Individual Differences Research

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Individual Differences Research > Volume 24, Issue 2 (2026) > e24008

Justice as a Lifestyle: A Qualitative Single-Case Study on the Maturation of a Socially Critical Social Interest Despite Biographical Traumas

Werner Merkle

Abstract

This hermeneutic-teleological single-case study examines the development of a principle-guided value orientation from the perspective of Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology. Using qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz, 2018) of a corpus of written self-reflections from a patient aged 65–70, the study investigates how early childhood memories operate teleologically in lifestyle formation. The analysis demonstrates how biographical burdens, somatic limitations, and experiences of powerlessness can lead to a fictional intention of structural autonomy and systemic vigilance. Over the course of the psychotherapeutic process, these safeguarding mechanisms are functionally modified and transformed into a matured, socio-critical social interest. The findings show how biographical injuries can be productively converted into emancipatory resources, offering practical implications for psychotherapy and psychosocial work with highly value-oriented individuals.

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Published 

July 16, 2026

Keywords 

Adlerian psychology;

Individual psychology;

Social interest;

Early recollections;

Childhood trauma;

Qualitative case study;

Lifestyle development