What do you think?
Rate this book
Social Interest: Adler's Key to the Meaning of Life
This book sets out Adler's theories on how we as individuals see ourselves and our environment.
- GenresPsychologyNonfiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
24 people are currently reading
537 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Adler
392 books903 followersAustrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler rejected emphasis of Sigmund Freud on sexuality; his theories that personality arises in subconscious efforts and that from overcompensation for perceived inferiority results neurotic behavior and psychological illness base an Adlerian psychological school.
People recognize emphasis of this medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of individual on the importance of the complex as isolating an element, which plays a key role in development.
This Viennese of the best-known in the western world held a chair in the United States of America. His special merit made clear the interaction between external influences and internal dispositions. He therefore pioneered a holistic approach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_...
People recognize emphasis of this medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of individual on the importance of the complex as isolating an element, which plays a key role in development.
This Viennese of the best-known in the western world held a chair in the United States of America. His special merit made clear the interaction between external influences and internal dispositions. He therefore pioneered a holistic approach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 10, 2022
So I decided to go to the horse's mouth, so to speak, and investigate what Adler's work after my reaction to Courage to be Disliked. Specifically, I am interested in Adler's community stuff; I was somewhat familiar with his individual work prior to reading Courage.
I assumed (turns out wrongly) that this would be more about community as it is titled "Social interest"; instead it is mostly hashing out details and justifying Individual Psychology. However, once again I am amazed both at how much I agree with Adlerian thinking in general AND the way that he foreshadows so many other schools of thought.
One HUGE disagreement, however, is his insistence that child pampering is really the worse thing that can happen to an individual: "there is no greater evil than the pampering of children, with all its consequences". This seems to a) blame the mother (reminds me of the schizophrenic-mother blame) and b) be a bias of his sample (working in the 1900s-1940s he would only see very priviledged folks; of course the big detriment to them could be pampering rather than neglect or trauma). I also worry about Courage's big "deny trauma" statements. I AGREE that forward focused is much more productive and useful (particularly in therapy) AND I believe that trauma-focused therapy is important; someone has to first process/understand/come to grips with their traumatic past before they can move towards the future. Adler seems to be "denying trauma" mostly with regard to spoiled children who were "dethroned" in the family of origin. While this can (and does and will continue to) lead to dissatisfaction in later life, neglect and abuse are much more impactful and the whole "buck up and carry on" perspective is much less helpful when working with people who have suffered.
The rest of this review is divided into topical areas and filled with Adler's quotes and (when appropriate) my responses to his thoughts by topics below.
Perspective and Perception:
"It is very obvious that we are influenced not by 'facts' but by our interpretation of facts....It is only the more flagrant mistakes that compel us to give them closer consideration"
"We never feel the facts of life directly, but only through our conceptio of them; that is the standard."
"in the function of memory we are dealing with a partial expression of the power of the homogenous psychical life--of the ego. The ego, like perception, has the task of fitting impressions into the completed style of life and using them in accordance with it."
"An ideal, objective reproduction of impressions independent of the individual's idiosyncrasy therefore does not exist. We much accordingly expect to reckon on finding just as many forms of memory as there are forms of the style of life."
Human Evolution/Growth of Community...not sure I agree with his optimistic views, particularly in light of social media...however it does give hope and a framework for trying to pull folks together more:
"The growing, irresistible evolutionary advance of social feeling warrants us in assuming that the existence of humanity is inseparably bound up with 'goodness'."
"One may venture to assert that up to the present day every single individual has been capable of acquiring this amount of social feeling, but that the evolution ofhumanity has not advanced far enough yet for men to assimilate it so completely that it works as automatically as breathing or the upright gait."
"the future of humanity depend on an increase of our social feeling, and that the great mistakes in life--war, capital punishment, race-hatred, hatred ofother peoples, no to speak of neurosis, suicide, crime, drunkenness, etc.--spring from a lack of social feeling and are to be looked upon as inferiority complexes, as pernicious attempts to deal with a situation in a way that is both inadmissible and unsuitable."
"whatever changes the future may bring forth in the methods of the production and distribution of welth, there will of necessity be a more adequate recognition of the power of social feeling than there is to-day, whether those changes are brough about by force or by mutual consent." This seems particularly incorrect with regard to US current situation: extreme polarization and income inequality. I agree that our further advancement will require more cooperation; hoping to find some suggestions about how to better unite the world that has not "evolved" in the way that Adler was so confident we would.
