Preview

Alfred Adler's Psychology Case Study

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
728 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Alfred Adler's Psychology Case Study
Using Alder’s theory of individual psychology, analyze Martin’s life by answering the following questions: 1. What evidence is there that Martin had feeling of inferiority?
In the description, Martin felt embarrassed by his human beginnings. He was embarrassed by his ethic background, his parent’s lack of education, and his lack of material goods. He also didn’t want to recall his early childhood, which meant that he couldn’t ignore the deficiency of his life. All of these were evidences that Martin had feeling of inferiority. 2. According to Adler’s theory, how did feeling of inferiority influence Martin’s behavior? What influence did these beliefs of inferiority have on his striving for superiority?
Because of the feeling of inferiority, Martin was eager to make achievement when he grew up, and he strived for his study and work. He was an excellent student at school, and also became a well-known lawyer in his career. He wanted to use the achievements to increase his superiority and decrease the inferiority. I think the beliefs of inferiority had positive influence on his striving for superiority. Martin’s inferiority helped him to improve himself and achieve success. He wanted to get rid of inferiority and striving for superiority. In order to achieve this goal, he had motivation to study hard and work hard. Consequently, he obtained success and achieved his goal.

3. According to Adler’s theory, what was Martin’s goal? What was Martin’s unique style of life that could be used to achieve this goal? How do you know this?
According to Adler’s theory, Martin’s goal was to be out of inferiority and achieve superiority. The style of life was the life plan or guiding image, and referred to the unique ways which people peruse their ways. People’s unique styles of life were formed to a considerable extent during the first five years of life, and also were a reaction to people’s inferiority, real or imaged. Therefore, Martin’s unique style of life

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Vaca’s view affected on how he treated others, but soon found out his views were flawed. The reactions to Martin don’t paint a good perception of it which affects the way they treat him. As read in the text, they describe their feelings about Martin,” It was his enormous belly that caused us to immediately dislike him,” (Vaca par. 8).…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The text elucidates the boy’s conformity to the wishes of white man. His acceptance of the scholarship symbolizes his acceptance of separation between the two societies as “it was a scholarship to the state college for Negroes.” Although the boy realizes that whites and blacks are restricted to societal confines that can never merge and never become equal, the boy fails to see the force exercised by the whites that lock him into this box. When he prioritizes materialistic wealth, “smelling the fresh leather” of the brief case over his own dignity, he resigns himself to the desires of society in that he blinds himself with affluence and thus becomes incapable of realizing his own visions. This is further strengthened by the boy’s quote “I felt an importance that I had never dreamed” because it implies that he no longer needs his dignity in order to achieve a feeling of success. It provides him with self-respect and happiness that prevent him from questioning the advantages of conformity. Stripped from his pride and naively reaching for wealth he contributes to his own confinement as he goes to “attend college” in order to “shape the destiny of [his] people” and thus fulfills the plans of whites. While the boy puts his destiny in the hands of white society, he conforms to the rules of white control.…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    His father fought against racial prejudice and had no sense of class superiority within his children. As a result, this left a lasting impression on Martin. Where he was born, Atlanta, Georgia, crime was at a minimum and most of his neighbours were very religious. At school, he was very bright and intelligent, so much so he skipped grade 9 and 11. Martin Luther King Jr. did not really experience segregation hands on. In college, he even had an affair with a white woman. Against his father’s wish, Martin also drank beer and played pool. This shows us that segregation played a minimum part in Martin’s early life as he had a relationship with somebody from who is supposedly from the opposing…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Let's work without speculating", said Martin; "it's the only way of rendering life bearable. The whole little group entered into this laudable scheme; each one began to exercise his talents. The little plot yielded fine crops†.†.†. "…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In paragraph twelve of his letter, we can see that Martin uses the repetition of “When you” to show the current limitations and struggles of the negro race. The serious blow of heartbreak is when he claims that he could not take his child to Funland based off the color of her skin. He next uses the trope “There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair” What this trope shows is that there is a breaking point, a time where one can not fight anymore. This shows his passion for fighting now, not later for inalienable…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rosa Parks Research Paper

