Social Interest and Positive Psychology: Positively Aligned Patrick J. Barlow, David J. Tobin, and Melissa M. Schmidt Abstract To investigate the influence of Individual Psychology on positive nnodels of men- tal health, the researchers examined the relationship betvvieen Individual Psychology and positive psychology by predicting that social interest would be correlated with the constructs of hope and optimism. Participants included 43 students from a gradu- ate program in counseling. Social interest was significantly correlated with hope and optimism, and optimism was more significant than hope as a predictor of social inter- est. These results support the contention that social interest and positive psychology are positively correlated. Recommendations for further research are discussed. Alfred Adler is attributed with postulating a positive theoretical model of mental health that emphasized the healthy functions of personality (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1979). His position on the nature of personality "coincided with the notion that man can be the master, and not the victim of his fate" (Hall & Lindzey, 1970, p. 127). Adler offered a humanistic perspec- tive that endowed man with altruism, humanitarianism, co-operation, creativity, uniqueness, and awareness, and restored a sense of dignity and worth that psychoanalysis had destroyed . . . and offered a portrait more satisfying, more hopeful, and far more complimentary. (Hall & Lindzey, p. 127) Individual Psychology, also termed Adlerian Psychology, is a humanistic approach that serves to benefit all of society. According to Adler, a central concept of personality theory was Gemein- schaftsgefühl, often translated as social interest. This concept referred to the capacity for social embeddedness and was described as "an innate disposi- tion for spontaneous social effort" (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p. 145). The development of social interest results in feelings of identification, empa- thy, and connectedness. When fully developed, these feelings extend from the family unit to large groups, and eventually to all of humankind. There- fore, social interest toward other individuals or groups provides the capacity to meet tasks in life such as sympathy, occupation, and love (Ansbacher & Ansbacher). The Journal of Individual Psychology,\/o\. 65, No. 3, Fall 2009 O2009 by the University of Texas Press, P.O. Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819 Editorial office located in the College of Education at Georgia State University.