Adjustment (psychology)

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In psychology, adjustment is the condition of a person who is able to adapt to changes in their physical, occupational, and social environment. [1] In other words, adjustment refers to the behavioral process of balancing conflicting needs or needs challenged by obstacles in the environment. Due to the various changes experienced throughout life, humans and animals have to regularly learn how to adjust to their environment. Throughout our lives, we encounter various phases that demand continuous adjustment, from changes in career paths and evolving relationships to the physical and psychological shifts associated with aging. Each stage presents unique challenges and requires us to adapt in ways that support our growth and well-being. [1] For example, when they are stimulated by their physiological state to seek food, they eat (if possible) to reduce their hunger and thus adjust to the hunger stimulus. Successful adjustment equips individuals with a fulfilling quality of life, enriching their experiences as they navigate life’s challenges.

Contents

Adjustment disorder occurs when there is an inability to make a normal adjustment to some need or stress in the environment. [2] Those who are unable to adjust well are more likely to have clinical anxiety or depression, [3] as well as experience feelings of hopelessness, anhedonia, difficulty concentrating, sleeping problems, and reckless behavior. [4]

In psychology, "adjustment" can be seen in two ways: as a process and as an achievement. Adjustment as a process involves the ongoing strategies people use to cope with life changes, while adjustment as an achievement focuses on the end result—achieving a stable and balanced state. Together, these models provide insight into how individuals adapt and reach well-being. [5]

Achieving successful adjustment offers individuals increased emotional resilience and an enriched quality of life. However, in times of high stress or significant challenges, some may resort to defense mechanisms like denial, displacement, or rationalization to manage their emotions. These coping strategies can provide temporary relief but may also prevent individuals from fully addressing the underlying issues. [1]

Adjustment as an achievement

This model addresses adjustment at a specific moment in time, considering an individual's adjustment to one challenge, not to all the challenges they have faced. Successfully adjusting to one scenario can be independent of struggling to adjust to another unrelated scenario. [6] An example of this type of approach is observing a poor student beginning to study during recess because they do not have a home environment where they can effectively study. Beginning to study at another time would be considered adequately adjusting to this scenario, but does not consider the other ways it may impact their life (i.e.: inhibiting social interactions with peers.) [7] [8]

Adjustment as a process

The 'adjustment as a process' theory portrays that, since the moment we are born, humans are in a constant state of adjustment. Since we exist in a state of constant, oftentimes rapid change, it follows that we cannot break these changes down into separate, unrelated challenges. This method of consideration asserts there is no way to 'adjust successfully' because something will always be about to change and prompt further adjustment. This approach views all life events as inextricable from some form of adjustment. [9] [5]

The two primary processes that contribute to adjustment process are assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation involves integrating new experiences and information into existing mental frameworks.  Accommodation requires altering those frameworks to adapt to new situations. [10] Together, these processes support healthy adjustment, which is the individual’s ongoing ability to meet personal, social, and biological needs effectively. Through this balance, individuals establish a sense of stability and harmony, enabling them to respond flexibly to life’s challenges while maintaining a well-rounded sense of well-being. [5]

Successful adjustment

Successful adjustment is also called being 'well adjusted' and is critical to mental health. Colloquially, being well-adjusted is defined as a person who "is reasonable and has good judgement...their behavior is not difficult or strange." [11] Adjustment is a continuum, not a simple dichotomy; people can fluctuate and be adept at adjusting in different circumstances.

Coping

Successful adjustment can also be determined by the ability of the individual to address the core problem and employ coping strategies to help individuals adjust to a changing environment. Coping is known as the conscious effort to implore strategies to manage, reduce, or adapt to the challenges and pressures posed by stress. It encompasses a variety of approaches aimed at mitigating the impact of stressors, allowing individuals to maintain emotional balance and regain a sense of control over their circumstances. These strategies can be problem-focused, targeting the source of stress, or emotion-focused, aimed at managing emotional responses to stress. [1]

Two major coping strategies are problem-focused copying and emotion-focused coping. Problem-focused coping involves directly addressing the source of stress. This strategy is typically action-oriented, where individuals actively take steps to eliminate, reduce, or resolve the stressor. [12] Emotion-focused coping, on the other hand, aims to manage the emotional responses associated with stress rather than the problem itself. Techniques like meditation, talking with friends, journaling, or engaging in relaxing activities are common examples. [13] Both strategies are essential and can be used in tandem, depending on whether a person can change the stressor directly or simply needs to adapt to it emotionally. [1]

