Adorno’s fit with the Horkheimer circle was psychological, not merely intellectual.

Evidence

In another way as well, the Vienna years were significant in his development. Many years later Adorno would admit that one of the attractions of the Schonberg circle had been its exclusive, coterie-like quality, which reminded him of the circle around Stefan George in Germany. One of his disappointments during his three years in Austria was the dissolution of the circle’s unity, which followed after Schonberg’s new wife isolated him from his disciples. If this had not happened, it can at least be conjectured, Adorno might not have chosen to return to Frankfurt. Once there, of course, the same cliquish qualities drew him into the orbit of Horkheimer and the younger members of the Institut. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 144 (#expands, via linked claim)

Adorno also fitted perfectly into the psychological structure of the Horkheimer circle. He was fixated on Horkheimer and jealous of all the others. Again and again, he went into raptures about our real, common theoretical task, namely dialectical logic', as he put it in a letter to Horkheimer of 22 February 1935, and he dreamed of writing the book somewhere in the south of France, alone with Horkheimer. He assured Horkheimer: if I had been in your position, and you in mine, I should not have hesitated to throw anyone out at all if it meant being certain of you … Naturally, I am referring here in particular to the position of Marcuse.’ But for him Marcuse was only the weakest link; he equally disliked Lowenthal, Fromm and Pollock. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 644 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Horkheimer’s personal admiration secured Adorno an outsized journal platform early on.; Adorno was emotionally fixated on Horkheimer and jealous of other circle members. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 644; Horkheimer saw Adorno as indispensable for completing the logic project — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 641 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Adorno was emotionally fixated on Horkheimer and jealous of other circle members. #expands (0.95) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 644
• Adorno’s attraction to exclusive coteries steered him toward Horkheimer’s circle. #expands (0.95) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 144
• Horkheimer’s dominance paralyzed Adorno’s empirical and institutional work into the 1960s #expands (0.90)
• Horkheimer saw Adorno as indispensable for completing the logic project #expands (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 641