The Personality Theory Of Adler 's Individual Psychology Theory

Burger (2008), says that there are many theories of personality and psychologists try to explain it with their own approaches. Discussed here will be the psychoanalytic approach, the trait approach, the biological approach the humanistic approach, the behavioural/social learning approach and the cognitive approach. They were devised to search for specific patterns in behaviour and ways of thinking about these

Feist, J., Feist, G. J., & Roberts, T. (2013). Theories of personality (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Personality and how we behave have been of much interest to psychologists for a long time now and because of this there have been many theories and theorists that have been developed. Personality is defined as consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within and individual (Fritzley, 2012, p. 10). There are six main approaches to personality psychology they include: biological approach, humanistic approach, behaviorist approach, trait approach, psychoanalytic approach and cognitive approach. Each approach shines a little light onto why we behave the way we do and how our personalities are formed, the approaches contain many different theories from

The personality theory that I have chosen to focus on will be Identity Theory. It was developed by Erik Erikson in the nineteen hundreds. Erik Erikson believed that every individual goes through a certain number of stages to reach his or her full development or potential (Erikson, 1994). He theorized that a human being goes through eight different stages ranging from birth to death (Erikson, 1994). Identity Theory focuses on eight psychosocial stages of development, and an epigenetic principle of maturation (Schultz, 2008). The stages of development are

In psychology, there are four major theories of personality: psychodynamic, trait or five-factor model, humanistic, and social-cognitive. The psychodynamic theory primarily focuses on the role of the unconscious mind. The social cognitive theory focuses on the effect of the environment on behavior and is based on theories of learning. Whereas, the humanistic theory emphasizes conscious life experiences and choices. The trait or five-factor model focuses on characteristics themselves and not the roots of personality.

Everybody has his or her own type of personality. We all act in a certain way that makes us who we are. It is believed that our parents, peers and, the environment we grow up in, shape us. Personality is describes as a combination of emotions, attitude, and behavioral patterns of an individual. There is a reason that we are the way we are and there are many theories that go along with that. Different theorist present their own definitions of the word personality based on their own theoretical positions. Which brings us to discussing Carl Jung’s theory of analytical psychology and Harry

Adlerian psychotherapists often ask their clients about early recollections. What are the assumptions of this technique and how does it facilitate the therapeutic process?

     When thinking about my personality in regard to different personality theories, I felt that I could most relate to the humanistic theory. Carl Rogers

Karen Horney and Alfred Adler are two very similar yet different neo-analytic theorists. At first glance, it may appear that Horney stole some of Adler's best ideas. It is, of course, quite conceivable that she was influenced by Adler. It is clear, for example, that Horney’s three neurotic solutions are very close to Adler's personality typology. Horney proposed a series of strategies used by neurotics to cope with other people and Adler developed a scheme of so called personality types that he intended to illustrate patterns that could denote a characteristic governed under the overall style of life.

Personality is defined as “a) the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an individual. b) the organized pattern of behavioral characteristics of the individual” (Dictionary.com, 2010). Whether we realize it or not, personality defines us as people. There are many facets to my personality,

Understand, interpret, direct. This statement is an oversimplification of sorts, but defines the essence of Adlerian psychotherapy. From this minimal overview of Adlerian theory, we can begin to elaborate and explore the intricacies of individual psychology. Adlerians are concerned with understanding the unique and private beliefs and strategies of the individual (private logic and mistaken notions) that we create in childhood, and which serve as a reference for attitudes, private views of self, others and the world, and behavior (lifestyle). Therapeutic work with clients involves short-term and intensive work to increase social interest, to encourage a greater sense of responsibility for behavior, and to support behavioral change.

In 1902, Alfred Adler was invited by Freud to become his group to discuss new ideas in psychology after seeing him publicly defend some of his own ideas. Adler was an active member as well as vocal using this group as a forum to develop and debate his emerging ideas of the human condition (Fall, Holden, & Marquis, 2004). Five years later, he developed his first theoretical work entitled, Organic Inferiority and Its Psychical Compensation. In the following years, Adler became the president of the International Psycho-analytic Society and began to openly disagree with Freud’s perspectives of

This paper is a comparison of three different viewpoints on the subject of personality. Carl Jung, B.F. Skinner, and Carl Rogers all had very different outlooks on what defined someone’s personality. As an added feature I have included myself as a theorist because my views are also different from the previous mentioned theorists. This paper will also look briefly into the background of each theorist because their views on life began in their childhood. Amazingly you will notice the all had similar backgrounds, but came up with completely different ways of looking at life.

Alfred Adler (1870-1937) and Gregory Allport (1897-1967) are both greats in the world of psychology. Both are legends when it comes to theories of personalities and understanding how the human being works, learns, understands and reacts to the world around them. Understanding their theories and what they believed and what led them to think that way helps us today understand where we have been in this field and where we today. Comparing them in their beliefs and their standards helps us to comprehend where they were when they developed their theories while being surrounded by Freudians and Neo-Freudians. Adler referred to his theory as Individual Psychology because he thought that people were unique and that no theory created before his

Both Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler were pioneers and both had a phenomenal impact on the world of psychology. However, while they were raised in the same era, came from the same city and were educated at the same university, they had decidedly different views regarding personality theories (Schultz, 1990, p. 120). Freud and Adler were both colleagues in the psychoanalytic movement that Freud started. However, because of personality differences and vastly contrasting views about personality theories (Mosak & Maniacci, 1999, p.6) Adler left to begin his own faction, which he called Individual Psychology. It is my intention to briefly describe the main areas of their theories, compare and contrast their ideas of personality development, explore what types of experiences contributes to unhealthy development and what types of interventions they would have each prescribed to patients experiencing difficulties in their lives. However, while both Freud and Adler continue to influence many areas of contemporary personality psychology, only one of them can truly be called a humanitarian.