Explain what Adler meant by “style of life.” According to Adler’s theory, how do inferiority feelings develop?
Adler worked as physician in the Austrian camps, during the World War I. He later developed a theory, known as individual psychology, which wooed many of the followers. His personality, that is warmth, geniality and optimism, made him to be accorded as a celebrity amongst the people. Adler focused more on the social forces rather than on the biological instincts.
He proposed that the social interactions lead to the achievement of the life goals and not just the sexual instincts. Freud proposed that the incidents to which an infant is exposed is responsible for shaping his personality; however, according to Adler the relations that the individual establish, as he grows and his goals, hopes and desires also help in conditioning the personality of an individual.
According to Freud, there are there levels of personality, id, superego and ego; however, according to Adler, there a unity in all the features of our personality. This unified nature helps us to achieve the goals of our life. Another difference in Adler and Freud’s work was reflected from their views on women. Adler considered women to be equal to men and they were not objectified as was done by Freud.
Adler did not consider women to be inferior to men. As happened in his own life, he considered that the influential force in conditioning a behavior is extracted from the generalized inferiority feeling. Earlier, he used to relate his conditions to this inferiority theory. Later it was observed in other children also. For instance, the child who used to stammer later became a good orator, when he underwent a speech therapy.
A child who is born with weak limbs could later become a good dancer or an athlete by intensive exercise or with the help of even a prosthetic leg. For example, Indian Actress Sudha Chandran, who lost her legs in an accident, has proved to be a successful dancer. Such people prove to be extraordinary. This is because they had faced the helplessness or the dependency on others.
Hence, when they get the chance, they excel in the area of their interest. This was described a style of life by Adler. Such inferiority is present in every child and this pulling and pushing always propel us towards achieving the goals. If such feelings are, however, rejected or are pampered, the success might drift apart from the child.