1、外文资料： THE NORMAL INFERIORITY COMPLEX It is almost a truism in modern psychology that abnormal behavior is merely an exaggeration of normal tendencies. The practical corollary of this proposition, that normal individuals may be understood in terms of abnormal conditions, has also been widely accepted
2、. Indeed, this way of looking at human nature is by no means limited to strictly psychological discussions. Complexes, maladjustments, fixations, and neuroses are among the commonplaces of contemporary literature and everyday conversation. In general, the tendency has been to apply rather than to qu
3、estion the contributions of abnormal psychology. There are sceptical individuals, however, both professionally and non-professionally interested, who are dissatisfied with this uncritical attitude. They have suggested that the outstanding defect of many of the concepts of abnormal psychology is that
4、 they are lacking in empirical proof； that though suggestive and penetrating, they have rarely been submitted to the statistical analysis which would f give disinterested evidence of their applicability. A comparison of theoretical expectations and empirical findings would scarcely be out of order.
5、It has been possible, in connection with the personnel work at I the University of Minnesota, to undertake an inquiry of this sort in particular, to ask the question: Does anything corresponding to the inferiority complex, as it is described by psychiatrists and psychologists, appear in normal indiv
6、iduals； and if so, what characteristies does it possess ? GENERAL PLAN OF THE STUDY The general plan of the study was as follows. It began by accepting the concept of the inferiority complex as it is given in the literature, especially as described by Adler .A rating scale was constructed, consistin
7、g of 137 traits which, according to this source, would be symptomatic of the condition in question. The scale was so arranged that sometimes the trait as stated, and sometimes its opposite, would be characteristic of the inferiority complex. This was done so that a possible preference for either pos
8、itive or negative judgments would not give rise to a constant error in the results. The ratings were made on a 5 point scale, graphically represented as follows: 0 + + +.The instructions explained that a check in the + + column would indicate the presence of a trait to a marked degree； in the + colu
9、mn, its presence to a slight degree； in the column, the presence of its opposite to a slight degree； and in the- - column, the presence of its opposite to a marked degree. A check in the column marked would mean that the person rated was characterized neither by the trait nor by its opposite. The su
10、bjects were students in introductory courses in psychology in the University of Minnesota. The group included 268 subjects, 120 men and 148 women. Each subject received three copies of the scale, on one of which he was asked to rate himself,and on the other two to secure ratings of himself from two
11、individuals who knew him. The results, therefore, are based on 360 sets of ratings for men, and 444 for women. In an attempt to eliminate some of the more obvious sources of error, the following precautions were taken: 1.The scales were distributed and returned before the inferiority complex, or the
12、 general topic of personality, had been taken up in class, and the blank itself, which was simply headedrating scale, contained no reference to the inferiority complex as such. The ratings were made, therefore, in ignorance of the point at issue and presumably without prejudice in that particular. 2
13、. The filling out of the blanks was regarded as one of the regular requirements of the course； consequently nearly all the subjects secured the required ratings and returned the papers.The factor of selection within the group approached was thus largely eliminated. 3.The importance of frankness and
14、independence in making the ratings was mentioned in both oral and written instructions.It was, of course, impossible to obtain adequate checks on the extent to which the instructions were followed, but there is internal evidence, which will appear later, that they were not wholly disregarded. The pa
15、pers were scored on the basis of the number of symptoms of the inferiority complex indicated； i.e., an individuals score consisted of the number of ratings indicating traits accepted in the literature as diagnostic. A weight of one was given to a rating indicating a slight degree of a symptomatic tr
16、ait, a weight of two for a marked degree of the same trait. In other words, the score was art attempt to represent the degree to which an individual possessed the inferiority complex according to the usual definition. RESULTS The principal results of the study may be summarized as follows: I. Perhap
17、s the point that deserves first attention is that the scores gave approximately a normal distribution for both men and women and according to both self and associated ratings.This fact has a double significance. In the first place, it shows that the scale successfully resisted the tendency, so often
18、 encountered, for ratings to be concentrated about the socially desirable traits. This tendency, if sufficiently strong, would prevent a distribution and consequently defeat the purpose of the scale. However, the fact that it was not present to a damaging extent does not mean that it was not present at all；certain considerations, to be mentioned later, suggest that it was operative in several situations. But the significant fact in the present connection is that it was not strong enough to obscure individual differences and thus render the scale ineffective.
