Two terms used throughout the need discussions are defined below:

Need Conflicts: Within a particular dimension some needs conflict with each other because they evoke incompatible behavior if they are expressed synchronically (simultaneously). For example, the aggression and nurturance needs evoke incompatible behavior in all three dimensions. Needs that conflict in a particular dimension are located in opposite areas of that dimension (see Target Model) indicating that they are not normally activated synchronically in that dimension.

Mal Adaptive Need Fusion: Needs that normally produce conflicting behavior when synchronically evoked in a particular dimension are sometimes combined or fused despite resulting conflicts. Mal adaptive fusion creates frustrations and problems. For example, in the combative dimension, when the aggression and succorance needs are synchronically activated, the fused behavioral expression may take the form of whining and complaining that does not effectively express either the aggression need or the succorance need.

The Inferiority Avoidance Need
(The need to avoid failure, inadequacy, and inferiority)

Experiences of failure and inadequacy are frequently associated with being blamed and harmed as when a child attempts to lift a hot dish and not only fails in its effort and drops the dish, but gets burned and scolded in addition. Inferiority avoidance differs from the blame and harm avoidance needs, however. Harm has to do with physical damage that can be inflicted on us by non-human sources, by other humans, and by ourselves. Blame can only be inflicted on humans by human sources (including ourselves) but it can hurt us both physically (physical punishment) and psychologically (guilt). Feelings of failure and inferiority hurt us mostly in psychological ways. Feelings of shame and humiliation are closely associated with feelings of failure, inferiority, and inadequacy. Feelings of inferiority are primarily self-inflicted since they are based on subjective evaluations of success and failure (a "B" in a course might mean success for one student and failure for another). Unlike the blame and harm avoidance needs, the development of the inferiority avoidance need is delayed until we can think "about" ourselves and are capable of self-appraisal.

If we are adventurous and ambitious, we can expect frequent encounters with failure in life. This is not to say that we do not need to develop a realistic desire to avoid failure and minimize inadequacy when possible and when our goals are important. The general importance of our need to avoid failure and an inferiority complex was recognized by one of the early psychoanalysts, Alfred Adler, who broke with the Freudian position and theorized that the basic motivating force in personality was not the sex drive but the drive to avoid failure and inadequacy. He coupled this motive with the drive for power and success (the dominance need in Murray's system) as the complement of the fear of failure and inferiority.

Behavior associated with the inferiority avoidance need is sometimes hard to identify because much of it is, in a sense, non-behavior. We frequently avoid failure by doing nothing or by not attempting to do something. Avoiding failure can take a more active form, however, as when we retreat or withdraw or employ other evasive maneuvers to avoid attempting a goal.

Like the achievement need, inferiority avoidance is future oriented and concerned with the consequences of goal-directed actions. Inferiority avoidance, however, focuses on negative possibilities whereas the achievement need is oriented toward the positive possibilities of successfully attaining a goal.

Learning to avoid failure differs from learning to attain a goal. We avoid failure by rejecting actions that lead to failure. We attain goals by reinforcing and generalizing actions that move us closer to success. The achievement need encourages us to seek and increase contact with a goal whereas fear of failure can sometimes motivate us to reject a goal and avoid further contact with it. Thus, a student who has experienced achievement in a math course might be encouraged to expand his or her math knowledge while one who has been unsuccessful in solving a math problem may feel threatened by failure and abandon mathematics altogether. The inferiority avoidance learner would not have opportunities to discover whether math could be learned from another teacher, or whether a little more effort could bring success. Avoidance learning, although a necessary type of learning, tends to restrict and circumscribe rather than increase and expand behavior and experience. The inferiority avoidance need can play a more positive role when it is followed by the counteraction need to help us correct mistakes and improve performance instead of giving up an attainable goal.

The Function of the Inferiority Avoidance Need

The function of the inferiority avoidance need is to help us avoid wasting our time and energy on impossible endeavors. This conservation of our time and energy enables us to become more efficient and competitive. It motivates us to appraise our ability to attain a goal and eliminate activities that have poor pay-off in terms of reward and probability of success. Without the desire to avoid failure and inadequacy we would be doomed to repeatedly strive for unattainable goals.

Problems Related to the Inferiority Avoidance Need

Over emphasis on the inferiority avoidance need is probably more common than too little concern about failure or inadequacy. Children who are indoctrinated with a "winning is everything" mentality may become overly cautious about attempting new competitive activities because of their fear of failure and excessive concern with winning. People with restricted competitive goals prefer to concentrate on one skill to the neglect of other interests so they can increase their chances of being the best in something. This single minded approach may lead to foreclosure with regard to vocational goals (picking an occupational goal very early without investigating other possibilities). A very early vocational commitment may lead to disappointment and frustration if the goal turns out to be undesirable.

Some people do not seem to learn from failure and thus keep repeating mistakes. They consistently over estimate their ability and attempt goals far beyond their capacity. This behavior can be labeled as a loser script. A child may adopt a loser script on the basis of repeated statements by parents such as: "You're going to be a failure just like (your father, mother, uncle Al, etc.)." Such admonitions are usually intended to shame the child into more competitive striving. Unfortunately, the child may take these goading criticisms literally and "prove" that he or she really is a loser.

Inferiority avoidance problems can involve concerns about social status. Some people are uncomfortable or even miserable at social functions because they mentally structure such situations almost entirely in terms of success or failure (superiority or inferiority relative to the social status of others present). If they feel superior, they must show they are the best; if inferior, they must conceal their inadequacy to avoid rejection. In a democratic society we are supposed to minimize and de-emphasize status in social situations.

