Individual psychology
Where Freud believed that there were universal biological factors that there were universal factors that made people behave in certain ways, Alfred Adler believed that behaviors were based on the individual's experience and environmental and societal factors. Personality was determined by the confrontation of love-related vocational and societal forces.
Striving for success and superiority
Adler firmly believed that the driving force behind a person's actions were the desire for personal gain, which he called superiority, and the desire for community benefit, which he called success. Due to the fact that all people are born with small, delicate, and inferior bodies, we develop a sense of inferiority and attempt to overcome these feelings. People who strive for superiority have little concern for others and are only focused on personal benefit, and therefore psychologically unhealthy. People who strive for success do so for all of humanity without losing their identity, and are therefore psychologically healthy.
I. Inferiority complex: unconscious sense of inferiority, or feeling of lack of worth. The overcompensation of these feelings can lead to neurotic symptoms
II. Superiority complex: suppressing feelings that exist is an attempt to conquer an inferiority complex.
According to Adler, an individual's personality traits are derived from these external factors:
I. Compensation: When a person suffers from a disadvantage, they are made inferior to others and aim to put an end to those disadvantages. People who are able to do so become successful on an individual and social basis.
II. Resignation: This happens when people give in to their disadvantages and settle with them. This occurs with the majority of people.
III. Overcompensation: This occurs when a person becomes infatuated with the notion of compensating for their weaknesses or disadvantages and they overindulge in the pursuit of striving for success. These people were neurotics.