Alfred Adler

Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
Ronan S. Estoque, M.A, DPA

Just like Dr. Sigmund Freud, Dr. Alfred Adler is an Austrian. He was previously a close associate/disciple of the former and just had a falling out with Dr. Freud because of too much emphasis on sex (mental illnesses caused by sexual conflicts in infancy).

More significantly, the contribution of Dr. Adler is centered on the concept of “inferiority complex”. In 1907 he introduced the concept of “inferiority complex” where it is asserted that the key to understanding personal and mass problem is the sense of inferiority that a person feels and his efforts (i.e. actions, behaviors) in compensating for such.

In a nutshell, everything (behavior, motivation, attitude) can be explained by the degree of inferiority complex. Man’s behavior can be measured and explained by his feelings of inadequacy and insecurity.

Unlike the bedrock of psychoanalytic theory, Dr. Adler disagree with the concept that early infant – parent relationships exclusively caused the unhealthy or healthy development of personality. He even denied the doctrine of the unconscious mind. He espoused that individuals (1) shape their own destinies, (2) overcome primitive drives and uncontrollable environment in striving for more fulfilling lives, and (3) improve themselves and the world around them through self understanding.

Regardless of the circumstances that give rise to inferiority feelings, however, a person may react by overcompensating and thus develop what Adler called a superiority complex. This involves a tendency to exaggerate one’s physical, intellectual, or social skills. A person for instance, may believe she is smarter than others but not feel she must show her intelligence by reciting what she knows about movie stars. Another person may feel that he must demonstrate all he knows about movie stars on every occasion to everyone who will listen to him. This person may neglect everything else just to prove he knows more than anyone else about movie stars. In any event, the technique of overcompensation is an exaggeration of a healthy striving to overcome persistent feelings of inferiority. Accordingly, the person possessing a superiority complex tends to be boastful, arrogant, egocentric, and sarcastic. One gets the impression that this individual has so little self-acceptance (i.e. such a low opinion of himself or herself) that only by “putting down” others can he or she feel important (Hjelle and Ziegler, 1992).

Dr. Adler also further argued that society and culture were equally responsible, if not more responsible for the development of mental illness.