Characteristics of a well-adjusted person

In general, a person that is well-adjusted will have the following characteristics:

These more detailed characteristics listed above can be synthesized into these main criteria:

An individual who does not have these characteristics or is not consistently meeting the listed criteria could be diagnosed with an Adjustment disorder. If diagnosed, they would likely be treated with psychotherapy to help them develop these skills and abilities. Ways to encourage these healthy adjustment mechanisms may include:

Defense Mechanisms

Many methods used for adjustment are also defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms can be either adaptive or maladaptive depending on the context and the use. In a 2003 study, researchers found that elementary school children who utilized appropriate defense mechanisms had higher performance in academic, social, conduct, and athletic domains. [17]

Defense mechanisms can buffer certain feelings regarding difficult situations by reducing the immediate impact of stressors. When faced with intense emotions or threats to self-esteem, defense mechanisms can temporarily shield individuals, allowing them to navigate distressing events without feeling completely overwhelmed, helping them adjust for a period. [1] [18]

Examples of Defense Mechanisms

Day Dreaming

  • Daydreams are brief detachments from reality while awake. Episodes generally include fantasizing about hopes for the future and other pleasant thoughts.
  • Adaptive example: daydreaming about positive social interactions could reduce social anxiety
  • In a 2016 study, researchers studied 103 students as they transitioned to university. They found that those who daydreamed more frequently and whose daydreams had higher rates of positive characteristics and positive emotional outcomes were less likely to feel lonely by the end of the study. Participants' daydreams fostered feelings of connection and social inclusion during an anxiety-ridden period. Findings from this study suggest that daydreaming can help individuals with socio-emotional adjustment. [19]

Displacement

  • Displacement is a defense mechanism where an individual redirects emotions or impulses from an original, threatening source to a safer or more acceptable substitute. [20] This can help temporarily reduce anxiety by shifting difficult feelings onto less risky targets.
  • Adaptive example: feeling frustrated at work after a difficult interaction with their supervisor. Instead of confronting the supervisor directly, they might channel their frustration into a productive activity, like exercising or tackling a challenging project at home.

Denial

  • Denial is a defense mechanism where an individual refuses to accept reality or acknowledge a distressing aspect of their life. [21] This subconscious strategy allows the person to avoid facing painful feelings or situations temporarily, helping them cope with overwhelming emotions in the short term.
  • Adaptive example: someone who has been diagnosed with a chronic illness denies the severity of the diagnosis.
Additional Examples
  • Compensation: emphasizing a strength to diminish the appearance of a real or imagined weakness [22]
    • Adaptive example: developing strong interpersonal skills to compensate for difficulty with academics
  • Intellectualization: focusing on the abstract side of something as opposed to the practical or emotional sides [23]
    • Adaptive example: researching a disease after being diagnosed rather than contemplating the life changing impact [24]
  • Rationalization: understanding the reasoning behind actions; often touted as "making excuses" but can be adaptive [25]
    • Adaptive example: knowing that you need to be stern and harsh to a friend in order to tell them the truth and help them improve
  • Identification: associating oneself with another individual (often a friend or relative) that is extremely accomplished [26]
    • Adaptive example: associating with the success of sibling when you have helped them achieve a goal
  • Projection: displacing personal feelings/opinions as those of another person (consciously or unconsciously) [27]
    • Adaptive example: mitigating personal guilt by saying a friend has anger issues rather than acknowledging your internal anger [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

In psychoanalytic theory, a defence mechanism is an unconscious psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and outer stressors.

Psychological trauma is an emotional response caused by severe distressing events that are outside the normal range of human experiences. It must be understood by the affected person as directly threatening the affected person or their loved ones generally with death, severe bodily injury, or sexual violence; indirect exposure, such as from watching television news, may be extremely distressing and can produce an involuntary and possibly overwhelming physiological stress response, but does not produce trauma per se. Examples of distressing events include violence, rape, or a terrorist attack.

