Definition
Community feeling (German: Gemeinschaftsgefühl) is Alfred Adler's term for the psychological state in which a person feels they belong to the world, can trust others, and has something worthwhile to contribute. It is Adler's definition of mental health — and, by extension, of happiness.
Adler identified three components that must be present together:
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Self-acceptance — affirming one's own worth independent of achievements or approval. Not self-affirmation (pretending to be better than you are), but an honest acknowledgment that you have value as a person even where you fall short.
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Confidence in others — an unconditional trust in people as fundamentally reliable partners. Not naïve trust in everyone's goodwill in every transaction, but a baseline posture toward humanity that does not require proof before it is extended.
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Contribution — the experience that one's actions make a difference to others; that one is not merely receiving from the world but giving back. The critical insight is that contribution does not require recognition — you can experience it as an internal sense of "I am useful here" without needing external validation.
When all three are present, the person has a place — a felt sense of belonging that does not need to be earned through performance or maintained through pleasing everyone.