Adler’s concept of # inferiority complex and its relevance to modern society and life

Dr Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung and Alder are a trio of geniuses who founded new theories of psychology and moulded the thinking pattern of man in a tremendous way. Their thinking pattern and concepts have revolutionized human life and domain of human activity .Most of the modern concepts of psychology owe their origin to the writings of these geniuses .Dr Freud is considered the founder and pioneer of psychoanalysis. Jung laid down the concept of collective unconscious of man and mankind. His archetypal concept of unconscious has gained popularity in modern psychology; Adler founded the concept of individual psychology. All these three were colleagues in their earlier days but Jung and Adler parted company with Freud later on and laid down their own theories.

Adler was dynamic theorist. He was friend and colleague of Dr Freud. His thoughts took a different direction from Freudian and Jungian ideas and propounded the principles of inferiority complex, compensation, over compensation and approach to life or style of life etc. Adler used to tell a story to everyone to convince his principle of inferiority and compensation. The story runs like this “------three children were taken to a zoo for the first time, as they stood before the lion’s cage. One of them shrank behind his mother’s skirts and said,” I want to go home”. The second child stood where he was, very pale and trembling, and said, “I am not a bit frightened”. The third glared at the lion fiercely and asked his mother, “ shall I spit at it” the three children really felt inferior, but each expressed his feelings in his own ways, constant with his style of life “

In sharp departure from Freud and Jung, Adler stressed that people are forever struggling to cover and overcome their feelings of inferiority. Basically differing with Freud and Jung he identified this struggle as most fundamental and basic urge of human life and activity. This struggle is guiding and motivating force behind every human activity. Acting on this urge people continually strive for “superiority” and “masterly of external world”.

When one repeatedly fails to overcome this weakness and achieve some masterly and simply places excessessive and over emphasis in some particular inferiority, the result is what Adler refereed as “inferiority complex”. This term has so intermixed with thinking pattern of people that they use it in their social interactions on many occasions. It is often quoted phrase in public life.

Inferiority complex has many implications with our daily life. Now it is implicated with many sexual inadequacies of man. The inadequate feelings of sex originated from inferiority complex or inferiority complex originated from the sexual inadequacies, it is difficult to determine in either way. In my view their co relationship is reciprocal and dialectical i.e. one determines the other and in turn is influenced by other

The relevance of Adler theory has not faded but its relevance to life and society has increased tremendously. Most of human “creative activity “and “sport activity” is guided by deep sense of inferiority and writers and sportsman overcome this in their unique achievements and distinctions. The birth of cosmetic industry can be directly attributed to the exploitation of inferior feelings hidden deep in human mind. This industry has successfully exploited the inferiority feelings and complex about face beauty in wonderful and amazing way. The proprietors of industry have amassed huge wealth. Th mushrooming growth of beauty parlors in every corner of streets speaks voluminous of alder’s theory of inferiority complex.

The writers, sportspersons and politicians all in fact suffer from deep sense of inferiority in their inner minds and overcome this by excelling in their own fields. They compensate it in meaningful way of creativity and glorious achievements. In fact it is the same feeling that Freud termed as id, but it is transformed and compensated in a noble way .The urge to win or excel or take the first position or rank in some field of choice is the same urge as id but in disguised and masqueraded form. It is very difficult to rule out the Freud‘s concept of “animalistic urges”. The endeavor of creative activity, the sport activity, the face making activity and political activity to supersede others and excel is nothing but “spit on the lion activity.”, in their own unique ways and life patterns.