Life Tasks

There is a task in life which no individual can escape. It is to solve a great number of problems...I have divided them for clarity into three parts: problems of behavior toward others; problems of occupation; and problems of love. The manner in which an individual behaves toward these three problems and their subdivisions – that is his answer to the problems of life. (Adler, 1982, p. 4)

The three problems that Adler noted have been widely discussed in the literature, and are frequently known as the “Adlerian life tasks” or a similar term. For our purposes, they are summarized from Oberst and Stewart (2003): work, one’s vocation or occupation; love, emotionally intimate relationships; community, caring about and for the welfare of others. Several important points must be made regarding the life tasks.

Of paramount importance is the creative and individual nature of how the tasks are carried out; it represents the individual’s own “answer to the problems of life” rather than a nomothetic standard. However partitioned and defined, the life tasks are carried out under the direction of the individual’s life style (Adler, 1982) and thus are consistent with the unity of the individual’s personality.

Also, by noting that his division of the whole into three parts was “for clarity” and by reference to further “subdivisions”, Adler may have been acknowledging the possibility of other, equally valid conceptualizations of the life tasks. In any event, others have proposed additions and modifications.

For example, Mosak and Dreikurs examined Adler’s cumulative writings on the subject and proposed that the addition of two more tasks was justified: self, the task of relating to one’s self; spirituality, the task of determining meaning for one’s own life (Dreikurs & Mosak, 1967; Mosak & Dreikurs, 2000). Mansager and Gold (2000) challenged these two new tasks, claiming that Adler’s writings did not in fact support Dreikurs and Mosak (Mansager & Gold, 2000; Gold & Mansager, 2000). Their challenge seems to have been largely ignored, as a list of five tasks appears frequently in the literature (e.g., Eckstein and Kern, 2003) and is referred to as the Adlerian/Mosak life tasks.

An alternative framework of life tasks, based not on Adler but rather on the bagua, an element of Chinese philosophy important in feng shui, was proposed by Snyder (2010).

Make a Connection

Spirituality, the task of determining meaning for one’s own life, is probably the most broadly defined of the life tasks. Assuming that you view the task as appropriate for inclusion in the list of life tasks, how would you define it in the context of your life?

References

Adler, A. (1982). The fundamental views of individual psychology. Individual Psychology: The Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice, 38(1), 3-6. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Dreikurs, R., & Mosak, H. H. (1967). The tasks of life: II. The fourth life task. Individual Psychologist, 4(2), 1967, 51-56.

Eckstein, D., & Kern, R. (2003). Psychological fingerprints: Lifestyle assessment and interventions. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt.

Gold, L., & Mansager, E. (2000). Spirituality: Life task or life process?. Journal of Individual Psychology, 56(3), 266-276. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Mansager, E., & Gold, L. (2000). Three life tasks or five?. Journal of Individual Psychology, 56(2), 155-171. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Mosak, H. H., & Drelkurs, R. (2000). Spirituality: The fifth life task. Journal of Individual Psychology, 56(3), 257-265. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Oberst, U. E., & Stewart, A. E. (2003). Adlerian psychotherapy: An advanced approach to individual psychology. New York: Routledge.

Snyder, L. L. (2010). Feng shui bagua: An alternative assessment of social interest. Unpublished manuscript. Available from author.

Copyright © 2011 Leonard Snyder

Social interest

The leading idea of the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler is found in his recognition of the importance of human society, not only for the development of the individual character, but also for the orientation of every single action and emotion in the life of a human being. (Dreikurs, 1989, p. 1)

This orientation, that is, the individual’s urge to respond to the demands of adapting to and fitting in with the social group is what Adler termed social interest.

Ansbacher (1978, 1991) traced the development of Adler’s idea of social interest over four decades of Adler’s writings. During this time Adler gradually changed his conceptualization of social interest as a more or less physiological drive, in the nature of Freud’s psychology, to a cognitive function that is innate but only partially developed at birth (Ansbacher, 1991).

