Human adaptation capabilities and the task of socio-ecological rehabilitation

Human adaptation to environmental conditions

In the history of our planet (from the day of its formation to the present), grandiose processes on a planetary scale have continuously occurred and are occurring, transforming the face of the Earth. With the advent of a powerful factor - the human mind - a qualitatively new stage in the evolution of the organic world began. Due to the global nature of human interaction with the environment, it becomes the largest geological force.

Human production activity influences not only the direction of evolution of the biosphere, but also determines its own biological evolution.

The specificity of the human environment lies in the complex interweaving of social and natural factors. At the dawn of human history, natural factors played a decisive role in human evolution. The impact of natural factors on modern man is largely neutralized by social factors. In new natural and industrial conditions, a person is now often influenced by very unusual, and sometimes excessive and harsh environmental factors, for which he is not yet evolutionarily ready.

Humans, like other types of living organisms, are capable of adapting, that is, adapting to environmental conditions. Human adaptation to new natural and industrial conditions can be characterized as a set of socio-biological properties and characteristics necessary for the sustainable existence of an organism in a specific ecological environment.

Each person's life can be considered as a constant adaptation, but our ability to do this has certain limits. Also, the ability to restore one’s physical and mental strength is not endless for a person.

Currently, a significant part of human diseases is associated with the deterioration of the ecological situation in our environment: pollution of the atmosphere, water and soil, poor-quality food, and increased noise.

Adapting to unfavorable environmental conditions, the human body experiences a state of tension and fatigue. Tension is the mobilization of all mechanisms that ensure certain activities of the human body. Depending on the magnitude of the load, the degree of preparation of the body, its functional-structural and energy resources, the ability of the body to function at a given level is reduced, that is, fatigue occurs.

When a healthy person gets tired, a redistribution of possible reserve functions of the body can occur, and after rest, strength will reappear. Humans are capable of withstanding the harshest natural conditions for relatively long periods of time. However, a person who is not accustomed to these conditions, who finds himself in them for the first time, turns out to be much less adapted to life in an unfamiliar environment than its permanent inhabitants.

The ability to adapt to new conditions varies from person to person. Thus, many people, during long-distance flights with rapid crossing of several time zones, as well as during shift work, experience such unfavorable symptoms as sleep disturbances and decreased performance. Others adapt quickly.

Among people, two extreme adaptive types of people can be distinguished. The first of them is a sprinter, characterized by high resistance to short-term extreme factors and poor tolerance to long-term loads. The reverse type is a stayer.

It is interesting that in the northern regions of the country, people of the “stayer” type predominate among the population, which was apparently the result of long-term processes of formation of a population adapted to local conditions.

Since in our time, the impact of stress factors on the human body is greater than ever, the study of adaptive capabilities and the development of appropriate recommendations are of the greatest practical importance.

Conclusion

This work described the influence of environmental conditions on the human body: natural - climate, weather, landscape, nutrition, exposure to microorganisms; and artificially created by man himself - synthetic chemical agents, unfavorable conditions of urban existence, as well as the ability of people to adapt to the current conditions. Thus, the goal of the work was achieved - to consider the influence of the main environmental factors on human health.

Since man has always been, remains, and in the near future is unlikely to cease to be a part of the Earth’s unified ecosystem, the problems raised in this work will not lose their relevance.

Any change in the habitat certainly leads to a change in the composition or structure of the population of living organisms inhabiting it - this is an evolutionary law. But we don’t want, after some time, the Earth to be inhabited by OTHER people or not people at all? Most of us, however, still do not understand the need to protect the environment. And, unfortunately, even awareness of the existing problems would not bring us much closer to solving them, since today we are no longer talking about protecting nature, but about its restoration.

Levels of adaptation: physiological, mental, social.

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The problem of “adaptation” itself, according to methodological views rooted in science, is for some reason considered “one of the cardinal and most important tasks of biology” [4; 115; 164], but not psychology. And in this situation, in my opinion, a rather large omission on the part of psychological science is very clearly visible, since in fact the problem mentioned above deserves the closest attention from psychologists.

The scientific and practical relevance of this problem lies in the fact that modern society is interested in maintaining and improving human health. Therefore, the study of the mechanisms and patterns of human adaptation in a variety of industrial and social conditions at various levels is currently acquiring fundamental importance. The study of this phenomenon in connection with the professional activities of a leader of any rank (taking into account specific conditions, of course) deserves priority attention.

Since people react differently to changes in their activities and various stressors (that is, they differ in their adaptability), the highest priority becomes the task of studying and developing a system for improving this quality (or ability) in order to have an effective impact on it; in addition, the inclusion of this parameter as one of the main ones in the development of a professional profile for a specialist at any level (and, first of all, a manager).

It is rightly said that if development is a strategy of life, then adaptation is a tactic that allows living things to remain within certain evolutionary boundaries, thereby ensuring the possibility of progress.

