Understanding Human Nature The Psychology of Personality

by Adler, Alfred; Brett, Colin

• ISBN13: 9781851686674
• ISBN10: 1851686673
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-01
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications

Summary

This book is an attempt to acquaint the general public with the fundamentals of individual psychology. At the same time it is a demonstration of the practical application of these principles to the conduct of one's everyday relationships, not only to the world, and to one's fellow men, but also to the organization of one's personal life.

Author Biography

Alfred Adler, a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and C. G. Jung, was one of the founding fathers of modern psychology. He was a core member of the famous Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, of which he became president in 1910. Following an ideological split from Freud, he resigned to found Individual Psychology.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 9
Preface	p. 15
Introduction	p. 16
Fundamentals of Character Development
What is the Psyche?	p. 27
The concept of consciousness	p. 27
The function of the psyche	p. 27
Our purpose and goal-directedness	p. 28
Social Aspects of Mental Life	p. 34
The absolute truth	p. 34
The need for communal life	p. 35
Security and adaptation	p. 36
Social feeling	p. 38
The Child and Society	p. 39
Infancy	p. 39
The effect of obstacles	p. 41
The individual as a social being	p. 45
The World We Live In	p. 47
Our mental universe	p. 47
The way we see the world	p. 49
Perception	p. 49
Memory	p. 50
Imagination	p. 51
Aspects of Unreality	p. 57
Fantasy	p. 57
Dreams: general considerations	p. 59
Empathy and identification	p. 59
Influence, suggestion and hypnosis	p. 61
The Inferiority Complex	p. 66
Early childhood	p. 66
Compensation: The striving for recognition and superiority	p. 68
The graph of life and the cosmic picture	p. 74
Psychological Characteristics	p. 83
Preparation for life	p. 83
Attention and distraction	p. 85
Criminal negligence and forgetfulness	p. 87
The unconscious	p. 87
Dreams	p. 94
Intelligence	p. 102
Male and Female	p. 104
Men, women and the division of labour	p. 104
Male dominance	p. 106
The alleged inferiority of women	p. 110
Rejecting the woman's role	p. 114
Tension between the sexes	p. 122
What can we do?	p. 124
The Family Constellation	p. 126
The Science of Character
General Considerations	p. 135
How do we become who we are?	p. 135
Social feeling, community spirit and the development of character	p. 139
How character develops	p. 142
The old school of psychology	p. 148
Temperament and endocrine secretion	p. 149
To sum up	p. 155
Aggressive Character Traits	p. 157
Vanity and ambition	p. 157
Playing God	p. 175
Jealousy	p. 178
Envy	p. 180
Greed	p. 183
Hate	p. 185
Non-Aggressive Character Traits	p. 188
Withdrawal	p. 188
Anxiety	p. 189
Timidity	p. 192
The detour syndrome	p. 194
Absence of social graces	p. 199
Other Expressions of Character	p. 202
Mood and temperament	p. 202
Manner of speech	p. 204
Schoolroom behaviour	p. 204
Pedantry and prejudice	p. 205
Submissiveness	p. 206
Imperiousness	p. 209
Bad luck	p. 209
Religiosity	p. 210
Feelings and Emotions	p. 212
Disjunctive feelings	p. 213
Anger	p. 213
Grief	p. 216
Disgust	p. 217
Fear	p. 217
The misuse of emotion	p. 219
Conjunctive feelings	p. 220
Joy	p. 220
Sympathy	p. 221
Humility	p. 221
General Remarks on Child-Rearing and Education	p. 223
Conclusion	p. 229
Glossary of Key Terms
Bibliography
Index
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