Oberst and Stewart (2003) made the point that social interest is not only the cause for engaging with others, but is also the result. The authors also stated that it is not the mere performance of good deeds which is social interest; rather, it is the feeling of belonging:

As the expression ‘community feeling’ suggests, it has to be something felt, not only done. The act is a consequence of the feeling. Doing a good deed without the ‘right’ attitude has the opposite finality: not to contribute to the community, but to care exclusively for one’s own self. (p. 18)

Make a Connection

1. What do you think social interest means in an online community?

2. Do you think is necessary to reexamine the concept of social interest as a result of the emergence of the online world? How?

References

Ansbacher, H. L. (1978). The development of Adler’s concept of social interest: A critical study. Journal of Individual Psychology (00221805), 34(2), 118-152. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Ansbacher, H. L. (1991). The development of Adler's concept of social interest: A critical study. Individual Psychology: The Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice, 47(1), 64-65. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Dreikurs, R. (1989). Fundamentals of Adlerian psychology. Chicago: Adler School of Professional Psychology.

Oberst, U. E., & Stewart, A. E. (2003). Adlerian psychotherapy: An advanced approach to individual psychology. New York: Routledge.

Copyright © 2011 Leonard Snyder

Rudolf Dreikurs

Biographical details not otherwise credited below are from Terner and Pew (1978).

Rudolf Dreikurs was born in Vienna, Austria in 1897. He became a medical doctor, psychiatrist and educator.  His most noteworthy contributions to individual psychology were in transforming its original theoretical foundations into systems of clinical practice as well as significantly expanding its scope (Bitter, 1997; Bitter, 2007).

Dreikurs’ childhood relationships with significant adults were marked by emotional conflict. As Terner and Pew (1978) state:

His stern father impatiently demanded perfection of him, his mother indulged and pampered him, and nursemaids, aunts and uncles all made Rudi the focus of attention…[he] quickly grasped that to be important and to have a place in the family, he must be the center of attention. The rub was that he also had to live up to all the demands placed on him…Suddenly, when he was five, Rudolf’s world was torn asunder, his throne  toppled, and his sovereignty destroyed by the arrival of a baby sister, Bertha.  (p. 5)

At the age of about fifteen, Dreikurs aligned with a youth movement that engaged in discussion groups largely focused on school reform. He soon organized a Sprechsall (“speaking hall”) to host one of these discussion groups. Dreikurs there learned the value of public sharing of ideas in an open setting. He later experienced that value again through his association with Alfred Adler.

Dreikurs first met Adler in 1921 as a result of their mutual involvement in the postwar labor movement’s efforts to foster improvements in education and cultural enrichment. Adler’s participation led to his establishment of child guidance clinics in Vienna and elsewhere. The number of clinics grew rapidly, and Dreikurs was part of a group trained to work in the new clinics. Dreikurs’ appreciation of Adler’s ideas grew steadily, and by the time Dreikurs opened his private practice in 1927 he fully embraced individual psychology, an attitude that he maintained for the remainder of his life.

With the ascent to power of Hitler, political and social conditions in Europe became increasingly threatening, especially to Jewish intellectuals such as Dreikurs. Accordingly, about 1934 he formed the intention to leave Vienna, although it took three years for him to do so. Finally in 1937 (the year in which Adler died) Dreikurs left Europe entirely. He stopped for a time in Brazil and then made his way to Chicago where he began to put Adlerian ideas into practice.

Dreikurs’ first major effort in the United States was the establishment in 1939 of a child guidance clinic at the Abraham Lincoln Center in a lower-class Chicago neighborhood. He continued to develop his ideas about individual psychology and to put them into action through teaching, lecturing, and clinical practice until his death in 1972. By that time Dreikurs had published over 300 works (Bitter, 1997).  Many of them remain relevant today and are widely studied and cited, for example his classic Children: The Challenge (Dreikurs, 1964). In 1951, Dreikurs founded the Alfred Adler Institute, later the Adler School of Professional Psychology, in Chicago. The school grew steadily and in 1955 offered its first postgraduate program in psychotherapy (Terner & Pew, 1978).

Make a Connection

Dreikurs’ early experiences as an active member and organizer of youth discussion groups seem to have had a lasting influence on him. Are there experiences that have had equally significant impacts for you?

References

Bitter, J. (1997, June). Dreikurs in 1997: A posthumous contribution. Individual Psychology: The Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice. p. 119-121. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Bitter, J. (2007). Am I an Adlerian?. Journal of Individual Psychology, 63(1), 3-31. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Dreikurs, R., & Soltz, V. (1964). Children: The challenge. New York: Plume.

Terner, J., & Pew, W.L. (1978). The courage to be imperfect: The life and work of Rudolf Dreikurs. New York: Hawthorn.

Copyright (c) 2011 Leonard Snyder

Alfred Adler

Alfred Adler was born in a suburb of Vienna, Austria in 1870. He became a medical doctor, psychotherapist and, most significantly, the originator of the body of ideas known as individual psychology.

Adler was early afflicted with rickets. He later recalled:

I was reared and watched with the greatest solicitude on account of my sickliness…I must have been forced to put up with a great deal less of this attention when my younger brother was born…I took this apparent loss of attention on the part of my mother very much to heart.  (Bottome, 1939, p. 21)

Many of Adler’s family members were gifted musicians. Adler himself possessed the attributes of a talented singer and dramatic performer, although he seems not to have actualized them, even in later years as a lecturer (Bottome, 1939). He instead chose the sciences. Adler began his medical practice in ophthalmology, shifting later to neurology and psychiatry (Hirsch, 2005). This path no doubt helped lead him to a collegial relationship with Viennese psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, beginning in 1902 when Adler joined Freud’s psychoanalysis discussion group. This group, which came to be known as the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, also included such prominent thinkers as Carl Jung and Otto Rank (Hopkins, 1939).

Freud nominated Adler as the group’s president in 1910. However, Adler and Freud soon parted company for ideological reasons. Adler then founded the Society for Individual Psychology (Hirsch, 2005); for a thorough exposition of the principles of individual psychology, see Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956).

Adler had great practical as well as theoretical interest in mental health. He lectured and conducted seminars at great length on prevention of mental disorders. Ansbacher (1992) details Adler’s ideas about prevention and describes the educational counseling centers that Adler established in the Vienna schools.  There were more than 30 such centers in 1934. At that time the changing political conditions in pre-World War II Europe led to the clinics closing, and also to Adler’s emigration to the United States (Ansbacher, 1956). He continued to teach and lecture until his sudden death from a heart attack in 1937 (Bottome, 1939).

Make a Connection

1. Adler put great emphasis on the value of approaching the task of life with courage, once stating that:

What do you first do when you are learning to swim…? You make mistakes, do you not? Well-life is just the same as learning to swim! Do not be afraid of making mistakes, for there is no other way of learning how to live! (Bottome, 1939, p. 27).

How does this way of living speak to you?

2. Another central concept in Adler’s theory is the idea of striving for superiority (Ackerknecht, 1988; Ansbacher, 1978; Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956; Hjertaas, 2004). What do you see in the above vignettes from Adler’s early life that may have contributed to the development of this idea?

References

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Ackerknecht, L. K. (1988). Reconsidering some Adlerian concepts. Individual Psychology: The Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice, 44(4), 453-465. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Ansbacher, H. L. (1978). The development of Adler’s concept of social interest: A critical study. Journal of Individual Psychology (00221805), 34(2), 118-152. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Ansbacher, H. L. (1992). Alfred Adler, pioneer in prevention of mental disorders. Individual Psychology: The Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice, 48(1), 3-34. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Ansbacher, H. L., & Ansbacher, R. R. (Eds.). (1956). The individual psychology of Alfred Adler. New York: HarperPerennial.

Bottome, P. (1939). Alfred Adler, a biography. Oxford, England: Putnam.

Hirsch, P. (2005). Apostle of freedom: Alfred Adler and his British disciples. History of Education, 34(5), 473-481. doi:10.1080/00467600500220622

Hjertaas, T. (2004). Adler and Binswanger: Individual psychology and existentialism. Journal of Individual Psychology, 60(4), 396-407. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hopkins, P. (1939). Sigmund Freud. Character & Personality, 8(2), 163-169. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Copyright (c) 2011 Leonard Snyder