Social Interest - Adlerian Theory

In 1919, in the preface to the second edition of The Neurotic Character, Adler outlined for the first time his concept of Gemeinschaftsgefühl, which has become one of the basic principles of individual psychology. In this edition, Adler voiced his belief that a better understanding of human nature would reduce the striving for power and guide man’s energies toward constructive Gemeinschaftsgefühl. This German word is somewhat difficult to translate to English adequately, though social interest, social feeling, community feeling, or social sense come close. Adler and many of his followers came to prefer the term ‘feeling of community’ (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. 135). Eriksson (1992) views Adler’s writings (as translated by Ansbacher) and the writings of other Adlerians as leading to one definition of this concept: “maintaining an affirmative, optimistic, understanding, and loving attitude to life and self so as to gain a sense of harmony and kinship with a friendly universe and therefore also a loving interest in the interests of others” (p. 277). This definition resonates with my true understanding of Gemeinschaftsgefühl. A person with well-developed social interest strives not for personal superiority but for perfection for all people in an ideal community. Social interest can be defined as an attitude of relatedness with humanity in general, as well as empathy for each member of the human community. Adler sums it nicely as, “to see with the eyes of another, to hear with the ears of another, to feel with the heart of another” (Ansbacher et al., 1956, p. 135). For the time being, this seems to me an acceptable definition of what Adlerians call social feeling. In Adler’s book Understanding Human Nature (1927/2010), believes that social interest is the natural condition of the human species and is the adhesive that binds society together. Adler (1927/2010) believes that this is the sole criterion by which

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