Alfred Adler

1. Toshimi grew up very sickly and fragile (Ashcraft, 2013). Because of this, her parents were very overprotecting of her. They did not want her to play too aggressively or run around for too long. Toshimi had very few friends in school and was always the last one picked for games. She chose to be alone and watch television in her free time. She saw a show about the ballet and her interest was immediately perked. She began taking ballet classes; her teacher was very patient and helpful with her which made her comfortable (Ashcraft, 2013). Toshimi was very determined, she wanted respect as an athlete. Although Toshimi began as a very clumsy student, she did not listen to the other students making fun of he (Ashcraft, 2013)r. She, instead, worked even harder and gradually got better. She became an older sister figure to a lot of the younger girls. The lifestyle of the ballet world quickly grew on Toshimi and she adapted to it very well. After years of hard work, the strains she had been enduring were rewarded by success. Now she is the owner of one of the most sought out dance companies, in comparison to the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre.

Adler would be able to explain the motivation behind Toshimi’s career choice is encouragement and discouragement. When someone is encouraged they will exert the effort to achieve their goal(s). In Toshimi’s case, she was encouraged by her parents. They loved their daughter and did not want to deny her the things she loved. This was a part in why Toshimi wanted to put in the effort to be good at ballet (Stein, 2014). She was also pushed to achieve her goals because of her unique style of life. As a child, she was so protected that she felt she could not do anything. Because of this, she wanted to show that she was able to do something and be successful like other people. Another way one could look at Toshimi’s life is with social interest. According to Adler, someone who has a high social interest, or “normals”, are aware of others (Stein, 2014). Neurotics, or people with low social interest, are very selfish.

I think that, according to this theory, Toshimi was a person of high social interest. She cared for others and was not selfish about her career. For example, when Toshimi was taking classes, she acted as an older sister to the younger girls. She helped them get better at their technique and understand the choreography. This shows that Toshimi was not being selfish. I believe that the cause of this level of social interest is the way her instructor was encouraging to her and was helpful the entire way. Finally, one can look at birth order to explain Toshimi’s personality and behavior; she had 110% of her parent’s attention as she was growing up and preferred to be with adults than the children at her school (Stein, 2014).

Both Bandura and Adler can be used in either of the two case studies previously analyzed. Bandura could explain how Toshimi adjusted to the difficult setting in the dance studio by saying that she had self-efficacy; Toshimi believed she could, therefore she went for her goals and was successful (Boeree, 2014). One can also take Adler’s theory of social interest levels and apply it to Ruth’s life. According to what he said about his theory, Ruth had a high level of social interest just like Toshimi did. You can see her high level of social interest when she focuses on helping other people through her business and not complaining that she is blind. This is a great example of how she was not selfish.

Between the two theorists, I can most easily relate Alder’s motivation theory of encouragement and discouragement to my own life. I definitely think that when I have someone supporting me who is equally excited for me to reach my goals as I am, I am much more inclined to put in the effort to reach them. However, both theorists can in some way relate to my life because of the way they talk about not being selfish; I think I work as hard as I can to do what is best for me as well as others. Motivations and social interest are a big part of everyone’s lives that I think goes unnoticed.

Adler did agree with Freud on some major issues relating to the parenting of children and the long term effects of improper or inefficient child rearing. He identified two parental styles that he argued will cause almost certain problems in adulthood. The first was pampering, referring to a parent overprotecting a child, giving him too much attention, and sheltering him from the negative realities of life. As this child grows older, he will be ill equipped to deal with these realities, may doubt his own abilities or decision making skills, and may seek out others to replace the safety he once enjoyed as a child.

On the other extreme is what Adler called neglect. A neglected child is one who is not protected at all from the world and is forced to face life’s struggles alone. This child may grow up to fear the world, have a strong sense of mistrust for others and she may have a difficult time forming intimate relationships.

Erik Erikson believed that the ego Freud described was far more than just a mediator between the superego and the id. He saw the ego as a positive driving force in human development and personality. As such, he believed the ego’s main job was to establish and maintain a sense of identity. A person with a strong sense of identity is one who knows where he is in life, has accepted this positions and has workable goals for change and growth. He has a sense of uniqueness while also having a sense of belonging and wholeness.

Those who have weaker egos, encounter trying times, or who have poorly developed egos get trapped in what is termed an identity crisis. According to Erikson, an identity crisis is a time in a person’s life when they lack direction, feel unproductive, and do not feel a strong sense of identity. He believed that we all have identity crises at one time or another in our lives and that these crises do not necessarily represent a negative but can be a driving force toward positive resolution.

References

Ashcraft, D. M. (2013). Personality Theories Workbook, 6th Edition. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Boeree, D. C. (2014, October 29). Personality Theories. Retrieved from ALBERT BANDURA : http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/bandura.html Stein, H. T. (2014, October 29). Alfred Adler Intitues. Retrieved from Adlerian Overview Of Birth Order: http://www.adlerian.us/birthord.htm