And the principle of social interest refers to an individual's coping with society. Social interest is a transcendence of the self. It is the opposite of self-centeredness. It develops into a trait and the most important one within his lifestyle. Adler identified social interest as the very criterion of mental health, as his experience in psychiatry revealed to him by mentally healthy persons who felt at home on the earth. He viewed neurotics, failures, psychotics and offenders as suffering from intense inferiority, which held them back to themselves. They are unable to cope with life, struggle for personal superiority, according to a private sense. They cushion their existence with a pampered lifestyle wherein they expect to get without giving. Opposite these unfortunate individuals are those who have acquired maturity. They have grown away from a sense of helplessness and into a taking responsibility for others. They have become an asset...
[ View Full Essay]