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Adjustment (Psychology)

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Adjustment (Psychology).

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Adjustment (Psychology)

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In this book emphasis is placed on continuously improving adjustment even for those who are getting along acceptably. Common errors and shortcomings of normal persons are considered along with the more serious deviations of those considered to be abnormal. Elimination of the common errors can enhance self-realization, and knowledge of the more serious "adjustive" techniques can help one avoid danger zones. It is assumed that happy, efficient persons are as capable of improving adjustment as are those who stumble along. The treatment is based on the assumptions (1) that growth is continuous for all persons and that direction of growth trends is possible; (2) that habits shape patterns of adjustment but that the re-formation of habits can be controlled; and (3) that one needs clear, even if tentative, goals to direct the course of his life. Better mental health depends on the application of basic principles of psychology. This emphasis on application may be summarized as follows: When a person realizes and puts into action the knowledge that efficient living is the result of steadfast study, work, and habit formation, he has moved closer to the goal of better personal adjustment. The material of the second edition has been expanded in scope without enlarging the volume. New chapters on marital and occupational adjustments have been added-space for these having been provided by condensation of first-edition chapters on thinking and social adaptation. All chapters have been rewritten, thus giving room for the introduction of additional information. Data on accident-proneness, note making, social structure, implications of military service, and the impact of automation, which were lacking in the first edition, are now included. The uniqueness of the volume lies in the emphasis. While most books on mental hygiene and psychology are addressed to professional workers-teachers, counselors, clinicians, etc.-this one emphasizes the needs of the individual. However, the effectiveness of both professionals and laymen is largely dependent upon their own mental health. Most of the book deals, therefore, with normal persons, but abnormalities receive mention for the sake of understanding and as indications of danger zones of adjustment. Causative factors of maladjustment are described, but major stress is placed upon the individual's reactions to potentially frustrating conditions. In general, the book deals with psychological principles underlying preservative and preventive mental hygiene. It is to be hoped that the application of these principles will play a small part in the reduction of maladjustment and the enhancement of self-fulfillment. The pervasive aim is to help in the achievement of "a way of life that shall enable every person to live a happier, fuller, more harmonious, and more effective existence." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Adjustment (Psychology)

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"The systematic study of the whole man is undertaken in two inseparable fields, identified as the psychology of adjustment and the psychology of personality. Adjustment and personality are unifying concepts because they include the various subordinate processes of motivation, emotion, and cognition. To the psychologist of personality, the organization of the subordinate processes is the essence of personality. In Part I, we take up separately the concepts of adjustment and personality. With man so complicated an organism it is not surprising that many schemes would exist for conceptualizing his personality. However, this multitude of schemes also attests to the early stage of our present knowledge, for science normally progresses by dropping poor theories that do not conform to the empirical world and developing more advanced ones that do a better job of encompassing all that is known. Most of the theoretical systems that we are about to explore are products of the early twentieth century, although they all have roots that go far back in the history of ideas. As our knowledge broadens, the present theories will be replaced or modified to keep pace with it. These refinements will be better stated and lead us more successfully to specify the biological and social conditions of life on which personality depends. The theories that we shall explore should be regarded as halting, beginning steps toward understanding personality, taken only recently in a modern science less than one hundred years old. The reader should recognize that theories vary in degree of elaborateness or completeness. They may be in early stages of development with only the most basic postulates available. The second part of the book takes up the historical aspect of personality and adjustment in contrast with contemporaneous descriptions. We began our treatment of personality and adjustment with a discussion of the nature of the concept of adjustment. A key point was the interdependence of processes of adjustment and personality structure. For this reason we proceeded to examine personality, its nature, theories about it, its development, and the biological and social conditions of life that are influential in its formation. Thus in Part III we are prepared to return to the processes of adjustment in the context of this background. Adjustment is conceived as continually occurring in response to internal pressures and environmental demands, but special problems are created for the person when these demands become excessive; when an individual is exposed to conditions of stress. It is therefore of great importance to consider the nature of stress and its implications for the adjustment process. Part IV can be seen as the "pay-off" section, which discusses how the knowledge accumulated about adjustment and personality might be employed to solve some of the pressing psychological problems of mankind. Our objective in the last section on assessment, treatment and other applications is not so much to catalog and detail the areas of application as to outline and assess the problems underlying them. Furthermore, this is not a manual to teach the reader how to diagnose and treat but rather a treatise on the fundamental concepts underlying the methods of assessment and treatment. To some readers the inclusion of these areas of psychological concern, although obviously related to adjustment and personality, may seem specialized and technical. However, nowadays the lay person (including the beginning student as well as those who have had no formal psychological training) is aware of diagnosis and therapy as he has never been before. The mass media frequently touch upon these subjects, and it is in the interest of a high level of education to inform properly the student of psychology about these very fundamental areas of inquiry and application.".

Adjustment (Psychology)