Alfred Adler was not a man driven mad by ambition, nor was he a terrorist. Individual psychology, a construction of Alfred Adler, rests heavily on the notion of social interest presenting an optimistic view of the individual. It is differences such as the optimistic outlook of the individual of Adler that create a tenuous relationship between Adler and Freud.
To start, Freud reduces motivation to a pair of factors in aggression and sex, in comparison to Adler's view of motivation to derive from social influences and a striving for success and superiority. The assumption of Freud is quite external regarding locus of control, finding the individual to have little control in shaping his or her personality, whereas Adler finds people to consist of an internal locus of control and as such bear responsibility for who they become. Freud believes behavior to correlate to past experience in comparison to Adler finding present behavior to be shaped by the possibilities the future holds. Freud places emphasis on the unconscious in comparison to Adler, who finds people to have an awareness of not only what they are doing but also why they are doing it.
Adler, as part of a small group of physicians, met with Freud every Wednesday evening to discuss psychology-related topics. Over time, personal and theoretical differences emerged in the Freud-Adler relationship, causing Adler to abandon the Freud circle and establish his very own theory, commonly known as individual psychology.
©2015 Steven G. Carley MS (P)2015 SGC Production
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