Despite the fact that biologists consider adaptation one of the most general, if not the most widespread, concepts in their environment, they themselves admit that not only does there still not exist a general theory of adaptation, but even general principles for the analysis of adaptive processes have not been formulated. phenomena, their basic patterns have not been established, there are no sufficiently clear and unambiguous definitions (and some of the definitions are tautological in nature) [62, p. 14].

To this day, the words of one of the largest specialists in the field of automatic regulation theory, Robert Kalaba, who noted in 1962, remain true: “At present, we can say that adaptive regulation is a mystery wrapped in a puzzle hidden inside a riddle” [163, p. . 4].

During the entire period of a person’s life - from the moment of birth (that is, release from the mother’s womb as an autonomous, independent organism) until death - he is continuously accompanied by the process of adaptation. This process is inseparable from the very concept of “life”: life without adaptation is unthinkable, just as adaptation does not exist outside the life cycle of a living organism.

So, adaptation is a property of any living organism. However, a person is not just a living organism, but, above all, a complex biosocial system. Therefore, when considering problems of human adaptation, it is advisable to distinguish three functional levels: physiological, mental and social.

Adaptation is a dynamic process due to which the mobile systems of living organisms, despite the variability of conditions, maintain the stability necessary for the existence, development and procreation. It is the adaptation mechanism, developed as a result of long-term evolution, that ensures the ability of an organism to exist in constantly changing environmental conditions.

Thanks to the adaptation process, homeostasis is maintained when the body interacts with the outside world. In this regard, adaptation processes include not only optimizing the functioning of the body, but also maintaining balance in the “organism-environment” system. The adaptation process is implemented whenever significant changes occur in the “organism-environment” system and ensures the formation of a new homeostatic state, which allows achieving maximum efficiency of physiological functions and behavioral reactions. Since the organism and the environment are not in static, but in dynamic equilibrium, their relationships are constantly changing, and, therefore, the process of adaptation must also be constantly carried out.

The above applies equally to animals and humans. However, a significant difference between humans is that mental adaptation plays a decisive role in the process of maintaining adequate relationships in the “individual-environment” system, during which all parameters of the system can change.

Mental adaptation is considered as a result of the activity of an integral self-governing system (at the level of “operational rest”), while emphasizing its systemic organization. But with this consideration, the picture remains incomplete. It is necessary to include the concept of need in the formulation. The maximum possible satisfaction of current needs is therefore an important criterion for the effectiveness of the adaptation process. Consequently, mental adaptation can be defined as the process of establishing an optimal match between the individual and the environment during the implementation of human activity, which (the process) allows the individual to satisfy current needs and realize significant goals associated with them, while ensuring at the same time compliance with the maximum activity of a person, his behavior, environmental requirements.

Psychophysiological adaptation is a continuous process, which, along with mental adaptation itself (that is, maintaining mental homeostasis), includes two more aspects:

a) optimization of the individual’s constant interaction with the environment;

b) establishing an adequate correspondence between mental and physiological characteristics.

The entire system of neurohumoral regulation ensures the functioning of the body as a whole due to the dialectical unity of expenditure and restoration of energy, structural and regulatory reserves. Mechanisms of self-regulation (hereditary and acquired), acting during certain changes in the human body and aimed at preserving its vital functions, are of leading importance.

In this regard, I.P. Pavlov, emphasizing the importance of the physiological mechanisms under consideration, wrote: “...man is, of course, a system (roughly speaking, a machine) <....> the only one with the highest self-regulation <....> self-supporting, directing and even restorative” [230, p. 187–188].

A distinctive feature of any system is that it has an input and an output. The input is otherwise designated by terms such as stimulus, impact, disturbance, etc., and the output is effect, response, reaction, etc. All these names indicate that the change in the input effect is determined by the law of behavior of the system.

According to the first law of thermodynamics, any open system can be brought out of equilibrium by expending energy, that is, by doing work. If the supply of energy stops, the system will return to a state of equilibrium after some time, since the energy will dissipate outward. Living organisms are open systems that constantly consume energy, therefore they are in a non-equilibrium state for a long time (sustainably).

It is obvious that a stably nonequilibrium system has a reserve of potential energy, therefore it is sensitive to external influences and is capable of responding to weak stimuli with a reaction of greater force. In this case, the non-equilibrium system either performs work directed against external influences or comes to a state of equilibrium. Living organisms fulfill the first requirement, since the second means death for them.

Since adaptation is the process of realizing the body’s ability to regulate its parameters in such a way as to keep them within the functional optimum, the main criterion for their classification is the characteristics of the regulatory system that is responsible for the adaptation process in question. The adaptive abilities of organisms at different levels of phylogenesis differ due to the advancement of their regulatory systems.

It is obvious that in both an adult and a developing organism, along with the ability for sensitizing adaptations, there must be the possibility of stabilizing adaptations. By them we mean the process of realizing the abilities of the whole organism or its individual reagents to maintain their parameters within the functional optimum under changing environmental factors. In phylogenesis, the possibility of stabilizing adaptations develops in parallel with sensitizing adaptations.