"Hitherto--as a general rule--the uncertainty of life has not been met in any bettert way than by the struggle for power. The time has now come to reflect whether this is the best and only means of safeguarding life and developing humanity."
"Social feeling means above all a struggle for a communal form that must be though of as eternally applicable, such as, say, could be thought of when humanity has attained its goal of perfection."
"the goal that is best suited for perfection must be a goal that stands for an ideal society amongst all mankind, the ultimate fulfillment of evolution."
"every tendency should be reckoned as justified whose direction gives undeniable proof that it is guided by the goal of universal welfare."
"we seek to establish by various and often wrong methods a harmony with the well-being of humanity in education, in the conduct of the individual and of the mass, in religion, science, and politics."
Essential goodness of people:
"A place will soon have to be found in the doctrine of character for the fact that qualities such as 'brave, virtuous, lazy, malevolent, steadfast, etc' are always the result of adjustments or maladjustments to an ever-changing external world and that without this external world they simply could not exist."
"it takes the blame from the individual's shoulders and assigns it to the failures of our civilization, in whos imperfections all of us are implicated, and it demands co-operation for their removal. It is a sign of the low stage of evolution that we have reached up till now that in order to accomplish this we haverto consider not merely the strengthening of social feeling but its very existence."
"we know that even the worst mistakes are not made wit ha consciuos sense of responsibility, but that the person in question has become the victim of a wrong attitude towards life."
Abortion:
"The question of deciding the number of children had best b e left entirely to the woman, after careful consultation....In a serious case the abortion could be carried out without expense in some institution." People with uteruses get to choose what to do AND the state should pay the medical expense. Again, I agree with him wholeheartedly and see us so far from this ideal currently!
Acknowledgement of Individual's Past (do NOT deny trauma, even while looking ahead):
"Life demands the solution of the problems of society, and thus all human behaviour alwasy points to the future even when it builds with material taken from the past."
"There can be no other way of understanding a human being than by the study of movements he makes for the solution of his life problems."
"We must therefore reject at once all explanations which imply that a person produces his own suffering, or what he wants to be ill. Without doubt the person concerned does suffer, but he always prefers his present sufferings to those greater sufferings he would experience were he to appear defeated in regard to the solution of his problem. He would rather put up with these nervous sufferings than have his worthlessness disclosed."
Deviance and Beauty (a favorite topic of old on which I have done a ton of reading and consulting and no one EVER referred me to Adler's work):
"Organic inferiority is often very clearly seen in the ugliness of some criminals, while the suspicion of pampering recieves constant confirmation from the fact that there are so many good-looking people to be found amoung them."
Definition of Nervous State and Treatment Advice, including empowerment:
"an attempt at all costs to keep up the appearance of being of some value, to spare no expense in the attainment of this goal, but at the same time there is also the desire to reach it without any cost at all....a systematic preparation must be taken in hand, so that the sufferer shall feel himself secure and in a position to approach the solution of his problem." Particularly with reference to safety, this does not seem to contradict the acknowledgement of trauma. In order to move forward, one must accept the past and feel secure in the present before one can learn how to better solve life's problems (Adler would say by expanding social feeling).
"impress on th epatient that the responsibility for his cure rests in his own hands."
"consider the sucess of the treatment and the cure as due not to the consultant but to the patient."
Foreshadowing of Attachment Theory:
"A person's whole development depends on how much of the sense of contact he has acquired in his third, fourth, and fifth years....all faulty forms of movement are to be explained by lack of capability for contact."
"The mohter's boundedn duty, form the viewpiont of historical development and of society, is to make the child as early as possible a partner, a fellow being who willingly gives help and willingly allows himself to be helped when his powers are unequal to the task."
"It may be readily accepted that contact with the mother is of the highest importance for the development of social feeling"
Birth order and development of Family Systems Theory:
"we must rid ourselves of the supersitition that the situation within the family is that same for each individual child."
Rejection of Freud's work:
"to explain everything that is not understood as a sexual symbol and then to discover that everything springs from the sexual libido will not stand intelligent criticism."
He also speaks on boundaries and ethics in a way that I don't think was done prior; the client/therapist relationship is a working collaborative and they should not have dual relationships.
Overall it is was very enlightening and again amazing how much can be attributed (but I have not seen) to Adler's work.
I assumed (turns out wrongly) that this would be more about community as it is titled "Social interest"; instead it is mostly hashing out details and justifying Individual Psychology. However, once again I am amazed both at how much I agree with Adlerian thinking in general AND the way that he foreshadows so many other schools of thought.
One HUGE disagreement, however, is his insistence that child pampering is really the worse thing that can happen to an individual: "there is no greater evil than the pampering of children, with all its consequences". This seems to a) blame the mother (reminds me of the schizophrenic-mother blame) and b) be a bias of his sample (working in the 1900s-1940s he would only see very priviledged folks; of course the big detriment to them could be pampering rather than neglect or trauma). I also worry about Courage's big "deny trauma" statements. I AGREE that forward focused is much more productive and useful (particularly in therapy) AND I believe that trauma-focused therapy is important; someone has to first process/understand/come to grips with their traumatic past before they can move towards the future. Adler seems to be "denying trauma" mostly with regard to spoiled children who were "dethroned" in the family of origin. While this can (and does and will continue to) lead to dissatisfaction in later life, neglect and abuse are much more impactful and the whole "buck up and carry on" perspective is much less helpful when working with people who have suffered.
The rest of this review is divided into topical areas and filled with Adler's quotes and (when appropriate) my responses to his thoughts by topics below.
Perspective and Perception:
"It is very obvious that we are influenced not by 'facts' but by our interpretation of facts....It is only the more flagrant mistakes that compel us to give them closer consideration"
"We never feel the facts of life directly, but only through our conceptio of them; that is the standard."
"in the function of memory we are dealing with a partial expression of the power of the homogenous psychical life--of the ego. The ego, like perception, has the task of fitting impressions into the completed style of life and using them in accordance with it."
"An ideal, objective reproduction of impressions independent of the individual's idiosyncrasy therefore does not exist. We much accordingly expect to reckon on finding just as many forms of memory as there are forms of the style of life."
Human Evolution/Growth of Community...not sure I agree with his optimistic views, particularly in light of social media...however it does give hope and a framework for trying to pull folks together more:
"The growing, irresistible evolutionary advance of social feeling warrants us in assuming that the existence of humanity is inseparably bound up with 'goodness'."
"One may venture to assert that up to the present day every single individual has been capable of acquiring this amount of social feeling, but that the evolution ofhumanity has not advanced far enough yet for men to assimilate it so completely that it works as automatically as breathing or the upright gait."
"the future of humanity depend on an increase of our social feeling, and that the great mistakes in life--war, capital punishment, race-hatred, hatred ofother peoples, no to speak of neurosis, suicide, crime, drunkenness, etc.--spring from a lack of social feeling and are to be looked upon as inferiority complexes, as pernicious attempts to deal with a situation in a way that is both inadmissible and unsuitable."
"whatever changes the future may bring forth in the methods of the production and distribution of welth, there will of necessity be a more adequate recognition of the power of social feeling than there is to-day, whether those changes are brough about by force or by mutual consent." This seems particularly incorrect with regard to US current situation: extreme polarization and income inequality. I agree that our further advancement will require more cooperation; hoping to find some suggestions about how to better unite the world that has not "evolved" in the way that Adler was so confident we would.
"Hitherto--as a general rule--the uncertainty of life has not been met in any bettert way than by the struggle for power. The time has now come to reflect whether this is the best and only means of safeguarding life and developing humanity."
"Social feeling means above all a struggle for a communal form that must be though of as eternally applicable, such as, say, could be thought of when humanity has attained its goal of perfection."
"the goal that is best suited for perfection must be a goal that stands for an ideal society amongst all mankind, the ultimate fulfillment of evolution."
"every tendency should be reckoned as justified whose direction gives undeniable proof that it is guided by the goal of universal welfare."
"we seek to establish by various and often wrong methods a harmony with the well-being of humanity in education, in the conduct of the individual and of the mass, in religion, science, and politics."
Essential goodness of people:
"A place will soon have to be found in the doctrine of character for the fact that qualities such as 'brave, virtuous, lazy, malevolent, steadfast, etc' are always the result of adjustments or maladjustments to an ever-changing external world and that without this external world they simply could not exist."
"it takes the blame from the individual's shoulders and assigns it to the failures of our civilization, in whos imperfections all of us are implicated, and it demands co-operation for their removal. It is a sign of the low stage of evolution that we have reached up till now that in order to accomplish this we haverto consider not merely the strengthening of social feeling but its very existence."
"we know that even the worst mistakes are not made wit ha consciuos sense of responsibility, but that the person in question has become the victim of a wrong attitude towards life."
Abortion:
"The question of deciding the number of children had best b e left entirely to the woman, after careful consultation....In a serious case the abortion could be carried out without expense in some institution." People with uteruses get to choose what to do AND the state should pay the medical expense. Again, I agree with him wholeheartedly and see us so far from this ideal currently!
Acknowledgement of Individual's Past (do NOT deny trauma, even while looking ahead):
"Life demands the solution of the problems of society, and thus all human behaviour alwasy points to the future even when it builds with material taken from the past."
"There can be no other way of understanding a human being than by the study of movements he makes for the solution of his life problems."
"We must therefore reject at once all explanations which imply that a person produces his own suffering, or what he wants to be ill. Without doubt the person concerned does suffer, but he always prefers his present sufferings to those greater sufferings he would experience were he to appear defeated in regard to the solution of his problem. He would rather put up with these nervous sufferings than have his worthlessness disclosed."
Deviance and Beauty (a favorite topic of old on which I have done a ton of reading and consulting and no one EVER referred me to Adler's work):
"Organic inferiority is often very clearly seen in the ugliness of some criminals, while the suspicion of pampering recieves constant confirmation from the fact that there are so many good-looking people to be found amoung them."
Definition of Nervous State and Treatment Advice, including empowerment:
"an attempt at all costs to keep up the appearance of being of some value, to spare no expense in the attainment of this goal, but at the same time there is also the desire to reach it without any cost at all....a systematic preparation must be taken in hand, so that the sufferer shall feel himself secure and in a position to approach the solution of his problem." Particularly with reference to safety, this does not seem to contradict the acknowledgement of trauma. In order to move forward, one must accept the past and feel secure in the present before one can learn how to better solve life's problems (Adler would say by expanding social feeling).
"impress on th epatient that the responsibility for his cure rests in his own hands."
"consider the sucess of the treatment and the cure as due not to the consultant but to the patient."
Foreshadowing of Attachment Theory:
"A person's whole development depends on how much of the sense of contact he has acquired in his third, fourth, and fifth years....all faulty forms of movement are to be explained by lack of capability for contact."
"The mohter's boundedn duty, form the viewpiont of historical development and of society, is to make the child as early as possible a partner, a fellow being who willingly gives help and willingly allows himself to be helped when his powers are unequal to the task."
"It may be readily accepted that contact with the mother is of the highest importance for the development of social feeling"
Birth order and development of Family Systems Theory:
"we must rid ourselves of the supersitition that the situation within the family is that same for each individual child."
Rejection of Freud's work:
"to explain everything that is not understood as a sexual symbol and then to discover that everything springs from the sexual libido will not stand intelligent criticism."
He also speaks on boundaries and ethics in a way that I don't think was done prior; the client/therapist relationship is a working collaborative and they should not have dual relationships.
Overall it is was very enlightening and again amazing how much can be attributed (but I have not seen) to Adler's work.
August 5, 2023
[...] Problemele prezentului își au originea în deficiențele educației sociale. Ceea ce ne impulsionează să ajungem pe o treaptă mai înaltă, să ne eliberăm de eșecurile vieții noastre publice și ale propriei noastre personalități este sentimentul social oprimat. El trăiește în noi și caută să ajungă la lumină [...] (Adler, Sensul vieții: o cercetare de psihologie individuală , pag. 238)
Adler really said we are social animals.
Adler really said we are social animals.
July 17, 2020
Adler psixologiyanın birinci vəzifəsi kimi sosial faktoru ortaya qoyan ilk psixoloqlardan sayılır. “İndividual psixologiya fərdi, cəmiyyətin daxilində görür və tədqiq edir. Biz insana cəmiyyətdən ayrı halda baxmaq və tədqiq etməkdən imtina edirik”, - Adler bəyan edirdi (1956).
1912-ci ildə Alfred Adler “İndividual Psixologiya Dərnəyi”ni qurur, həmin tarixdən etibarən Adler məktəbi inkişaf etməyə başlayır. 1932-ci ildə Nyu-Yorkdakı Lonq İsland Medikal Kolleci Adlerə psixologiya doktoru adını verir. 1937-ci ildəsə, o, mühazirə demək üçün gəldiyi Şotlandiyanın Aberdeen bölgəsində ürək tutmasından vəfat edir.
Adler həyatı boyu psixoterapevt və psixoloq kimi aktiv olub, yaşadığı dövr ərzində üç yüzə yaxın kitab, müxtəlif mövzularda məqalələr yazıb. Əsas elmi əsərləri:
- “Fərdi psixologiyanın təcrübəsi və nəzəriyyəsi”
- “Nevrotik xarakter”
- “İnsan bilikləri”
- “İnsan təbiətinin anlaşılması”
- “Uşaqların təlim-tərbiyəsi”
- “Yaşamaq sənəti”
- “Həyat tərzi” və s.
İndividual psixologiya nəzəriyyəsinin əsas tezisləri:
Latınca “individium” – bölünməz mənasını verdiyi üçün Adler də öz nəzəriyyəsini “İndividual psixologiya” adlandırıb.
Şəxsiyyətin formalaşmasında irsiyyətin, ətraf mühitin rolunu qəbul edən Adler insanların yaradıcı qüvvəyə malik odluğunu iddia edir. Bu qüvvə insan təcrübəsinin hər sahəsinə təsir edir: qavrayış, hаfizə, fantaziya, arzular. İnsanın yaradıcı təbiəti, azadlığı barədə məhz bu fikirlər psixoloqlara Adleri müasir humanist nəzəriyyənin yolgöstərəni hesab etməyə imkan verir.
"İndividual psixologiya" kitabının ana dilimizə tərcümə etməklə hadisələrə bir daha Adlerin gözündən baxmış oldum. İnanıram ki, Azərbaycan oxucusu da bu dəyərli kitabla tanış olduqdan sonra, problemlərini həll etmək, ətrafındakıları daha yaxşı tanımaq və onlarla daha yaxşı ünsiyyət qurmaq, ümumilikdə həyatına daha müsbət istiqamət vermək haqqında düşünmək üçün faydalanacaq.
Yazının geniş mətni: https://www.ceylanmumoglu.com/transla...
1912-ci ildə Alfred Adler “İndividual Psixologiya Dərnəyi”ni qurur, həmin tarixdən etibarən Adler məktəbi inkişaf etməyə başlayır. 1932-ci ildə Nyu-Yorkdakı Lonq İsland Medikal Kolleci Adlerə psixologiya doktoru adını verir. 1937-ci ildəsə, o, mühazirə demək üçün gəldiyi Şotlandiyanın Aberdeen bölgəsində ürək tutmasından vəfat edir.
Adler həyatı boyu psixoterapevt və psixoloq kimi aktiv olub, yaşadığı dövr ərzində üç yüzə yaxın kitab, müxtəlif mövzularda məqalələr yazıb. Əsas elmi əsərləri:
- “Fərdi psixologiyanın təcrübəsi və nəzəriyyəsi”
- “Nevrotik xarakter”
- “İnsan bilikləri”
- “İnsan təbiətinin anlaşılması”
- “Uşaqların təlim-tərbiyəsi”
- “Yaşamaq sənəti”
- “Həyat tərzi” və s.
İndividual psixologiya nəzəriyyəsinin əsas tezisləri:
Latınca “individium” – bölünməz mənasını verdiyi üçün Adler də öz nəzəriyyəsini “İndividual psixologiya” adlandırıb.
Şəxsiyyətin formalaşmasında irsiyyətin, ətraf mühitin rolunu qəbul edən Adler insanların yaradıcı qüvvəyə malik odluğunu iddia edir. Bu qüvvə insan təcrübəsinin hər sahəsinə təsir edir: qavrayış, hаfizə, fantaziya, arzular. İnsanın yaradıcı təbiəti, azadlığı barədə məhz bu fikirlər psixoloqlara Adleri müasir humanist nəzəriyyənin yolgöstərəni hesab etməyə imkan verir.
"İndividual psixologiya" kitabının ana dilimizə tərcümə etməklə hadisələrə bir daha Adlerin gözündən baxmış oldum. İnanıram ki, Azərbaycan oxucusu da bu dəyərli kitabla tanış olduqdan sonra, problemlərini həll etmək, ətrafındakıları daha yaxşı tanımaq və onlarla daha yaxşı ünsiyyət qurmaq, ümumilikdə həyatına daha müsbət istiqamət vermək haqqında düşünmək üçün faydalanacaq.
Yazının geniş mətni: https://www.ceylanmumoglu.com/transla...
March 28, 2019
In his book, Adler, the founder of the school of individual psychology, explains how children who are not spoiled or neglected or raised by feelings of sociality in the 0-5 age range become a neurotic or criminal in their later years, and how brother jealousy can put a person into a complex of inferiority or superiority.
It emphasizes the importance of complexity in childhood and the role of fears in adulthood and the consciousness of sociality that will contribute to the well-being of humanity.
It emphasizes the importance of complexity in childhood and the role of fears in adulthood and the consciousness of sociality that will contribute to the well-being of humanity.
February 25, 2022
It is better to get to know Alfred Alder by reading the courage of be disliked or courage of be happy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews