"It was a kind of togetherness feeling": An Exploration of Social Interest in Early Recollections

Numerous scales of social interest have been developed, but each measures different aspects of this multidimensional construct. For our study, we chose a qualitative approach to explore the manifestation of social interest in adults' early recollections to allow for deepened insight into the complex construct. Forty-three early recollections were collected from 12 participants using semistructured interviews. We present the findings as a story of empathy, cooperation, and independence to reinforce that the core essence of social interest is about connectedness, yet we include the idea that social interest also involves independence. We also discuss domains of social interest displayed in the early recollections in relation to Adler's transcendent social interest. We recommend further varied and innovative research on social interest.