The Science of Living by Adler Alfred

Author:Adler, Alfred
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781136702280
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

CHAPTER SIX

ATTITUDES AND MOVEMENTS

IN the last chapter we endeavoured to describe the manner in which old remembrances and fancies may be used to illuminate the hidden style of life of an individual. Now the study of old remembrances is only one device of a whole class of devices for the study of personality. They all depend on the principle of using isolated parts for an interpretation of the whole. Besides old remembrances we can observe movements and attitudes. The movements themselves are expressed or imbedded in attitudes, and the attitudes are an expression of that whole attitude to life which constitutes what we call the style of life.

Let us first speak about the movements of the body. Everybody knows that we judge a person by his manner of standing, walking, moving, expressing himself, etc. We do not always consciously judge, but there is always a feeling of sympathy or antipathy created by these impressions.

Let us consider attitudes in standing, for instance. We notice promptly whether a child or adult stands upright or whether he is crooked or bent. This is not very difficult. We have to watch specially for exaggerations. A person who stands too straight, in a stretched position, causes us to suspect that he is using too much power to assume this posture. We can suppose that this person feels much less great than he wants to appear. In this little point we can see how he mirrors what we have called the superiority complex. He wants to appear more courageous—he wants to express himself more as he would be if he were not so tense.

On the other hand we see persons with just the opposite posture—persons who appear bent and who are always stooping. Such a posture implies to a certain extent that they are cowards. But it is a rule of our art and science that we should always be cautious, looking for other points and never judging solely by one consideration. Sometimes we feel that we are almost sure of being correct, but we still want to verify our judgment by other points. We ask, “Are we right in insisting that persons who stoop are always cowards? What can we expect of them in a difficult situation?”

To look at another point in this connection, we will notice how such a person always tries to rest upon something, to lean on a table or chair for instance. He does not trust his own power but wants to be supported. This reflects the same attitude of mind as when standing crooked, and so when we find both types of action present our judgment is somewhat confirmed.

We will find that children who want always to be supported have not the same posture as independent children. We can tell the degree of independence by how a child stands, how he approaches other persons. In such cases we need not be in doubt, for we have many possibilities of confirming our conclusion. And once we have confirmed our conclusion, we can take steps to remedy the situation and put the child on the right path.

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