Coping refers to conscious or unconscious strategies used to reduce and manage unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviors and can be individual or social. To cope is to deal with struggles and difficulties in life. It is a way for people to maintain their mental and emotional well-being. Everybody has ways of handling difficult events that occur in life, and that is what it means to cope. Coping can be healthy and productive, or destructive and unhealthy. It is recommended that an individual cope in ways that will be beneficial and healthy. "Managing your stress well can help you feel better physically and psychologically and it can impact your ability to perform your best."

Emotional reasoning is a cognitive process by which an individual concludes that their emotional reaction proves something is true, despite contrary empirical evidence. Emotional reasoning creates an 'emotional truth', which may be in direct conflict with the inverse 'perceptional truth'. It can create feelings of anxiety, fear, and apprehension in existing stressful situations, and as such, is often associated with or triggered by panic disorder or anxiety disorder. For example, even though a spouse has shown only devotion, a person using emotional reasoning might conclude, "I know my spouse is being unfaithful because I feel jealous."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diathesis–stress model</span> Psychological theory

The diathesis-stress model, also known as the vulnerability–stress model, is a psychological theory that attempts to explain a disorder, or its trajectory, as the result of an interaction between a predispositional vulnerability, the diathesis, and stress caused by life experiences. The term diathesis derives from the Greek term (διάθεσις) for a predisposition or sensibility. A diathesis can take the form of genetic, psychological, biological, or situational factors. A large range of differences exists among individuals' vulnerabilities to the development of a disorder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emotional detachment</span> Inability and/or disinterest in emotionally connecting to others

In psychology, emotional detachment, also known as emotional blunting, is a condition or state in which a person lacks emotional connectivity to others, whether due to an unwanted circumstance or as a positive means to cope with anxiety. Such a coping strategy, also known as emotion-focused coping, is used when avoiding certain situations that might trigger anxiety. It refers to the evasion of emotional connections. Emotional detachment may be a temporary reaction to a stressful situation, or a chronic condition such as depersonalization-derealization disorder. It may also be caused by certain antidepressants. Emotional blunting, also known as reduced affect display, is one of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Psychological resilience is the ability to cope mentally and emotionally with a crisis, or to return to pre-crisis status quickly.

Appraisal theory is the theory in psychology that emotions are extracted from our evaluations of events that cause specific reactions in different people. Essentially, our appraisal of a situation causes an emotional, or affective, response that is going to be based on that appraisal. An example of this is going on a first date. If the date is perceived as positive, one might feel happiness, joy, giddiness, excitement, and/or anticipation, because they have appraised this event as one that could have positive long-term effects, i.e. starting a new relationship, engagement, or even marriage. On the other hand, if the date is perceived negatively, then our emotions, as a result, might include dejection, sadness, emptiness, or fear. Reasoning and understanding of one's emotional reaction becomes important for future appraisals as well. The important aspect of the appraisal theory is that it accounts for individual variability in emotional reactions to the same event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychological intervention</span>

In applied psychology, interventions are actions performed to bring about change in people. A wide range of intervention strategies exist and they are directed towards various types of issues. Most generally, it means any activities used to modify behavior, emotional state, or feelings. Psychological interventions have many different applications and the most common use is for the treatment of mental disorders, most commonly using psychotherapy. The ultimate goal behind these interventions is not only to alleviate symptoms but also to target the root cause of mental disorders.

Stress-related disorders constitute a category of mental disorders. They are maladaptive, biological and psychological responses to short- or long-term exposures to physical or emotional stressors. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences categorizes Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as stress-related disorders. However, the World Health Organization's ICD-11 excludes OCD but categorizes PTSD, Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), adjustment disorder as stress-related disorders.

The self-regulation of emotion or emotion regulation is the ability to respond to the ongoing demands of experience with the range of emotions in a manner that is socially tolerable and sufficiently flexible to permit spontaneous reactions as well as the ability to delay spontaneous reactions as needed. It can also be defined as extrinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for monitoring, evaluating, and modifying emotional reactions. The self-regulation of emotion belongs to the broader set of emotion regulation processes, which includes both the regulation of one's own feelings and the regulation of other people's feelings.

Meta-mood is a term used by psychologists to refer to an individual's awareness of their emotions. The term was first utilized by John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey who believed the experience of mood involved "direct" and "indirect" components. While the direct level refers to the simple appearance of mood - happiness, fear, anger, sadness, and surprise, the indirect level, or the meta-mood experience, does not solely consist of the emotions experienced by an individual in the moment. Rather, it is a reflective state which involves additional thoughts and feelings about the mood itself. "I shouldn’t feel this way" or "I am thinking of ways to improve my mood" are examples of reflective thoughts during a meta-mood experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychological stress</span> Feeling of strain and pressure

In psychology, stress is a feeling of emotional strain and pressure. Stress is a form of psychological discomfort and mental discomfort. Small amounts of stress may be beneficial, as it can improve athletic performance, motivation and reaction to the environment. Excessive amounts of stress, however, can increase the risk of strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, and mental illnesses such as depression and also aggravate pre-existing conditions.

Affect regulation and "affect regulation theory" are important concepts in psychiatry and psychology and in close relation with emotion regulation. However, the latter is a reflection of an individual's mood status rather than their affect. Affect regulation is the actual performance one can demonstrate in a difficult situation regardless of what their mood or emotions are. It is tightly related to the quality of executive and cognitive functions and that is what distinguishes this concept from emotion regulation. One can have a low emotional control but a high level of control on his or her affect, and therefore, demonstrate a normal interpersonal functioning as a result of intact cognition.

Interpersonal emotion regulation is the process of changing the emotional experience of one's self or another person through social interaction. It encompasses both intrinsic emotion regulation, in which one attempts to alter their own feelings by recruiting social resources, as well as extrinsic emotion regulation, in which one deliberately attempts to alter the trajectory of other people's feelings.

Emotional eating, also known as stress eating and emotional overeating, is defined as the "propensity to eat in response to positive and negative emotions". While the term commonly refers to eating as a means of coping with negative emotions, it sometimes include eating for positive emotions, such as overeating when celebrating an event or to enhance an already good mood.

Laurance Frederic Shaffer was an American psychologist who was a past president of the American Psychological Association (APA) and notably served during World War II with the Air Force.

Music as a coping strategy involves the use of music in order to reduce stress, as well as many of the psychological and physical manifestations associated with it. The use of music to cope with stress is an example of an emotion-focused, adaptive coping strategy. Rather than focusing on the stressor itself, music therapy is typically geared towards reducing or eliminating the emotions that arise in response to stress. In essence, advocates of this therapy claim that the use of music helps to lower stress levels in patients, as well as lower more biologically measurable quantities such as the levels of epinephrine and cortisol. Additionally, music therapy programs have been repeatedly demonstrated to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms in the long term.

Emotional approach coping is a psychological construct that involves the use of emotional processing and emotional expression in response to a stressful situation. As opposed to emotional avoidance, in which emotions are experienced as a negative, undesired reaction to a stressful situation, emotional approach coping involves the conscious use of emotional expression and processing to better deal with a stressful situation. The construct was developed to explain an inconsistency in the stress and coping literature: emotion-focused coping was associated with largely maladaptive outcomes while emotional processing and expression was demonstrated to be beneficial.

Self-blame is a cognitive process in which an individual attributes the occurrence of a stressful event to oneself. The direction of blame often has implications for individuals’ emotions and behaviors during and following stressful situations. Self-blame is a common reaction to stressful events and has certain effects on how individuals adapt. Types of self-blame are hypothesized to contribute to depression, and self-blame is a component of self-directed emotions like guilt and self-disgust. Because of self-blame's commonality in response to stress and its role in emotion, self-blame should be examined using psychology's perspectives on stress and coping. This article will attempt to give an overview of the contemporary study on self-blame in psychology.

References

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  7. ↑ Dockett, Sue; Perry, Bob; Tracey, Danielle (1997). Getting Ready for School [microform] / Sue Dockett, Bob Perry and Danielle Tracey. [Washington D.C.]: Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse.
  8. ↑ Dockett, Sue; Griebel, Wilfried; Perry, Bob (2017-07-04). Families and transition to school. Dockett, Sue,, Griebel, Wilfried,, Perry, Bob, 1945-. Cham, Switzerland. ISBN   9783319583297. OCLC   992988904.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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  13. ↑ "APA Dictionary of Psychology". dictionary.apa.org. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
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  21. ↑ "APA Dictionary of Psychology". dictionary.apa.org. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
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  28. ↑ "Projection". changingminds.org. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
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