102 Part II Psychodynamic Theories
The concept of creative power is a very appealing one. Probably most people
prefer to believe that they are composed of something more than the interactions of
heredity and environment. Many people intuitively feel that they have some agent
(soul, ego, self, creative power) within them that allows them to make choices and to
create their style of life. As inviting as it is, however, the concept of creative power
is simply a fiction and cannot be scientifically studied. Due to lack of operational
definitions, therefore, we rate individual psychology low on internal consistency.
The final criterion of a useful theory is simplicity, or parsimony. On this standard
we rate individual psychology about average. Although Adler’s awkward and unorga-
nized writings distract from the theory’s rating on parsimony, the work of Ansbacher
and Ansbacher (Adler, 1956, 1964) has made individual psychology more parsimonious.Concept of Humanity
Adler believed that people are basically self-determined and that they shape
their personalities from the meaning they give to their experiences. The build-
ing material of personality is provided by heredity and environment, but the
creative power shapes this material and puts it to use. Adler frequently empha-
sized that the use that people make of their abilities is more important than
the quantity of those abilities. Heredity endows people with certain abilities
and environment gives them some opportunity to enhance those abilities, but
we are ultimately responsible for the use they make of these abilities.
Adler also believed that people’s interpretations of experiences are
more important than the experiences themselves. Neither the past nor the
future determines present behavior. Instead, people are motivated by their
present perceptions of the past and their present expectations of the future.
These perceptions do not necessarily correspond with reality, and as Adler
(1956) stated, “meanings are not determined by situations, but we deter-
mine ourselves by the meanings we give to situations” (p. 208).
People are forward moving, motivated by future goals rather than by innate
instincts or causal forces. These future goals are often rigid and unrealistic, but
people’s personal freedom allows them to reshape their goals and thereby
change their lives. People create their personalities and are capable of altering
them by learning new attitudes. These attitudes encompass an understanding
that change can occur, that no other person or circumstance is responsible for
what a person is, and that personal goals must be subordinated to social interest.
Although our final goal is relatively fixed during early childhood, we
remain free to change our style of life at any time. Because the goal is fictional
and unconscious, we can set and pursue temporary goals. These momentary
goals are not rigidly circumscribed by the final goal but are created by us
merely as partial solutions. Adler (1927) expressed this idea as follows: “We
must understand that the reactions of the human soul are not final and abso-
lute: Every response is but a partial response, valid temporarily, but in no way
to be considered a final solution of a problem” (p. 24). In other words, even
though our final goal is set during childhood, we are capable of change at any
point in life. However, Adler maintained that not all our choices are conscious