Effectance Motivation

Originally, Alfred Adler was part of Freud’s inner circle. Dr. Adler broke from Freud and with his theory he placed more emphasis on the ego and the dynamics of social interaction. Dr. Adler, in doing so, developed his own school of individual psychology. Adler wrote about family interactions as well as the development for potentially good behavior like affiliation, nurturance, empathy as well as the potential for bad outcomes like sadomasochism.  This essay incorporated only three of his pertinent motivational concepts- Striving  for Superiority, Style  of Life  and Social Interest while explaining aspects of my behavior.

Striving for Superiority, was viewed by Adler, as either imaginary or real. It emerged in order to compensate for either some bodily weakness or some sense of emotional inferiority or insecurity. He hypothesized that all newborns enter the world tiny, weak, helpless, and dependent on the caretaker for survival. To him this meant that all newborns begin life with a generalized view of inferiority or anxiety. As a result, the innate psychic task was in place to compensate for this weakness. It did so by striving for superiority or mastery in order to overcome this deficit to develop one’s personality in attaining possible completion.

As a young child, I received a medical diagnosis of asthma. This diagnosis explained my difficulty with breathing. I was cautioned not to exert myself physically. I was also not allowed to leave the house when the air quality was bad. This deficit was real. Eventually, I compensated and overcame my breathing difficulty and physical weakness by engaging in PE and in pickup games of basketball, baseball and football during my later elementary and junior high school years. In order to become physically stronger, I lifted free weights. In fact, I became a lot stronger and had my brother and friends hand me the barbell for bench presses. It took a lot of them to pick up and hand me 350 pounds so that I could bench press. I also performed 30 chin-ups within a minute as well as 60 push-ups within a minute.

As an adolescent, I played football for the Denby Tars which was one of the or the dominant high school team in the city of Detroit. I earned honors and was awarded a football scholarship to play for the University of Detroit Titans. I pushed myself physically and athletically to control and dominate those one-on-one battles during practice and in the games. This could be explained as a striving for superiority, excellence and effectance. Of course, expending tremendous amounts of psychic and physical energy, having a myopic purpose, with realistic goal setting were important and necessary at that time.

Years later, in my late 30s, I began running and also became involved in the horse world. In my 50s, I discovered a sport called Ride and Tie. This sport combined having a human and horse partner. In this sport, I met world-class equestrians-winners in Tevis and Polo competitions and world-class runners-winners in Western States 100 and other nationally sanctioned races.  I also wore my Tevis completion buckle. Once again, expending tremendous energy, dealing with overuse injuries, having a singular focus and realistic goal setting were necessary.

Striving for Superiority  became, in  certain respects, my own particular Style  of Life  as I spent a great deal of time and energy physically conditioning that included  running 50 miles a week on average and riding my horses 50 miles a week on average  so that I could compete in the many running events [age division winner in the 100 Western  States ], endurance competitions and ride and tie [coming in first place in the 100  mile Swanton Pacific  Ride and Tie with my partners]. I ran so I could compete in ride and tie. I competed in endurance rides so my horses would be ready for Ride and Tie. Ride and Tie was my passion, my Striving for Superiority, and my favorite sport. In essence, I incorporated ride and tie behaviors which became my Style of Life.

Social Interest for Adler meant focusing on social welfare – doing well and thinking about mankind in socialized ways instead of self-serving or narcissistic interests. It’s not about fame, leadership, power, self-aggrandizement or political ambitions Once again it’s a matter of using a real or imaginary weakness or deficit as a striving compensation for behavior.

 Returning to the past and school years. At one high school reunion, a longtime friend from elementary school and a high school class officer, told me she remembered me as being really smart. My personification during junior high and high school years were sports and girls. They were certainly more important than academics. Not being motivated in high school academically, I developed an ambivalent attitude about school learning. That negative attitude was a psychic weakness and my drive to overcome for compensation.

It wasn’t until my University years that I got turned on and became passionate about the field of psychology. My Striving for Superiority took that direction in my 20s and 30s as I achieved a BS; two MA’s and a PhD. In part for Social Welfare and giving back, I taught kids, adults, and college students in both the public school, community college and at the University. I practiced psychotherapy with kids, adults and families. I performed research on the ego development of pregnant teens and presented my research findings to a National Psychological Association.

While in “formal” retirement, I wrote two books regarding the motivations of college and professional football athletes and older athletes participating in extreme sports and presented my insights to numerous groups. My Social Interest centers on reading, writing and educating on various health topics. Striving for Superiority ,Style of Life and Social Interest are related to both my emotional and physical well-being. Thank you Dr. Adler for enlightening me to your insights regarding a motivational model for man. For depth, consult: Adler, A. Understanding Life: An Introduction to the Psychology of Alfred Adler.

PS

While  beginning  my eighth decade,  I still run 50 K’s and am considering co- producing a full-length film on racism and sports with my good friend. Adler would call this Fictional Finalism. Is this quest, a striving ideal or a fiction?