An integral part of the concept of the integrity of the body is the interaction of a person with the environment. In the course of social progress, there is not a weakening or rupture, but an enrichment of human connections with nature and the social environment. Thus, the role of human physical improvement is increasingly increasing.

Physical perfection is not only a biological concept, but also an aesthetic and social one. We call physically perfect a person who has high capacity and stability in work and everyday (everyday) activities. His body is distinguished by the best development and state of the relationship of its functions, organs and systems with each other and the environment. This best state is determined in connection with a person’s age and has an optimal characteristic for each period of his life. Physical perfection can be achieved if a person maintains health throughout his life.

Health is the dynamics of homeostatic and adaptive processes in the human body and his psyche, which provides him with the opportunity to live and work actively in various environmental conditions and to withstand its unfavorable factors.

Since individuals are not alike, a lot depends on the personality factor. For example, in the “person-environment” system, the level of emotional tension increases as the differences between the conditions in which the subject’s mechanisms are formed and the newly created ones increase. Thus, certain conditions cause emotional stress not because of their absolute rigidity, but as a result of the inconsistency of the individual’s emotional mechanism with these conditions.

With any violation of the “person-environment” balance, the insufficiency of the individual’s mental or physical resources to meet current needs or the mismatch of the system of needs itself is a source of anxiety. Anxiety, defined as: 1) a feeling of an uncertain threat, 2) a feeling of diffuse apprehension and anxious anticipation, 3) vague worry, is the most powerful mechanism of mental stress. This follows from the already mentioned feeling of threat, which represents the central element of anxiety and determines its biological significance as a signal of trouble and danger.

Anxiety can play a protective and motivational role comparable to the role of pain. An increase in behavioral activity, a change in the nature of behavior, or the activation of intrapsychic adaptation mechanisms are associated with the occurrence of anxiety. But anxiety can not only stimulate activity, but also contribute to the destruction of insufficiently adaptive behavioral stereotypes and their replacement with more adequate forms of behavior.

Unlike pain, anxiety is a signal of danger that has not yet been realized. Prediction of this situation is probabilistic in nature, and ultimately depends on the characteristics of the individual. In this case, the personal factor often plays a decisive role, and in this case the intensity of anxiety reflects, rather, the individual characteristics of the subject rather than the real significance of the threat.

Anxiety, which is inadequate in intensity and duration to the situation, interferes with the formation of adaptive behavior, leads to a violation of behavioral integration and general disorganization of the human psyche. Thus, anxiety underlies any changes in mental state and behavior caused by mental stress.

Professor F.B. Berezin [29] identified an alarming series that represents an essential element of the process of mental adaptation:

a feeling of internal tension - does not have a pronounced shade of threat, serves only as a signal of its approach, creating painful mental discomfort;

hyperesthetic reactions - anxiety increases, previously neutral stimuli acquire a negative connotation, irritability increases;

anxiety itself is the central element of the series under consideration. Manifests itself as a feeling of vague threat. A characteristic feature: the inability to determine the nature of the threat and predict the time of its occurrence. Often there is inadequate logical processing, as a result of which, due to a lack of facts, an incorrect conclusion is issued;

fear is anxiety specific to a specific object. Although the objects with which anxiety is associated may not be its cause, the subject has the idea that anxiety can be eliminated by certain actions;

a feeling of the inevitability of an impending catastrophe - the increase in the intensity of anxiety disorders leads the subject to the idea of ​​​​the impossibility of preventing the upcoming event;

anxious-fearful arousal – the disorganization caused by anxiety reaches its maximum, and the possibility of purposeful activity disappears.

With a paroxysmal increase in anxiety, all of these phenomena can be observed during one paroxysm, but in other cases their change occurs gradually.

Conducted studies have convincingly demonstrated that young people are more adaptive and less susceptible to the effects of external anxiety than older people. From this we can conclude that the more flexible a person’s neuropsychic system is, the younger he is and the consciousness free of prejudice, the easier the adaptation process is and the less painfully stressful situations are tolerated.

Increased anxiety leads to an increase in the intensity of the action of two interrelated adaptation mechanisms, which are listed below:

the allopsychic mechanism operates when a modification of behavioral activity occurs. Method of action: changing the situation or leaving it;

intrapsychic mechanism - ensures the reduction of anxiety due to the reorientation of the personality.

There are several types of defenses that are used by the intrapsychic mechanism of mental adaptation:

obstruction of awareness of factors causing anxiety;

fixation of anxiety on certain stimuli;

reduction in the level of motivation, that is, devaluation of initial needs; conceptualization.

Anxiety, despite the abundance of different semantic formulations, is a single phenomenon and serves as an obligatory mechanism of emotional stress. Occurring with any imbalance in the “person-environment” system, it activates adaptation mechanisms and, at the same time, with significant intensity, underlies the development of adaptation disorders. An increase in the level of anxiety causes the activation or strengthening of the mechanisms of intrapsychic adaptation. These mechanisms can contribute to effective mental adaptation, providing a reduction in anxiety, and in case of their inadequacy, they are reflected in the type of adaptation disorders, which correspond to the nature of the borderline psychopathological phenomena that are formed in this case.

