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What makes us what we are? Freudian theory of motivation sees man as caught up in ingrained and inherent instincts, as described in the libido theory. But Karen Horney's view of human motivation questioned the Freudian view of the dominance of libido. For Horney, cultural patterns underpin the formation of character structure; character, as dealt with by Horney's theories of psychoanalysis, is molded by the impact upon the individual of psychological factors in the environment.
Examination of her concepts can cast light on our understanding of, and our attempt to reorder, the character structures of people in a group - so-called group therapy. I believe that to examine the application of Karen Horney's theory of human motivation to psychoanalysis in groups is to study also some aspects of the human scene — that which makes us what we are. We need the therapeutic values of enriching association with those around us.
For Horney, the makeup of people, the influence underlying character development, was not a matter of the impact or the sum total of instincts, but the impact of one human being's character upon another. Day after day, moment by moment environmental influences of people upon the individual were for her the character-developing nature of the world, the emotional greenhouse that made the individual grow along whatever pattern. Unfortunately, there exists in that greenhouse a variety of distortions inducing growth which leads to man's loss of his essential being. The essential traits that can demarcate man