0390435333.pdf

Feist−Feist: Theories of

Personality, Seventh

Edition

II. Psychodynamic

Theories

3. Adler: Individual
   Psychology

(^90) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
overemphasize the importance of being manly, a condition he called the masculine
protest.
Origins of the Masculine Protest
In many societies, both men and women place an inferior value on being a woman.
Boys are frequently taught early that being masculine means being courageous,
strong, and dominant. The epitome of success for boys is to win, to be powerful, to
be on top. In contrast, girls often learn to be passive and to accept an inferior posi-
tion in society.
Some women fight against their feminine roles, developing a masculine orien-
tation and becoming assertive and competitive; others revolt by adopting a passive
role, becoming exceedingly helpless and obedient; still others become resigned to
the belief that they are inferior human beings, acknowledging men’s privileged posi-
tion by shifting responsibilities to them. Each of these modes of adjustment results
from cultural and social influences, not from inherent psychic difference between the
two genders.
Adler, Freud, and the Masculine Protest
In the previous chapter we saw that Freud (1924/1961) believed that “anatomy is
destiny” (p. 178), and that he regarded women as the “ ‘dark continent’ for psychol-
ogy” (Freud 1926/1959b, p. 212). Moreover, near the end of his life, he was still ask-
ing, “What does a woman want?” (E. Jones, 1955, p. 421). According to Adler, these
attitudes toward women would be evidence of a person with a strong masculine
84 Part II Psychodynamic Theories
TABLE 3.1
Comparison of Safeguarding Tendencies with Defense Mechanisms
Adler’s Safeguarding Tendencies

1. Limited mostly to the construction
   of a neurotic style of life


2. Protect the person’s fragile self-
   esteem from public disgrace


3. Can be partly conscious


4. Common types include:
   A. excuses
   B. aggression
   (1) depreciation
   (2) accusation
   (3) self-accusation
   C. withdrawal
   (1) moving backward
   (2) standing still
   (3) hesitating
   (4) constructing obstacles

Freud’s Defense Mechanisms

1. Found in everyone


2. Protect the ego from the pain of
   anxiety


3. Operate only on an unconscious
   level


4. Common types include:
   A. repression
   B. reaction formation
   C. displacement
   D. fixation
   E. regression
   F. projection
   G. introjection
   H. sublimation