Difficulty In Social Adjustment

Social adjustment refers to an individual’s ability to engage in competent social behavior and adapt to a new standard and value. Adjustment is a psychological process as one goes through a stage of adapting and accepting a new situation to meet social needs.

We live in a society where everyone has an opinion or an idea and still, behave according to the societal norms so as to adapt to them. It is a  societal war game between an individual and this process as it is not easy to adapt.

There are laid out reasons that would cause a person not to adjust to a particular situation. They include; lack of social skill, social anxiety, cultural differences and  peer pressure.

In most cases, the desire to fit in and conform to social norms leads an individual to engage in behavior that may not align with their values and this situation can be seen mostly in school environment from students who just left their homes to further education.

They are overwhelmed by peer pressure and social anxiety.

There are different forms of social adjustments.

Emotional adjustment is the ability to regulate one’s emotion and express them appropriately in social situations. Interpersonal adjustment is the ability to communicate effectively and form a positive relationship with others.

Cultural adjustment  is the ability to adapt to the norms of a new state. Occupational/academic adjustment has to do with working and academic situations.

Some likely symptoms of adjustment are emotional stress, change in sleep pattern, physical symptoms (headaches, stomach aches,or other physical complains), interaction problems and self destructive behavior such  as trying to harm oneself.

It is not a mental disorder but a psychological issue that has remedies which requires the individual to have a flexible learning mindset to realize “you don’t fear change, you fear loss” and to develop the strength within that resistance. Social adjustment is a part of everyday routine. My teacher learns to adapt to my learning method and I learn to adapt to my teacher. This is the circle of social adjustment.There is need of impractical perception for social adjustment. The processes of behaviour e.g. learning, maturation, sensation, perception and motivation contribute to the process of adjustment. The way we interact with people depends, to a great extent, on how we see them and how we interpret their behaviours. The perceptions about people–what we think, what they like-influence the way we respond to them.Our social views about someone are first based on the information we obtain about them. In some instances, the attribution inference we make about the cause for their behaviour. It is of course, important to have accurate knowledge of others before deciding on the kind of possible interaction with them.

Impression Formation and  Social Adjustment:

Impression formation is the process by which information about others is converted into more or less enduring cognition or thoughts about them. When we first meet someone, we usually have access to information on  how the person looks and where he or she works and what he or she says. These facts form the basic cognitive framework by which we understand others and try to adjust with them.

Other Processes in Social Adjustment:

There are certain other processes which we can use for social adjustment as under:

(i) Stress : Factors which make it hard for an individual to live are called stress. The stress is experienced as discomfort. At a slightly more advanced level, stress is explained as the anticipation of harm. In human beings, certain kind of stresses produces anxiety. Anxiety sometimes produces defensive response. Defenses are generally regarded as poor methods of adjustment.

(ii) Social influence: Influence situations can be differentiated by noticing the different characteristics of agent and of the behaviour that makes up the intervention. The following five concepts explain the process of social influence.

1. Social Facilitation: In a group situation, the presence of others would always influence performance and thus the efforts to bring changes in performance of an individual are called social facilitation. The presence of others increases an individual’s arousal level which in turn, enhances performance of well learned responses.

2. Imitation: Imitation involves change in focal person’s behaviour that matches as copies others’ behaviour. Student imitates the behaviour of social personalities for getting the recognition.

3. Compliance to Others: Human being as a social being makes  rules for their children. This type of situation influences them to adjust in social environment.

4. Conformity to Norms: Conformity is the situation where individuals change their behaviours so that they may become more similar to those of the other members of the group. Most situations of this sort are seen amongst colleagues and students

5. Obedience: Obedience is the situation where a person has the ability to influence another and the focal person( another) has the obligation to obey.

Mbachu Chiwendu Marian, undergraduate Student of Englisih and Literary Studies, Delta State Unversity, Abraka and can be reacted at (maemarielle39@gmail.com)

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact Us

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG