Social Interest as an Indicator of Mental Health

Abstract

According to Adler, the seriousness of Social Interest is a favorable criterion for assessing the mental state of an individual. He called it a" regulatory Barometer” - an indicator that can be used in assessing the quality of human life. That is, from Adler's position, how our life contributes to the value of other people's lives is simply valuable. Ordinary, healthy people really care about others; their pursuit of perfection is socially positive and aims to ensure the well-being of all people. Although they understand that not everything is properly organized in this world, they take on the task of improving the fate of mankind. In short, they know that their lives are absolutely not significant, until they devote themselves to their contemporaries and even those who have not yet been born. In poorly adapted people, on the contrary, Social Interest is not expressed sufficiently. As we will see later, they are self-centered, fighting for superiority and superiority over others, they have no social goals. Each of them lives a life of only personal importance - they are inclined to their own interests and self-defense.