that sounds good to others— then they follow with an excuse. A woman might say, “Yes, I would like to go to col lege, but my children demand too much of my attention.” An executive explains, “Yes, I agree with your proposal, but company policy will not allow it.”
• some people use aggression to safeguard their exaggerated superiority complex, that is, to protect their fragile self-esteem. Safeguarding through aggression may take the form of depreciation, accusation, or self-accusation.
• Depreciation is the tendency to undervalue other people’s achievements and to overvalue one’s own. This safeguarding tendency is evident in such aggressive be haviors as criticism and gossip.
• Accusation, the second form of an aggressive safeguarding device, is the ten dency to blame others for one’s failures and to seek revenge, thereby safeguarding one’s own tenuous self-esteem.
• self-accusation, is marked by self torture and guilt. Some people use self-torture, including masochism, depression, and suicide, as means of hurting people who are close to them. Guilt is often aggressive, self-accusatory behavior.
• Personality development can be halted when people run away from difficulties. Adler referred to this tendency as withdrawal, or safeguarding through distance. Some people unconsciously escape life’s problems by setting up a distance between them selves and those problems.
• four modes of safeguarding through withdrawal: (1) moving backward, (2) standing still , (3) hesitating , and (3) constructing obstacles.
• Moving backward is the tendency to safeguard one’s fictional goal of superi ority by psychologically reverting to a more secure period of life.
• moving backward may sometimes be conscious and is directed at maintaining an inflated goal of superiority. Moving backward is designed to elicit sympathy, the deleterious attitude offered so generously to pampered children.
• standing still. This withdrawal tendency is similar to moving backward but, in general, it is not as severe. People who stand still simply do not move in any direction; thus, they avoid all responsibil ity by ensuring themselves against any threat of failure. They safeguard their fic tional aspirations because they never do anything to prove that they cannot accom plish their goals.
• Closely related to standing still is hesitating. Some people hesitate or vacillate when faced with difficult problems. Their procrastinations eventually give them the excuse “It’s too late now.” Adler believed that most compulsive behaviors are at tempts to waste time. Compulsive hand washing, retracing one’s steps, behaving in an obsessive orderly manner, destroying work already begun, and leaving work un f inished are examples of hesitation. Although hesitating may appear to other people to be self-defeating, it allows neurotic individuals to preserve their inflated sense of self-esteem
• constructing obstacles. Some people build a straw house to show that they can knock it down. By overcoming the obstacle, they protect their self-esteem and their prestige. If they fail to hurdle the barrier, they can always resort to an excuse
• In contrast to Freud, Adler (1930, 1956) believed that the psychic life of women is essentially the same as that of men and that a male-dominated society is not natural but rather an artificial product of historical development. According to Adler, cul tural and social practices—not anatomy—influence many men and women to overemphasize the importance of being manly, a condition he called the masculine protest.
• Adler’s Safeguarding Tendencies

  1. Limited mostly to the construction of a neurotic style of life

  2. Protect the person’s fragile self-esteem from public disgrace

  3. Can be partly conscious

  4. Common types include:
• Applications of Individual Psychology We have divided the practical applications of individual psychology into four areas: (1) family constellation , (2) early recollections , (3) dreams , and (4) psychotherapy
• Firstborn children, according to Adler (1931), are likely to have intensified feelings of power and superiority, high anxiety, and overprotective tendencies.
• , secondborn children (such as himself) begin life in a bet ter situation for developing cooperation and social interest. To some extent, the per sonalities of secondborn children are shaped by their perception of the older child’s attitude toward them. If this attitude is one of extreme hostility and vengeance, the second child may become highly competitive or overly discouraged.
• Youngest children, Adler believed, are often the most pampered and, conse quently, run a high risk of being problem children.
• Only children are in a unique position of competing, not against brothers and sisters, but against father and mother. Living in an adult world, they often develop an exaggerated sense of superiority and an inflated self-concept
• To gain an understanding of patients’ personality, Adler would ask them to reveal their early recollections (ERs). Although he believed that the recalled memories yield clues for understanding patients’ style of life, he did not consider these mem ories to have a causal effect. Whether the recalled experiences correspond with ob jective reality or are complete fantasies is of no importance
• dreams cannot foretell the future, they can provide clues for solving future problems. Nevertheless, the dreamer frequently does not wish to solve the problem in a productive manner
• Psychotherapy Adlerian theory postulates that psychopathology results from lack of courage, exag gerated feelings of inferiority, and underdeveloped social interest. Thus, the chief purpose of Adlerian psychotherapy is to enhance courage, lessen feelings of inferi ority, and encourage social interest.