Oftentimes it is the urgency of a problem that makes us want to know more about the processes of adjustment. This book is devoted to the many aspects of personal adjustments and the relations we have with other people. Sometimes we m:st-ake pessimism for realism and feel that as individuals we can do nothing to change the people or the world around us. Basically, most of us wish to seek out our own individuality; we want to be more than just a statistic in some computer storage unit.
WHAT IS ADJUSTMENT?
As we know, behavioral adjustment is the process of trying to bring about a balance between needs, stimuli, and the opportunities offered by the environment. It consists of attempting to satisfy needs by overcoming both inner and outer obstacles and by fitting oneself to circumstances, like the student who wants to get along with the group. While physiological adjustment involves adaptation to the environment, we can think of behavioral adjustment as a kind of "psychological survival." Learning about adjustment means analyzing two things: our ~nternal makeup and our interpersonal, or social, behavior that results from having to live with other people. We can think of adjustment in two ways: (1) the process by which man and his environment are kept in balance and (2) the individual's efforts to fulfill his needs. In response to hunger we eat and thereby restore the balance between bodily needs and the food energy available to meet them. We seek a comfortable balance between the extremes of hot and cold environments and do things to bring this about. In attempting to be stimulated but not overwhelmed, we go through sequences of behavior in response to stress. When circumstances change, we discover new ways to satisfy our wants. This pattern is the process of adjustment.
It is a concept that develops gradually in our understanding. Let us here note that good adjustment does not necessarily mean conformity to some norm. In fact, one can think of adjustment as being sometimes a twe-way process whereby one works to change the norm, or standard, of behavior rather than change one's individual behavior to conform. Giving value to honesty and behaving accordingly is an example of where we may be bucking the norm in some given situation. Mindless conformiry is, of course, jus't the opposite of healthy adjustment. Yet, some conformity is a part of good adjustment. We certainly stand less chance of an accident if we conform to well-researched traffic regulations. Even for the pedestrian, statistics bear this out in terms of the direction from which we may be hit by a motor vehicle. For example, edestrians crossing at intersections are twice as likely to be hit by a car turning left as right. In part, the automobile's design is responsible, requiring the driver to make some adjustments different from turning right. For the pedestrian, good adjustment means looking just 'ttle farther to the right. Safety.regulations are related to both the estrian and the driver. If one person .conforms and the other does the chances of an accident increase. This example illustrates the idea that adjustment is only partially within the control of the individual. Each of us must etermine when he or she is in control and when not.
In many social situations, knowledge is essential to adjustment in large measure, effective adjustments are within us and relate : feelings of self-worth and the ability to give and receive affection. Knowing when and when not to be flexible in our behavior is important, and our values, goals, and attitudes become a part of the adjustment process. Adjustment is an ongoing process, not a static g. It centers so much on the question, "Who am I?" and changes as we change. We shall talk later about self-identity d other aspects of personality. but here let us extend our thought to personality and some of the differences in value orientations that relate to the adjustments we make. We may adjust in varying ways to different types of people as well as to different situations.
