Personality Types and Animal Symbols in Proverbs and Folk Culture Based on Alfred Adler's Theory

The analysis of literary texts using psychological theories, which are referred to as psychological critique, and sometimes based on Freud's teachings as psychoanalytic critique, is a practical-pragmatic approach in dealing with literary text. It is an interdisciplinary approach that connects two areas of humanities and opens new windows on text comprehension. The issue of personality, and its multiple types, is the main area of ​​applying psychology in the reality of the outside world. Awareness of this category leads to improved social relationships and constructive interactions. Personality types appear and play a role not only in external objectivity and in obvious social relations, but also in literary texts. Beyond that, the symbolic animals used in popular literature and proverbs, in a deep and profound function, can represent the personality types. Alfred Adler, a pioneer of social psychology and the theorist of individual psychology, has introduced one of the most influential theories in this field by presenting four personality types. The current paper, based on this theoretical framework and with a descriptive-analytical method, examines the literary proverbs and folk culture, and shows the validity of this theory in a range of literary statements and folk beliefs. This study, taking the theory from the field of one or more coherent works to the historical-applied literary proverbs and folk culture, shows how the proverbs, based on their cultural schemata, and due to their concise and influential nature, reflect symbolic animals in the form of psychological personality types.

Research Background

Skimming the literature, it was realized that so far no independent study has been conducted to analyzed the animal symbols used in the proverbs from the view of Adler's four typologies; the existing animal studies sometimes follow different approaches, some of which are cited below.

Talebi and Qatreh (2019) studied animals from the perspective of conceptual metaphors and found that speakers have used their metaphorical interpretations of animal behaviors to describe the various characteristics of individuals. Fouladi and Ebrahimi (2011) conducted a study from the perspective of environmental critique, and statistically have dealt with animals. Selajgeh (2011) employed a semiotic point of view dealing with some animal symbols in the poems of Saeb Tabrizi and Bidel Dehlavi. They sketched out the literary role of animal signs. Adler's theory of personality has been the basis of the work of Sancholi and Kichi (2014) in "Demneh personality analysis based on Alfred Adler's theory of personal psychology". In the current study, however, a different component is focused: the existence of inferiority complex in Demneh's personality.

Aims, questions, and assumptions

The scientific study of personality types and their characteristics is the main focus of applied psychology (Schultz & Schultz, 2012, p. 5). The result of such a study is to understand the individual better, and thus improve the level of social relations. Categorizing four personality types, Alfred Adler has played a prominent and crucial role in introducing various human personalities. His views could be practical for the early recognition of the individual, and as a result, to adopt the best practices in dealing with others. This perspective will, of course, be more useful if it is obtained by examining folk literature, especially proverbs. On the one hand, folklore literature, due to its reliance on “cultural schemata”, is a representation of the interests, traditions, and culture of a nation (Stone, 2004, p. x). Furthermore, proverbs, having concise and artistic forms, represent a range of experiences and meanings (Manser, 2007, p. ix). Because of their rhetoric, these literary texts reveal not only direct meanings, but also implicit, textual, and invisible meanings (Yule, 2006, p. 112), and can offer a large amount of human knowledge in a limited period of time. The aim of this study is to identify some of the personality types through studying short artistic expressions and the structure of proverbs and folk literature.

Discussion

If in sociological studies, the study of social class, definitions, characteristics, and how they are formed is the most fundamental issue (Bendix & Lipse, 1967, p. 8), then in the field of psychological sciences, the issue of personality and various personality types is the main focus. Unlike his fellow professor, Freud, investigating individualistic psychology, Adler derived his personality discussions not from the myths and classical literary texts, but from the society ahead and the individual. Explaining his theory, Adler first described the general problems of the man. He categorized these problems into three categories: problems that focus on how we treat others, problems related to jobs and professions, and problems of love and affection. Analyzing these problems, Adler introduced four personality types: a) dominant type, b) getting type, c) avoiding type, and d) socially useful type (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, pp. 8-9). In line with the subject of this article, the four-mentioned types are examined through analyzing the proverbs, rulings, and popular culture.
Conclusion


Interdisciplinary research has a better and more practical outcome due to its two- or multi-faceted approach to concepts. This is because such a research not only opens up the scope and effectiveness of multiple-perspective analysis simultaneously, but also reveals newer horizons of knowledge. The current paper took an interdisciplinary approach, borrowing a psychological-literary perspective, to study and analyze the animal symbols used in the proverbs and popular culture, based on Adler's theory of personality types.


The present study shows that folk literature and literary proverbs, borrowing the cultural ideas and including historical-class and long-standing experiences, is a very practical platform for literary studies through a psychological critique approach. Proverbs are considered cognitive concepts and reflect the objective and social realities. Adler's theory of personality and his four personality types are among the most influential theories in the field of psychological studies. This theory will give us a better understanding of the man and the improvement of the level of social relations. Analyzing the data clearly reveals that some of the animal symbols used in the proverbs and folk literature are applicable to Adler's personality types, indicative of various human behaviors. According to the findings, the two chosen animals, wolf and sheep, which are used in a range of proverbs in an obvious confrontation, can be categorized into two types: Dominant and Getting types. These two personality types are studied within sociological studies under the title of social classes. The avoidant personality type appears in the following animal symbol: The owl appears and the Hoopoe reflects the socially useful personality type. The result of the study, on the one hand, confirms the research hypotheses and the validity of this psychological theory, and on the other hand, shows the necessity of research in the field of folk literature, particularly the proverbs.
References

Ansbacher, H. L., & Ansbacher, R. R. (1956). The individual psychology of Alfred Adler. Basic Books, Inc.

Bendix, R., & Lipset, M. (1967). Class, status, and power. R.K.P.

Manser, M. H. (2007). The facts on file: dictionary of proverbs. Facts on File, Inc.

Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. A. (2012). Theories of personality (10^th ed.). Wadsworth Publishing.

Stone, J. R. (2005). The Routledge dictionary of Latin quotations: the illiterati's guide to Latin maxims, mottoes, proverbs and sayings. Routledge.

Yule, G. (2006). The study of language (3^rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.