The effectiveness of mental adaptation directly depends on the organization of microsocial interaction. In conflict situations in the family or work sphere, or difficulties in building informal communication, violations of mechanical adaptation were noted much more often than in effective social interaction. Also directly related to adaptation is the analysis of factors in a particular environment or environment. The assessment of the personal qualities of others as an attractive factor in the vast majority of cases was combined with effective mental adaptation, and the assessment of the same qualities as a repulsive factor was associated with its violations.

But it is not only the analysis of environmental factors that determines the level of adaptation and emotional tension. It is also necessary to take into account individual qualities, the state of the immediate environment and the characteristics of the group in which microsocial interaction takes place.

Effective mental adaptation is one of the prerequisites for successful professional activity.

Every person who joins a new organization inevitably goes through a more or less lengthy adaptation process.

This fully applies to the newly appointed leader (with one significant difference - here there is a kind of double adaptation: on the one hand, this is the usual adaptation of a person who finds himself in unusual, new conditions of existence for him, and on the other hand, it is due to the specificity of the leadership activities and relationships inherent in the “superior-subordinate” dyad and everything connected with it).

The process of adaptation of a team leader deserves special attention, since he needs to simultaneously adapt to the new conditions of his professional activity, a new team, new technology, the influence of unusual environmental factors against the background of high responsibility for the assigned work. Such adaptation is multifaceted, multifunctional in nature. Not only the effectiveness of his personal work, but also the authority of the manager as a whole, as well as the effectiveness of the team he leads largely depends on the success of a manager’s adaptation.

The adaptation process is carried out simultaneously in the sphere of formal and informal relations. There is sometimes a difficult combination of personal aspirations and expectations with the requirements and expectations at the level of group values ​​and life standards. Let us compare the basic expectations of the individual and the group of which he becomes a member. Let's list the individual's expectations:

accepting the meaning and significance of one’s work;

interest and creativity in your work;

degree of independence and independence in one’s work;

inclusion of one’s work in the broader context of the life of the institution (in terms of safety and comfort);

self-acceptance and recognition as a full member of the team;

incentives and remuneration in accordance with the contribution to the overall result of social security and guarantees;

conditions for growth and self-realization.

Naturally, for each person, combinations of these expectations will be built into their own hierarchy, depending on the ratio in the main groups of needs and the general orientation of his personality.

The basic expectations of the organization can be summarized as follows:

a specialist with the appropriate qualifications comes to the organization, and you can have a professional conversation with him. As a specialist, he will contribute to the successful functioning and development of the organization;

the social community of people will be replenished by another person possessing certain qualities;

a person comes to the organization who is ready to share and accept its values ​​and standards of life;

the organization gains another supporter of its interests. As an employee performing a certain function, he will work with full dedication at a high quality level. Occupying a certain place in the system of formal and informal relations, a person will take on certain obligations and responsibilities.

Of course, the group's expectations will be largely determined by its level of development and unity. However, it is obvious that the interweaving of mutual expectations will influence the adaptive processes of a new person entering the organization. The string of subsequent choices and decisions in life depends on how these expectations are balanced.

The task of management and self-regulation mechanisms is to organically connect the spectrum of mutual expectations and help a person take his rightful place in the team.

Important factors that improve mental adaptation in teams are social cohesion, the ability to build interpersonal relationships, and the possibility of open communication.

In connection with the above, it becomes obvious that without research into mental adaptation, consideration of any problem of mental inconsistency will be incomplete, and the analysis of the described aspects of the adaptation process seems to be an integral part of human psychology.

Thus, the problem of mental adaptation is an important area of ​​scientific research, located at the junction of various branches of knowledge, which are becoming increasingly important in modern conditions. In this regard, the adaptation concept can be considered as one of the promising approaches to the complex study of man.

In conclusion, in addition to all of the above, a test is proposed (No. 23), which allows you to find out not only the level of personal “adaptability”, but also includes such undoubtedly important scales as “behavioral regulation”, “communicative potential”, “moral normativity”. The questions relate directly to your well-being, behavior or character. There can be no “right” or “wrong” answers here, so don’t try to think about them for a long time or consult with anyone - answer based on what best suits your condition or self-image. So, you are asked to answer “yes” (+) or “no” (–).

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Psychological mechanisms of human adaptation to activities in an organization

According to E. A. Klimov, the main task of labor psychology is to explore the principles of organizing professional activity that is optimal in terms of motivation and content and to help a person build it. N. S. Pryazhnikov considers the research and development of the subject of labor to be the general method of the discipline. A comprehensive study of the psychological mechanisms of multi-level and multi-year (throughout the entire professional career) adaptation of a person to professional activities in an organization at a specific workplace meets the above-mentioned key objectives of the discipline.

Various aspects of the adaptation of a person as a subject to the conditions of his professional activity are traditionally considered in various psychological disciplines (work psychology, personality psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology and acmeology, differential psychology, differential psychophysiology, sociology, etc.), which leads to an inevitable loss for scientific study of some of the systemic properties of an integral phenomenon.

A person’s individuality largely predetermines the uniqueness of his optimal methods of adaptation, the adequacy of standard modes of work, training, etc. However, these issues are still ignored by the new integral discipline - organizational psychology, which studies the totality of processes of “organizational

204 Chapter 8. Adaptation of a person to professional activity

behavior" of a person. They are also underestimated in other psychological disciplines. It is an axiom to recognize the simultaneous existence in an organization of its various substructures (formal, informal, non-formal), the interactions of the components of which are not always synergistic. It is also recognized that there are a number of socio-psychological phenomena (group norms, corporate culture, etc.) that impede the effective activities of individual subjects and the full self-realization of a person as a person and individuality. Obviously, there are always ways, means, and forms of more optimal integration of the main components of an organization’s life and human activity than those that develop spontaneously.

A systematic study of different levels of human adaptation (“subject-object”, “subject-subject”, “subject-group”, “subject-organization”, “subject-society”) involves identifying the corresponding “units of analysis”. They must be adequate to different “scales” of adaptation - different psychological mechanisms for coordinating a person’s individuality and the external conditions of his life. The process of human adaptation to the environment cannot be a one-step process due to many circumstances (changes with age in human biology, his personal and professional development, changes over time in the requirements of the workplace, work technology, the composition of social groups, stages of development of the organization, etc.). Thus, the issues of phases are also relevant - periods of more or less adequate coordination of a person’s individuality and the conditions of the environment of his life.

There are good reasons to believe that a person’s adaptation to an organization (to work at a specific workplace in a specific team) has a multi-level structure, according to which each new level shifts the “center” of regulatory mechanisms from the individual subject to the space of his interpersonal interactions, updating many new phenomena. Consequently, resources, the potential of other people, the nature of their interaction, and the features of the activity space generated by the very process of interactions between subjects play an increasingly important role in the effectiveness of a person’s adaptation to activity in specific conditions.

Achieving the highest professional results by uniting subjects with their goals is determined by various psychological mechanisms and a wide range of factors - from special

8.1. Psychological mechanisms of adaptation... 205

difficulties of coordinating the psychophysiology of partners before coordinating their social stereotypes. The success of a person’s adaptation as a subject of labor to activity in a specific organizational structure at its different levels is associated with the adequacy of his reflection of different “logics”, patterns, factors of interaction between different systems (“subject-object”, “subject-subject”, etc.) and the corresponding them the activity of a person as an individual, as a subject, as a person, as an individual.

Adaptation can be viewed as a dynamic process of constant acquisition and loss of resources of interacting entities. On the scale of an individual’s life activity, there is both a process of acquisition (professionalism, skill, wisdom, self-actualization, self-efficacy) and a parallel process of loss of his resources (professional deformation of personality, physical and mental illness). On the scale of a unit and organization, this is the greater or lesser efficiency of their implementation of external, socially assigned functions to create socially significant results. Effective use of the activity of individual subjects on an organization scale involves identifying the entire system of adaptation and regulatory mechanisms, considered as a dynamic process of constant generation and destruction of resources of interacting subjects.

A separate important aspect of the problem is the “units” of analysis. It is relevant for many disciplines related to psychology. For example, in biology, some researchers consider protoplasm to be the elementary carrier, the first substrate of living things. Other scientists call the cell the unit of basic qualities of life. Still others attribute an independent role to life to nucleic acids. It is clear that the body as an integral system acts as the main “unit”. Many scientists, starting with Charles Darwin, recognize the species as the basic unit of evolution and the dynamics of living things. On the one hand, in the relations of the various distinguished “units” of life, a step structure, a hierarchy, is clearly visible; on the other hand, the relationships between different “units” are often complex and contradictory. The problem of “units” of analysis is no less relevant in another related discipline—sociology.

At the stage of formation of Russian psychology, the problem of “units” was of decisive methodological importance. In na-

206 Chapter 8. Adaptation of a person to professional activity

Currently, the problem of choosing a scale and adequate measurement of psychological phenomena is being considered by leading scientists in a methodological manner. In other words, it is recognized that the choice of adequate “units of analysis” is largely determined by the goals and subject of the study. Probably, “units” and features of the subject’s objective and subjective structuring of the space of activity may be interconnected.

In general, the state of the issue of systemic adaptation mechanisms can be reduced to the following provisions.

1. Adaptation is a constant process of a person’s active coordination of his individual characteristics (individual, personal) with the conditions of the external environment (workplace requirements, characteristics of partners, social groups, organizational culture, etc.), ensuring the success of his professional activities and full personal self-realization in all spheres of life.

2. A person’s adaptation to work is a set of psychological mechanisms, manifested in the success of his professional activity, satisfaction with his work, and the optimal mental and physiological “price” spent on achieving the result. They must be consistent with performance standards, group norms, requirements of organizational culture, interactions with partners, manifested as an optimal professional career. In general, a career should reflect the quality of coordination of the “external” and “internal” conditions of a subject’s life, the success of his full self-realization in various spheres of life.

3. Adaptation is a phase process of periodic changes in its forms, determined by the dynamics of the totality of biological, personal, professional characteristics of a person as a subject of activity. These phases are manifested in periodic changes in the structure of the personal military complex, in the periodization of professional careers (office moves, crises, etc.), in periods of greater and lesser efficiency as a subject of labor, in periods of greater or lesser social well-being, in the general dynamics of life crises and opportunities for maximum self-realization - in the stages of ascent (“acme”), achieving and maintaining stability (“plateau”) and inertia (decline).

8.1. Psychological mechanisms of adaptation... 207

Consequently, we can distinguish at least five qualitatively different levels in the relationship between a person as a subject of activity and an organization (in the “person-organization” system) and “units” of analysis that are more or less adequate to them.

1. “Person-profession” (workplace, job post, department) - “professionally important qualities” (PVK), “labor functions”, “individual style of activity”.

2. “Man-person” (as subjects of joint activity) - “professionally important qualities”, “labor functions”, “social roles”, “styles of professional activity”.

3. “A person is a social group” (professional and interpersonal relationships in a work team) - “personal protection rules”, “labor functions”, “social roles”, “styles of professional activity”.

4. “Person-organization” (all the above-mentioned processes in the additional context of corporate culture) - “labor functions”, “social roles”, “styles of professional activity”.

5. “Man-society” (as a set of political, socio-economic conditions of a historical era) - “social roles”, “lifestyles”.

Almost all aspects of human relations in the “person-organization” system, which are within the competence of labor psychology and other disciplines, are different in their origin, content and psychological mechanisms for controlling people’s behavior and activities. They are arranged in a certain hierarchy and can be compensated and replaced by others. For example, the shortcomings of the labor protection rules of an individual subject are easily compensated for by the redistribution of labor functions in the group. In a group, the subjective perception of partners’ PTC may be more significant than their objective expression. The phenomenon of “individual style of activity” and its initial determinants in joint work are “removed” by the laws of “styles of professional activity.” In the phenomenon of style (activity, leadership, communication), the possible variability in the interaction of people depending on their individuality, even within the normatively specified range of the content of their work, on the structure of production tasks and social norms, is especially clearly manifested.

208 Chapter 8. Adaptation of a person to professional activity

Development factors

Social perception - what is it in psychology

A person’s adaptability depends not only on his abilities and internal reserves of the body. External conditions also influence the process. In the material environment, the following factors are distinguished: artificial objects (technology). In social – social progress, ethnicity, living conditions, etc.

Important! Natural factors are climate, disasters, flora and fauna that surround an individual.

Every day a person faces negative factors. He doesn’t even think about what adaptation is and how it manifests itself. He has to breathe dirty air, experience electromagnetic radiation, etc. All this negatively affects health.

Everyone can enter the adaptation process in a different state. One person quickly copes with stress and gets used to new conditions, while another will need more time.

Among the terminology you can find the word “adaptability”, it means the ability of an individual to adapt to environmental conditions. Scientists believe that speed is influenced by environmental and subjective factors.

The first group includes the nature of activity, living conditions, and social environment. The second group is gender, age, psychophysiological characteristics. There is no consensus in the scientific community about which group has a greater influence on the development of adaptability.

There is another theory. It identifies only four psychological factors of adaptability: cognitive, emotional, motivational, practical. They are all equally important. For example, with positive motivation, an individual adapts better. Adaptation occurs only during the implementation of activities, since in the process a new model of behavior is developed.

Human adaptations

One of the key properties of a person in his relationship with the environment is adaptability - the ability to actively adapt to the environment and its changes. The concept of adaptation mechanisms reflects the idea of ​​the ways in which humans and society adapt to changes occurring in the environment. The entire set of such mechanisms can be conditionally divided into two large groups: biological and extrabiological mechanisms. The biological ones include the mechanisms of morphological, physiological, genetic, behavioral, and immunological adaptation, the second group includes social behavior and mechanisms of cultural adaptation. At the present stage, the biological mechanisms of adaptation are the most studied. The mechanisms of extrabiological adaptation have not been sufficiently studied, although most researchers believe that they play a leading role in human adaptation to the environment.

The main biological mechanisms of adaptation are self-regulation mechanisms. The internal environment of the body is relatively constant (homeostasis). When exposed to any external factor, a change occurs within the physiological fluctuations of the functions of organs, systems and the body as a whole, but the relative constancy of the internal environment is maintained, which ensures the normal course of metabolism. All functional systems of the body are interconnected. The process of cellular self-regulation is not autonomous; it is subject to the regulatory influence of the nervous, endocrine and immune systems. The inclusion of various levels of adaptation largely depends on the intensity of the disturbing action and the degree of deviation of physiological parameters. Figure 8 shows a diagram reflecting the relationship between the intensity of impact and the inclusion of adaptive mechanisms.

For example, the controlled variable is blood sugar level. To reduce blood sugar, the homeostatic mechanism of the liver is triggered, which self-governs the level of sugar in the blood to certain limits. If the decrease is significant, then the next stage of regulation is activated at the level of the pancreatic apparatus. Here the control is due to the hormones insulin and glucagon. The latter provides tissues with glucose, and insulin promotes rapid utilization. A sharp drop in blood sugar when exposed to an extreme factor turns on the highest regulation centers: the pituitary gland - the diencephalon. An increase in the function of the nervous system, the release in a certain combination and amount of a number of hormones contribute to the mobilization of energy resources and their redistribution to organs and tissues involved in adaptation mechanisms. This is a neuroendocrine stress response. At the same time, other organs and systems are also added that can compensate for the temporarily or permanently lost function of the damaged organ. This reduces the functional load on the diseased organ and creates conditions for the formation of long-term adaptation.

Local autoregulation

Exposures exceeding the norm

Corrective influence

top level

Neuroendocrine stress response,

mobilization of all systems

Rice. 8. Relationship between the intensity of impact and the inclusion of adaptive mechanisms

Adaptation of the human body is also carried out due to a large “margin of safety”. The body is structured according to two principles: a limited limit and the strictest economy. There are many examples of this. The heart can increase the number of contractions by 2 times without disrupting the process of vital activity, the pressure may increase by 30–40%, arterial blood contains 3.5 times more oxygen than is necessary for a normal level of metabolism; the body tolerates removal of ¾ of the liver, complete removal of the spleen, 1/10 of the adrenal glands is enough to preserve life. The ability of organisms to adapt is inherent in nature and is not related to their habitat.

What types of adaptations are there? There are genotypic, phenotypic, climatic, social and other adaptations.

Genotypic adaptation is a genetically determined process that develops during evolutionary development (profound shifts in morphology and physiology that are inherited). The process of genotypic adaptation is controlled by natural selection, and does not occur under the pressure of direct physiological mechanisms. The most ancient species (genotypic) adaptations of Homo sapiens are associated with adaptation to geographically contrasting natural conditions and the formation of races - Caucasian, Mongoloid, Negroid, closely related to Australoid and small races (supraethnic groups) within these large races. In the world population, Caucasians make up 42.3%, Mongoloids – 36%, Negroids – 7.4%, Australoids – 0.3%.

Racial differences concern a small number of minor characteristics - skin color, hair, eyes, shape of the nose, lips, eye shape, height and body proportions, as well as characteristics of blood type and the activity of certain enzymes. For each of these characteristics, a certain connection can be traced with factors of geographical distribution, climate and nutritional characteristics. Thus, body proportions - stockiness or elongation, length of arms and legs, average thickness of subcutaneous fat depend on the average annual temperature of the environment.

Caucasians are light-skinned, they are characterized by straight or wavy brown hair, gray, gray-green or brown-green wide open eyes, a narrow and strongly protruding nose, thin lips, a moderately developed chin, and a wide pelvis. The protruding narrow nose of Caucasians lengthens the nasopharyngeal tract, which helps warm cold air and protects the larynx and lungs from hypothermia. Negroids are dark-skinned, they are characterized by curly dark hair, a long head, thick lips, a wide and flat nose, brown or black eyes, a narrow pelvis, and large feet. The wide and flat nose of Negroids contributes to greater heat transfer; their curly hair protects the head from overheating. Long limbs provide individuals with additional body area allowing for faster heat loss, which is an advantage in hot climates. Mongoloids are dark-skinned, have yellow or yellow-brown skin, a flat, high-cheekboned face, straight, coarse blue-black hair, narrow and slightly slanting brown eyes with a fold of the upper eyelid in the inner corner of the eye, a flat and rather wide nose. Australoids are almost as dark-skinned as Negroids (their skin is chocolate-colored), but they are characterized by a large head and a massive face with a very wide and flat nose, a protruding chin, and dark wavy hair. Australoids are the Aboriginal people of Australia.

Racial characteristics are not associated with periodization, levels of physical and mental development, and fertility. Modern man is characterized by a process of noticeable miscegenation - mixing of races.

Climatic adaptation (acclimatization) is the process of human adaptation to climatic conditions. Acclimatization is the initial urgent stage in case of climate change in geographical conditions (Far North or equatorial zone). Human metabolism and energy are very flexible. A person can adapt to a wide range of environmental factors - temperature, atmospheric pressure, oxygen concentration, food composition, etc. The physiological adaptation of people to a cold climate is accompanied by an increase in metabolism, a change in the temperature sensitivity of exposed parts of the body, depth of breathing, and a shift in food preference towards increased calorie content of food. By increasing the layer of subcutaneous fat, the body's thermal insulation improves.

Adaptation to a hot climate is achieved by changing blood circulation, water-salt metabolism, changing blood pressure, improving the functioning of the kidneys and sweat glands. All these changes are under the control of the nervous and endocrine systems. With rapid changes in climatic conditions, the condition of the body may worsen. When the previous conditions change, the body returns to its previous state. Such changes are called acclimatization. The ability for individual nutritional or climatic adaptation depends on race, gender, age and general physical health.

However, in most cases, adaptation to a particular climate, nature of nutrition and activity occurs not due to functional adaptation, but due to psychological motivation and adaptive behavior.

The human environment is not limited only by climatic conditions. A person can live both in a city and in a village. In the process of evolutionary development, it adapts primarily to the calm rhythms of rural life. A person adapts to life in the city, but at the same time experiences stress: negative emotions, discomfort of a physiological and mental nature when faced with persistent stimuli. This area of ​​adaptation also includes moving to another country. Some adapt quickly, others with great difficulty, and others, having externally adapted, experience a feeling of nostalgia.

Particular attention should be paid to social adaptation - the adaptation of an individual or a social group to the social environment. A person can adapt to a group by learning and accepting its norms, rules of behavior and values, etc. The mechanisms of adaptation are, on the one hand, suggestibility, comfort as forms of subordinate behavior, and on the other, the ability to find one’s place and show determination . Of great importance is the coordination of the subject's self-esteem and aspirations with his capabilities and the realities of the social environment.

So, let us draw several conclusions about the possibility of human physiological adaptation to environmental conditions rapidly changing as a result of man-made activities:

1. Human evolution in biological terms is almost complete; it proceeds very slowly and takes generations.

2. To adapt, a person uses not only his genetic capabilities, but also resorts to the help of culture.

3. Adaptation is also a slow process, sometimes impossible. Most often, a person adapts due to psychological motivation.

The concept of adaptation levels

Most often, social adaptation is considered as the sum of independent, local and independent adaptive processes, and not as a single, indivisible social process.
Therefore, there is no generally accepted definition and understanding of its nature, level classification of adaptation, or definition of social levels. The structural approach allows us to identify the macro level - macro institutions that regulate politics, economics, and culture. Within each of them, relatively independent institutions of the first, second and subsequent microlevels are distinguished.

Note 1

All levels can only be divided conditionally, so there is a whole series of links that ensure the connection between the micro and macro levels of social reality: individuals and interactions between them, social groups, organizations, institutions; types of societies, etc.

Interpenetration, merging, interaction of all levels ensures the formation of a specific institutional field, filling the information space, and forming society.

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The relationship between health and adaptation

One thing no one objects to is that a healthy person, all other things being equal, has a greater chance of surviving than a sick person.

If we assume that the main task of the living is survival, then everything that increases the probability of survival is positive and, therefore, is related to health, and everything that reduces the probability of survival is related to disease. The closest correspondence to this understanding of the disease is the concept of “Adaptation” (Latin “adaptatio” - adaptation to real conditions). The higher the level of adaptation, the more reliable the system, the higher the degree of its survival and efficiency. Controlling the level of adaptation gives us great opportunities to increase the likelihood of survival of the organism. Adaptation is a fundamental property of living things. While the body is alive, it has some kind of adaptation reserve. Even a sick organism is not completely deprived of adaptation, but its adaptation is reduced to one degree or another. The relationship between adaptation and maladaptation in the body is connected like a liquid in a communicating vessel. And, if health is adaptation, and disease is maladaptation, then they should be considered not as two mutually exclusive states, but as a single dynamic process that characterizes, first of all, the state of the self-regulation mechanisms of a living system, aimed at optimal adaptation of the body to the requirements of the external environment with minimal energy consumption. According to N.M. Amosov, illness - “a violation of feedback in the body” or “a state of an unstable regime or defects in one’s own programs” - necessarily leads to a decrease in adaptation.

Thus, the higher the level of adaptation, the more the processes occurring in the body correspond to our idea of ​​health.

The conclusion is that diseases can be treated in at least two ways:

• Examine the patient in detail, establish diagnoses and begin to treat each of the diseases according to the existing scheme, trying to influence the largest possible number of links in the pathological chains of the disease process. This principle aims to replace the extremely complex internal self-government with external management;
• The second way is aimed at increasing the level of adaptation. It primarily ensures the normalization of the body’s regulatory systems aimed at self-healing.

Replacing the concepts of “health - disease” with the concept of “adaptation - maladaptation” provides another opportunity - to diagnose and treat before its clinical manifestations, at the stage of disruption of control processes, so-called functional disorders or decreased adaptation.

A decrease in adaptation is always accompanied by the presence of nonspecific symptoms, i.e. signs that are not unique to any disease, but appear with any disease, and sometimes long before it.

Main general symptoms:

• Sleep disorders (difficulty falling asleep, intermittent, light sleep, disturbing dreams, difficulty waking up).
• Disorders associated with position in space (dizziness, motion sickness, discomfort in moving vehicles).
• Headache.
• Meteor dependence.
• Blood pressure (high or low); decreased performance, increased fatigue, decreased concentration, difficulty switching in the afternoon.
• Psychomotor activity.