Table of Contents
What Life Should Mean to You.
Alfred Adler
The Influence of Family
The Mother's Influence
- Most important at the beginning of an infant's life.
- A child continually seeks the mother's attention.
The Father's Role and Responsibilities
- The relationship is not as close at first; the father's influence comes later than the mother's and can be greater.
- A child may worship the father as an idol or regard him as the greatest enemy.
- When the father gets along well with his own parents and siblings, it benefits the child's capacity to cooperate.
Relationships Between Family Members
- The eldest child usually receives a great deal of attention and becomes accustomed to being the center of the family.
- The second child faces a rival from birth and finds it easier to cooperate with others.
- The youngest child has the most rivals and may be more likely to surpass the other children in achievement.
The Influence of School
The School's Responsibilities
- School is an extension of the family, and the teacher's work resembles the mother's role.
- Both skipping a grade and being held back do more harm than good.
Cooperation and Competition in the Classroom
- Children prefer competition to cooperation.
- Even without examinations, they know one another's abilities.
- They become more eager to learn when they receive recognition or praise.
Childhood and Early Memories
Childhood's Influence on Life
- Physical impairments: among children who experience pressure because of an organ impairment, more go on to struggle or fail.
- Pampering: spoiled children may grow into a dangerous group.
- Neglect: neglected children are not good at relating to others and often overlook the possibility of cooperation.
Early Memories
- Memories reveal a person's secrets more clearly than anything else; they are not accidental.
- People remember events that are especially important to their circumstances.
- Early memories are the most revealing: they can show a person's fundamental outlook on life.
Adolescence
Psychological Characteristics
- Wanting to prove that one is no longer a child.
- Seeing adolescence as the end of everything.
The Aims of Behavior
- Demonstrating independence.
- Demanding equality with adults.
The Struggles of Adolescence
- Feeling intense fear because one is poorly prepared for adult life.
- Most who struggle in adolescence were pampered as children.
Mind and Body
The Interaction Between Mind and Body
- Body and mind form an indivisible whole.
- The mind governs the body and anticipates the direction of behavior.
The Importance of Mental Development
- The mind can also influence the brain.
- One's way of life and tendencies toward psychological complexes continually affect the body.
Feelings of Inferiority and Superiority
The Inferiority Complex
- When it appears: feelings of inferiority are more likely to arise when a person cannot solve a problem.
- How it appears: anger, tears, tension, and apologies.
- Feelings of inferiority are not inherently pathological; they are a reason that human beings strive to improve their position.
Striving for Superiority
- The pursuit of superiority is common to all human beings.
- Everyone has a goal of superiority, and that goal is unique to the individual.
- People in states of mental derangement often display their goals of superiority.
The Meaning of Life
Three Realities of Human Life
- We cannot live apart from the surface of the Earth.
- We are not the only members of humanity; we must form connections with other people.
- Humanity has two sexes, and the continuation of individual and collective life depends on this.
Social Feeling
- For the individual, work, social relationships, and sexuality encompass all the problems of life.
- Almost everyone who fails lacks a sense of belonging and social interest.
- Learning to cooperate is an important safeguard against pathological development.
Work
Early Preparation for Work
- The mother is the first person to influence the development of a child's vocational interests.
- The second stage of vocational preparation takes place at school.
Other Factors That Influence Career Choices
- Early effort provides the best foundation for success.
- People want to surpass their parents and other family members.
- Love and social problems also play an important role in shaping one's working life.
Love and Marriage
The Importance of Love and Marriage
- Love and marriage are both aspects of cooperation.
- One must learn how to act without angering one's partner.
Prerequisites for Love and Marriage
- Mutual attraction.
- A shared wish to have and raise children.
- An equal partnership.
The Interpretation of Dreams
Discussed in greater detail in The Interpretation of Dreams.
Interpreting Dreams
- The Freudian school of psychoanalysis: often goes beyond the bounds of science.
- Individual psychology: bases its interpretations on common sense.
Characteristics of Dreams
- Dreams are composed mainly of metaphors and symbols.
- Our personality is the same when we are dreaming as when we are awake.
- The purpose of dreams is self-deception and self-indulgence.
- We usually forget a dream after waking, but its feelings remain.
Crime and Its Prevention
Criminal Psychology
- Crime arises from the pursuit of security.
- Criminals lack interest in others and have only a limited capacity for cooperation.
Correcting Criminal Behavior
- Criminal behavior is also an extension of human behavior.
- Identify the obstacles to cooperation that the offender faced in childhood.
- Parents' complaints in front of their children can hinder the development of the children's social interest.
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