Comparing Freuds and Adlers Personality Theories: Childhood Influences and Contrasting Approaches

Abstract

Comparison of Theories Sigmund Freud’s and Alfred Adler theories. Our attitudes and perceptions about human nature are shaped by our personal experiences, intuition, and social and cultural influences. Their personality tests have inspired theorists to define human nature using various approaches. Everybody has their personalities which define how they live their lives. Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler are two theorists with different experiences and personalities and have developed theories to explain human personality using various approaches. Talking about their biographies, Sigmund Freud was one of the most outspoken lads on personality analysis of all times, which to date his theory is used for reference. He was born in 1856 in Moravia in the Czech Republic but later moved to Vienna, which shaped his destiny. His father was authoritarian, while her mother was extremely protective, which is later manifested in his concept of the Oedipus Complex. According to (Schultz 2016), Freud’s mother took pride in young Sigmund, convinced he would become a great man. During his childhood, he exhibited high levels of intelligence, and his parents redirected their attention to him with love compared to his other siblings. In school, he was extraordinary; he spoke fluent English, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Latin, and German and always topped his class. He was all around but eventually settled to pursue medicine as a career. He experimented on Cocaine while in medical school, making him have illusions about an imaginary life. He later published an article about the benefits of cocaine but was highly criticized, which he tried to erase in his lifetime. As a clinical neurologist in 1881, he began exploring the personalities of people who have emotional disorders (Schultz 2016). This led him to a sexual basis for neurosis, where he ascertained that childhood experiences as the primary cause of neuroses. He had a fearful sex life, which later influenced his personal life and succumbed to neuroses. This fueled him to develop the theory of personality. He was known for intrinsic and valuable ideas and published books, articles, and papers which gained a lot of attention. He later moved to America in 1909, where his work was received with recognition from the American Psychological community. In his final years, he was very successful, but his health deteriorated from cancer, and he had a life full of pain. He died in 1939 through sedation. Alfred Adler was born in1870. Contrary to Feud, his childhood was marked with illness, jealousy, and awareness of death. He lost his brother, and he smelt death at a tender age and was alienated by his mother when two years when his other brother was born. It was different from Freud, who had good relations with his parent. Adler had rickets that bred jealousy in his elder brother, who could play with ease and cheerfully. He felt belittled among his neighbors who were in good health, and this inspired him to work hard and joined sports and games despite his legacy of illness and physical limitations. Unlike Freud, he was a failing student in school and poor in mathematics, and the teacher advised his father to apprentice him as a shoemaker. His childhood was mysterious, and, in his theory, he focused on inferiority as a result of childhood experiences. He later pursued medicine at the University of Vienna and later specialized in neurology and psychiatry. Both Freud and Adler were people with different ideologies, and their critics grew among each other when it came to their different theoretical perspectives. He moved to America in 1926, where he held lectures, wrote books, and gained momentum in America. Adler suffered a heart attack and succumbed to death in 1937 while in Scotland. According to ((Weiner 2021)), Freud’s psychoanalytic theory offers the most general and well-known conception of the dynamics of motivation. His theory is considered valuable and meaningful compared to that of other theorists. Feud laments that instincts connect the needs of the body and wishes of the mind and are responsible for shaping our behavior. He alludes that life instincts and death instincts both explain human behavior. Life instincts are essential in sustaining life, and they focus on reproduction, pleasure, and survival—for instance, sexual procreation, thirst, hunger, and avoidance of pain, creating libido. They conferred to preserving life, compelling people to seek good health and safety. They maintain a harmonious and healthy society through positive emotions such as love and affection. According to (About | HeinOnline, 2021), Feud proposed that “the goal of all life is death.” Death instincts are often intuitive and may result in self-harm. Freud’s theory laments that individuals who go through traumatic situations can probably reenact their past experiences. He uses three aspects of the mind: id, ego , and superego, which work together to explain human behavior. The id is the fundamental component of personality present from birth which psyches up energy. The pleasure principle drives this component of personality that strives for needs, wants, and desires. If they are not attended to, they yield anxiety. For instance, babies cry when they feel uncomfortable or hungry. The id is vital in ensuring an individual seeks realistic and socially acceptable ideologies. The ego emanates from the id. Unlike the id, which operates in the unconscious mind, the ego operates in the conscious, unconscious, and preconscious mind. It operates on the reality principle that weighs the pros and cons before deciding. The ego provides direction and guidance to meet objectives. When the dilemma ego prevents rush to decide, it is slow and quiet. The superego develops at the age of five, which entails the conscience and the ego ideal. The conscience provides information regarding what is considered wrong and forbidden, while the ego ideal provides rules and regulations regarding the standard of behavior. The three components of personality interact to influence personality and behavior. Feud believed in psychosexual stages of personality development. A person's character develops from childhood. The parents try to shape the child’s...