Certain associations of the inferiority avoidance need with other needs are particularly relevant to adjustment problems. The consequences of a close association between the inferiority avoidance and exhibition needss (as related to audience anxiety) is discussed in the exhibition need section. Close association between the defendance and inferiority avoidance needs can create another type of insecurity and anxiety resulting from indecision about ability to defend ourselves in a confrontation. The conflict may be based on an unrealistic belief that it would be catastrophic to fail in efforts to defend oneself. Another source of internal conflict is a close association between the inferiority avoidance and sex needs. This combination suggests an overly competitive approach to sex in which fears of failure (impotence, poor performance or appearance, etc.) inhibit sexual functioning. Sex is more satisfying in a relaxed, playful, here-and-now frame of mind than when the situation is structured in terms of goal-oriented success or failure.

One of the beliefs associated with inferiority avoidance problems is an assumption that we have not failed unless we have actually tried to succeed. A student may feel that she or he has not failed a course despite receiving an "F" because they really had not tried to learn the material. In one sense the student may be right but in every day life failure based on non-commitment can have serious consequences. Another common belief that creates inferiority avoidance problems is an assumption that a person is basically inferior if he or she has to work to acquire power or ability. A person with this belief feels that true superiority is a gift and that any effort to develop competence is evidence of inferiority. There are also those who believe, usually at an unconscious level, that inferiority in any type of performance means general inadequacy or failure. This might be considered a form of negative perfectionism.

Steven Mullet discussed the fear of failure in an address to a graduating class of the University of Maryland. He was then president of Johns Hopkins University. Some excerpts of his address are reproduced below:

Americans do not understand nor do they live well with failure. Yet it is an inevitable part of the human condition; no one can win them all. We have made a national fetish of success and victory - I think to a dangerous degree.

I am here only to urge that you accept failure naturally as an indispensable part of the human condition - and that above all you not fear it. Fear of failure is a product of our society and, I think, a sickness. Fear of failure can be a cruel and self-denying inhibition. To give one's utmost makes a rich life, and we cannot do that if we fear failure. In fact, those who try most will fail most.

I object to the notion that winning is everything. Victory may be sweet, but it is a fleeting moment. Certainty that you have done your best is durable and is the basis for self-respect, which is the ultimate in human satisfaction. Few people learn from success, but there is often much to learn from failure. Yet no one can learn from failure without admitting it first.

I believe in competition and I like to win. But I deny that the only thing that matters is winning, or that winning can be the goal of a successful life. Winning and losing are inseparable, and it is the effort involved that means much more than either.

Dimension Locations of the Inferiority Avoidance Need

The inferiority avoidance need is normally located in the combative area of the combative dimension but fairly close to the mid-point of the dimension. In this location, it is not a strong inhibitor of combativeness as are the blame and harm avoidance needs. People are thus willing to risk combative action even if they feel there is some risk of failure (the blame and harm avoidance needs are much stronger inhibitors of combative action than the inferiority avoidance need). To stand up and fight for one's convictions, even at the risk of failure, is acceptable to most people.

The inferiority avoidance need is normally located low in the impersonal area of the personal dimension. This means that concern about inferiority is a strong inhibitor of participation in personal-social activities. We like to meet others as social equals in our personal relationships and find it hard to be comfortable in such relationships if we feel socially inferior. A choice must often be made as to whether to seek a personal or social relationship or whether to maintain social distance when status is involved.

The inferiority avoidance need is normally located in the noncompetitive area of the competitive dimension. This means that fear of failure conflicts with competitive striving and inhibits us from accepting competitive challenges. Thus, the inferiority avoidance need helps us avoid competitive challenges that are apt to end in failure.

Inferiority Avoidance Dislocated in the Non Combative Area of the Combative Dimension

The inferiority avoidance need dislocated in the non combative area is strongly opposed to combative action. When fear of failure is strong it may create excessive caution about self-assertion. It may also result in a lack of sensitivity about the consequences of failure when committed to combative action.

Inferiority Avoidance Located Too Near the Periphery of in the Combative Area of the Combative Dimension

When the inferiority need is located very near the periphery of the combative area relative to other needs, it has considerable power to initiate combative behavior. Fear of failure may trigger inappropriate combative reactions. It could also mean that the arousal of combative needs might initiate over-reactions in efforts to avoid failure.

Inferiority Avoidance Dislocated in the Personal Area of the Personal Dimension

If the inferiority avoidance need is dislocated in the personal area it may create excessive concern about social status and adequacy. It may also motivate attempts to conceal feelings of personal-social inferiority by acting in an overly friendly way.

Inferiority Avoidance Located Too Near the Periphery of the Impersonal Area of the Personal Dimension

When the inferiority avoidance need is located near the periphery of the impersonal area relative to other needs, it has considerable power to cause the person to withdraw completely from personal-social interactions. In some cases it can have the opposite effect of creating a lack of sensitivity to matters of social status.

Inferiority Avoidance Dislocated in the Competitive Area of the Competitive Dimension

If the inferiority avoidance need is dislocated in the competitive area it is apt to create conflict and anxiety in competitive activities. Normally, people choose not to compete if they are inadequately prepared or, if they do accept a competitive challenge, they put aside their concerns about failure and concentrate on doing their best. The inferiority avoidance need creates distracting fears of failure when it is closely associated with competitive needs.

Inferiority Avoidance Located Too Near the Periphery of the Noncompetitive Area of the Competitive Dimension

If the inferiority avoidance need is located near the periphery of the noncompetitive area relative to other needs, the person may over react and become too withdrawn from competitive activities if they feel at all inadequate. If they do engage in competitive activities they may fail to be sufficiently concerned about the consequences of failure.