Entry #5 - Alfred Adler

Alfred Adler was another psychodynamic theorist who studied inferiority, superiority, associated complexes and compensation. His views were mainly shaped by his interest in organic dysfunctions and Darwinism theory. His notion of inferiority is that all children experience a sense of inferiority because of their size and dependence on others. He said that this inferiority will lead to attempts at overcoming the perceived weakness, or otherwise compensating. He believed that this process is motivated by the generalized drive known as "striving for superiority". As opposed to Freud's emphasis on sexual and aggressive drives, Adler saw motivation as the desire for mastery over oneself and a striving for power. He saw striving for superiority as a lifelong process that is guided by conscious goals and values rather than but forces of the unconscious. For Adler, the most important influence on the development of personality is the experience of childhood inferiority. 

Some individuals have such a strong experience that they develop a lifelong sense of inferiority, otherwise known as an inferiority complex. An inferiority complex is an intense feeling of insecurity based on the failure to resolve the feelings evoked by childhood experiences of helplessness. Others develop a superiority complex which is essentially a response to feelings of inferiority and the person deals with it by attempting to mask it by adopting an attitude of exaggerated self importance. Early experiences such as having a major illness, being spoiled or being neglected can have a major impact on how the child views their own capacities which in turn affects the child's social interactions. 

I think that Adler's concept of inferiority and superiority complexes is very interesting, and valid but only to a certain extent. Unlike Adler, I do not believe that childhood experiences of inferiority have THAT big of an impact on our personalities later in life, although I agree that early experiences do help shape our view of ourself and in turn how we react to the world. On a more personal level, I do not believe that I developed a inferiority or superiority complex due to my childhood experiences. I do remember feeling more helpless when I was younger, and hence inferior. I think this feeling was especially great in my case because my older sister always had more freedom and could do more on her own than I could, so not only did I feel inferior to adults, but I felt inferior to my closest peer, my sister. I don't think this caused me to develop a complex, however, because I don't feel like I am over compensating or under compensating for this feeling of inferiority in my childhood. I have no particular reason (such as being overly pampered, neglected or having a major disease) to have some sort of distorted view of my capacities and capabilities. 

The attached picture is a comic strip depicting a comical action of someone with a inferiority complex.