Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories- Adler: Individual
Psychology
© The McGraw−Hill^71
Companies, 2009I
n 1937, a young Abraham Maslow was having dinner in a New York restaurant
with a somewhat older colleague. The older man was widely known for his earlier
association with Sigmund Freud, and many people, including Maslow, regarded him
as a disciple of Freud. When Maslow casually asked the older man about being
Freud’s follower, the older man became quite angry, and according to Maslow, he
nearly shouted that
this was a lie and a swindle for which he blamed Freud entirely, whom he then
called names like swindler, sly, schemer.... He said that he had never been a
student of Freud or a disciple or a follower. He made it clear from the beginning
that he didn’t agree with Freud and that he had his own opinions. (Maslow, 1962,
p. 125)Maslow, who had known the older man as an even-tempered, congenial person, was
stunned by his outburst.
The older man, of course, was Alfred Adler, who battled throughout his pro-
fessional life to dispel the notion that he had ever been a follower of Freud. When-
ever reporters and other people would inquire about his early relationship with
Freud, Adler would produce the old faded postcard with Freud’s invitation to Adler
to join Freud and three other physicians to meet at Freud’s home the following Thurs-
day evening. Freud closed the invitation saying, “With hearty greetings as your col-
league” (quoted in Hoffman, 1994, p. 42). This friendly remark gave Adler some
tangible evidence that Freud considered him to be his equal.
However, the warm association between Adler and Freud came to a bitter end,
with both men hurling caustic remarks toward the other. For example, after World
War I, when Freud elevated aggression to a basic human drive, Adler, who had long
since abandoned the concept, commented sarcastically: “I enriched psychoanalysis
by the aggressive drive. I gladly make them a present of it” (quoted in Bottome,
1939, p. 64).
During the acrimonious breakup between the two men, Freud accused Adler of
having paranoid delusions and of using terrorist tactics. He told one of his friends
that the revolt by Adler was that of “an abnormal individual driven mad by ambition”
(quoted in Gay, 1988, p. 223).
Overview of Individual Psychology
Alfred Adler was neither a terrorist nor a person driven mad by ambition. Indeed, his
individual psychologypresents an optimistic view of people while resting heavily
on the notion of social interest,that is, a feeling of oneness with all humankind. In
addition to Adler’s more optimistic look at people, several other differences made the
relationship between Freud and Adler quite tenuous.
First, Freud reduced all motivation to sex and aggression, whereas Adler saw
people as being motivated mostly by social influences and by their striving for supe-
riority or success; second, Freud assumed that people have little or no choice in shap-
ing their personality, whereas Adler believed that people are largely responsible for
who they are; third, Freud’s assumption that present behavior is caused by past ex-
periences was directly opposed to Adler’s notion that present behavior is shaped by
people’s view of the future; and fourth, in contrast to Freud, who placed very heavy
Chapter 3 Adler: Individual Psychology 65