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Martin is known for leading the civil rights movement. He led the bus boycott which ended racial segregation…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    order of operations

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages

    I have chosen Alfred Adler individual theory, According to Adler's theory, each of us is born into the world with a sense of inferiority. We start as a weak and helpless child and strive to overcome these deficiencies by become superior to those around us. I feel that I not only can apply this theory today, but I also feel that I already apply this theory in my everyday life. I mean I strive to be the best at whatever I do. I feel that if I do not strive to be the best I will just end up average like everyone else. I was born in a small southern town in NC and I wanted to be my best therefore I choose to move to the north because in order to be the best it would not happen where I was born. I strive to give it my all even if it is not considered the best by others if I do my best at it and give it my all then it is the best for me.…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The call for justice was unquenchable, the tensions in Birmingham starved people for justice and equality, the fight for change was inevitable. Martin had many acts of protest against segregation, after being sent to jail and belittled, he felt compelled to give his explanation and reasoning to the Clergymen that criticized his work. Although Martin’s philosophy was based on nonviolent protest, it was necessary to fight for moral injustice even if that meant breaking the law. In the case of Birmingham, it was vital for Martin to response to the out cries of the people due to the unconstitional behaviors that continued to take place there. Martin focus on 3 central themes; moral obligation over unjust laws, direct action and justification of…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Her aspired dreams, her hope, her lost. Martine wants to be respected, to be “somebody”; she wants to make something for herself in life. But she has none of it. Her life, her tragedy, herself prevents her from those things. Martine reveals her despair in her own…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1. What philosophical values, if any, are presented or advocated by Stephen Crane in the story?…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    He was born in Vienna, year 1870. He earned a medical degree in 1895. Adler believed we as humans are social creatures. He believed we are born with this innate desire to care for others and want to be cared for in return. Adler endured a traumatic near death experience as a young boy. He was sickly and spent much of his time feeling inferior to others. He defined the Inferiority Complex as a belief that you are not strong enough, smart enough, or good enough. He was firm in his belief that no one should feel this way. On the contrary, he defined a Superiority Complex as a belief you are better than others because of repressed feelings of inferiority. This can be displayed as aggression, depression or accusation (Feist, Feist & Roberts 2008). Adler stated that an affirmative attitude toward humanity was essential to mental health. Adler believed striving for success was when we have a social interest and are motivated by it. Viewing people as teammates not opponents. "My success is not your loss" (Feist, Feist & Roberts 2008). Our style of life more modernly known as lifestyle is not what we connoted it to nowadays; however, Adler defined it as a person's goals, self concept, feelings for others and attitude toward the world. He claimed only children, oftenly are socially mature. Adler soundly believed that perception shapes…

    • 2132 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adlerian Theory - 1

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Adlerian theory is historically noted for being the first major philisophical theory to break from the beliefs of Sigmund Freud. Originated by Alfred Adler, who was born on February 7, 1870 and raised in a middle-class Hungarian-Jewish family, this theory is deeply rooted in the early life experiences of it’s founder. Aldler’s formative years were riddled with illnesses and traumatic experiences which he would later view as inferiorities and use as the basic premise of his theories – that human beings are constantly striving to overcome their weaknesses (inferiorities) and grow stronger (more superior).…

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King Change

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Martin was a leader, he changed how a whole nation looked at African Americans. (Russell,1). He changed how races treated each other, he showed them that they should respect one another.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Martin Luther King

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Martin is a great person who lead African Americans to achieve the civil right among all people.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    I chose the Adlerian modality as my treatment method in this paper for the simple reason that this is the therapy that focuses most on the individual striving toward excellence while trying to achieve social connectedness and a sense of well being.…

    • 1655 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics