There are three popular schools of thought pertaining to what motivates people and drives our personalities (called the three Viennese schools of psychotherapy). They are the beliefs of Alfred Adler, Sigmund Freud, and Viktor Frankl. Adler believed we’re driven by power, Freud said we’re driven by pleasure, and Frankl believed we’re all driven towards some type of purpose. So let’s talk about them.
Adler
Adler (1870-1937) was an Austrian medical doctor who founded his own school of psychology. He broke away from Freud’s theories to ascertain that personalities are driven by our feelings of inferiority and that we spend much of our time combating (and trying to surmount) these feelings.
His most famous concept is the inferiority complex, which speaks to the problem of self-esteem and its negative effects on human health. He believed such complexes led to becoming egocentric, power-hungry, and aggressive (or worse). He also thought such complexes sometimes produced a paradoxical superiority striving. Adler was concerned with overcoming this superiority/inferiority dynamic and was one of the first psychotherapists to discard the analytic couch in favour of two chairs. He also believed in preventing future inferiority issues in children through democratic family structures and no corporal punishment (like, hard spankings).
Freud
Freud (1856-1939) was a neurologist who created a method of dealing with mental disorders through a dialog between doctor and patient. He’s also known for defining and introducing the unconscious mind, and inventing words like ego and id.
His pleasure principle was first discovered while watching Italian guys messing with chicks at a beach. And the man was spot on. Now Sigmund said and did many great things, but for the purpose of this article he said the mind has a strong tendency to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
Frankl
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) was a holocaust survivor who wrote Man’s Search for Meaning. This book is divided into two sections. The first describes his life inside a World War II concentration camp, the second presents his views on what motivates people. The summary of his beliefs is that we’re all driven to achieve some kind of purpose.
Frankl compares his analysis to the other two schools as follows: The striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man. That’s why I speak of a will to meaning in contrast to the “pleasure principle” (or will to pleasure) of Freud, or the will of power stressed by Adler.
Who are you?
Much of psychology was formulated during this time. And it’s now becoming apparent that, when it comes to describing the human mind, one size does not fit all. Today, we accept multiple theories to describe multiple types of people.
When you think of it, there are probably all three motivations living inside us. Don’t we all seek pleasure? Doesn’t everyone have a bit of an inferiority complex? Don’t we all search for meaning? And if you think even further, we could probably identify with one as being dominant. Most people could say something like, “I’m 70% pleasure, 20% purpose, and 10% power.” So who are you?