INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY:Fictional Finalism, Social Interest, Mistaken Styles of Life

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Personality Psychology PSY 405

Lesson 10

INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY

Fictional Finalism

All of us are guided by the fictions or fictional believes or ideas which make our life significant and

organized. These fictional themes are very useful for the person to deal with is problems of existence.

These fictions can include, If I have enough money, I will be happy, if only I can get my Masters degree,

every thing will be fine, if I can write a good book, I will be famous. The concept of fictional finalism

according to Adler is a guiding self ideal. These ideals are invented by the individual to make his life more

significant and meaningful healthy people change their fictions when circumstances want them too. Where

as the neurotic individuals hangs on to the same fictional ideal through out their lives. These goals, ideals

or plans provide a means of living in more effective and constructive life.

Social Interest:

Social interest is an innate need of all human to live in harmony, peace and friendship with others and to

make a perfect society. Every individual has a degree of or potential for social interest. If this potential is

realized, the person will be successful. All humans have three major problems, which require a well

developed social interest:

Occupational Tasks, which required the person's help to advance the society.

Societal tasks. This required the cooperation of other human beings and it provides security

and welfare to all human beings.

Love and marriage tasks. This requires mutual living together as a family based on love and

passion. Adler, Horney and Erikson, all agree that social interests and satisfaction of this need

relate to presence or absence of adjustment problems in life.

Mistaken Styles of Life:

An individual, who seeks personal superiority and self goal, only suffers superiority complex (from

mistaken style of life) and he who is overwhelmed by feeling of inferiority he suffers from inferiority

complex.

Adler classified four types of people according to the degree of social interest.

The ruling dominant type.

The focus over here is to dominate and rule people and to suppress them.

ii.

The getting leaning type.

This type expects every thing to be done from others and gets every thing from others either

politely or rudely.

iii.

The avoiding type.

This type avoids failure by never attempting anything at all.

iv.

Social useful type.

This is a type of person who works in harmony and cooperation with other and leads a rich and

purposeful life.

Creative Self:

Heredity and environment provide are the raw materials which the individual uses in his unique creative

way to develop and determine his relationship with the world. For Freud humans are not free to choose

one's destiny rather all human behavior is determined where as Adler thinks that humans are free to choose

destiny.

Methods of Studying an Individual:

Personality Psychology PSY 405

For Adler birth order, first memories and dream analysis are methods of studying the mental life of an

individual.

Birth Order:

The first born, second born, youngest born, and the only born. The first born is the crown prince, a status

which no one can shake .He enjoys a unique position. He is the focus of attention until the second child is

born. The second born is involved in a rat race from the first day of his life, he is extremely ambitious and

achieves every task before the first born to get the love of parents. The only born child is like a child that is

never going to be dethroned at least by a sibling. The only born child when enters the school learns that he

is not the center of the attention. The only born child is the most spoiled child. This child is pampered by

parents a lot.

First Memories:

First memories according to Adler are the earliest recollections of an individual, which are very important

and significant to the individual. An individual chooses to remember only those memories that represent an

important theme in the individual's life. Adler's own first memories were related to his illness or death in

the family.

Dream Analysis:

Dreams are important because they provide the individual with ways and means of dealing with life's

problem. They help the individual to plan for his future.

Goal of Psychotherapy:

For Adler, lifestyle focuses on one way of looking at things and this mode of perception persists unless the

person runs into major problems, this is a faulty life style so a new life style which contains social interest.

Evaluation:

1- Adler focuses on wholeness or holistic existence of humans.

2- For Adler personality is not completely determined by inheritance and environment but it is

creative self which allows us to be what we choose to be.

3- His theory is used by counselors, therapists and educators.

Comparison with Freud:

FREUD

ADLER

His theory emphasizes on the

psychological and social aspect of the

Freud's theory is biological in nature

individual.

Emphasis on style of life, social interest and

Emphasis on sex and aggression

self.

Future goals are unimportant

Future goals are important.

Dreams are used to detect contents of

Dreams are used as problem solving

unconscious mind.

mechanisms.

Personality Psychology PSY 405

Goal of psychotherapy is to discover repressed

Goal of psychotherapy is to encourage healthy

early memories

lifestyle by incorporating social interest.

Personality is completely determined by

Humans are partially free to determine their

heredity and environment

personality

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