Adler taught that we are all striving for superiority (or perfection). I don’t fully buy into the theory that we want superiority (or perfection) because we were little kids in an adult world. It seems to me that an organism would want to be superior (or perfect) simply to pass on its genes and perpetuate the species. Can’t Adler’s entire theory be reduced to this very Freudian perspective?
By: John at: 20th July, 2009
Status:
Answered
Answer:
Well, narcissistic striving is an important element in most people’s personality but Adler did overdo it. It is not clear how the passage of genes and so on can operate as a motive at a psychological level – consider the motives of people before there was any knowledge of genes etc. Then such knowledge couldn’t be a motive for striving for superiority, recognition, power. The Adlerian perspective was in part incorporated by Freud into his story about narcissism, a very important part of clinical theory.