Adaptation: concept, types, stages and psychological factors

Definition

Psychological adaptation is no less complex, multi-stage and multifactorial process than biological one. The latter provides for the ability of living organisms to adapt to changes in climatic, food and other living conditions. It is directly related to evolutionary selection.

In a psychological context, this implies the harmonious integration of the individual into social processes, the development of the necessary communication skills and emotional stability. The concept has a long history of formation, development and study. There are many interpretations and formulations of it.

Adaptation is a mechanism of social adjustment in psychology, the essence of which ancient Greek philosophers tried to understand. Hippocrates, Anaxagoras and Democritus have thematic works. The physician, thinker and philosopher of ancient Hellas believed that social circumstances to some extent determine the appearance of people.

Later, this statement was made by Lamarck, a French naturalist and thinker who was actively involved in the study of the adaptation mechanism. The theoretical basis for the idea of ​​the relationship between appearance and habitat was given by Charles Darwin.

Initially, science was dominated by the concept of the influence of only physiological and biological factors on the adaptability of living organisms, including humans. It was radically changed by Hans Selye. Sechenov and Pavlov worked intensively on adaptation issues.

They considered purely physiological aspects of the process. Soviet sociologist G.I. Tsaregorodtsev sets out psychological patterns and principles in his work “Philosophical Problems of the Theory of Adaptation.” Its definition is the degree of human involvement in social and labor processes.

According to the outstanding American scientist A. Maslow, psychological adaptation represents the optimal interaction of the human personality with the environment. This issue has acquired particular relevance in the 21st century with the beginning of rapid technological development.

In a constantly changing world, when humanity is, according to many futurologists, on the threshold of a technological singularity, personality adaptation has become an even more complex and multifactorial process.

New concepts emerge, fresh formulations and views appear. In the work of I. A. Miloslavskaya, “The Role of Social Adaptation in the Conditions of Modern Scientific and Technological Revolution,” an objective-subjective characteristic of a person’s adaptability to the realities of a high-tech living environment is given.

According to the author, a person needs to constantly learn new communication skills and submit to different standards of life for the best socio-psychological adaptation.

Freud and Adler in their works position personality adaptability as the development of defense mechanisms from external stimuli. Each psychological school, teaching and concept gives its own definition of adaptation. Often these interpretations are vague, poorly compatible, or even come into obvious contradiction.

All authors agree on one thing - the speed and level of adaptability to changes in surrounding social conditions depend on personal characteristics.

Psychological adaptation is influenced by:

• degree of suggestibility;
• learning ability;
• emotional-volitional self-control;
• type of temperament;
• degree of activity.

The list is not limited to these criteria. Some authors add here life priorities and guidelines, social attitudes and individual goals.

Adaptation in the professional sphere

It is no secret to HR managers that, regardless of qualifications and overall work experience, any newly hired employee experiences some discomfort. He is afraid of the possibility of making a mistake while completing the assigned task, he is concerned about the issue of future relationships with new colleagues, etc.

In order to help such an employee quickly adapt to the team and the workplace, today every company and firm is developing special methods and programs. They provide a clear definition of the concept and essence of adaptation in the production environment.

This process usually lasts from 2 to 8 weeks. Its duration directly depends on the character of the employee, his qualifications, and the responsibilities assigned to him.

HR specialists usually consider two types of adaptation: production and non-production.

Production adaptation includes:

• professional;
• psychophysiological;
• socio-psychological;
• organizational and psychological;
• organizational and administrative;
• economic;
• sanitary and hygienic.

During production adaptation, a new employee is familiarized with the existing rules and regulations in the company.

The concept and definition of adapting outside of work includes building relationships with colleagues outside the scope of work. This could be participation in various corporate events, joint attendance at sporting events, etc.

Kinds

M. Yaroshevsky is considered the first domestic scientist to reveal the mechanism of psychological adaptation. His work was based on the results of research by foreign colleagues. He was engaged in identifying differences in the behavioral patterns of individuals placed in the same social environment.

In psychology, according to Yaroshevsky, adaptation is the transfer to an individual of the value guidelines of a social group, which allows a person to become its integral and organic part. This concept was further developed by L. Vygotsky, who established the equivalence of the mutual influence of the social environment and the individual.

According to his theory, there are the following types of psychological adaptation:

The personality adapts to the proposed social conditions of existence at the physiological, social, everyday and psycho-emotional levels. The first involves getting used to natural environmental changes - climatic, man-made and others.

Social adaptation involves integration into the social system, getting used to cultural subtleties. This type of adaptability can be passive in nature, when a person accepts established norms of behavior and does not try to find a compromise between individual preferences and mass traditions.

Much more opportunities open up with active socio-psychological adaptation. In this case, the individual tries to develop his own line of behavior or even choose the optimal group to adapt to new conditions.

A striking example of this approach is a change of residence to a more acceptable one from the point of view of professional or creative fulfillment. Active social adaptation involves intensive interpersonal communication and rapid switching between areas of labor effort.

Psychological adaptability is closely related to physiological adaptability, since it activates special compensatory systems of the body that ensure proper resistance to stress and adequate reactions to external stimuli.

The mechanism of neurohumoral regulation is launched, which activates the secretion of the adrenal hormone - adrenaline. It allows you to cope with stressful situations that are inevitable during the adaptation period. Endorphins are released - neurotransmitters that reduce psycho-emotional stress.

Adaptation to the social environment is often associated with the need to change thinking. In psychology, this means developing the necessary dynamic stereotypes and behavioral reactions. And at the physiological level it manifests itself by the creation of stable neural connections and the formation of the necessary conditioned reflexes.

Psychological adaptation

Inna Zakasovskaya

Psychological adaptation

Psychological adaptation

The concepts of “ psychological adaptation ”

and
“
socio-psychological adaptation ” are identified by some authors and separated by others.
They also talk separately about “social
adaptation .” The confusion is very simple to explain: it is difficult to separate
the psychological from the social where we are talking about the clash of the individual psychological with the social .
We will consider where these concepts are identified. Psychological adaptation is the adaptation of a person as an individual to existence in the society of other people in accordance with the requirements of this society and with personal needs, motives, and interests.

Those periods when an individual’s adaptation to the conditions of the social environment occurs most actively are called socio-psychological adaptation .

Socio-psychological adaptation of a person is the active and purposeful assimilation of norms, rules, values ​​of both society as a whole and the specific immediate social environment of a person:

Over the past decade, the social situation in the country has changed dramatically, the geography of the country has changed, which has led to the emergence of interethnic conflicts and wars.

Currently, the situation has not only not stabilized, but, on the contrary, has worsened. Fascist organizations promoting the laws of force and destruction are gaining strength. Such organizations, along with criminal structures, willingly recruit teenagers into their ranks.

Against the backdrop of a “lack of positive interaction with teenagers among adults”
(D.I. Feldshtein),
this phenomenon is gaining frightening momentum.

Propaganda of violence and sexual liberation aggravates the teenage crisis. “There has been an intensive primitivization of children’s consciousness. There is an increase in cynicism, rudeness, cruelty, and aggressiveness. And behind these external manifestations lie the internal, deep experiences of growing people - anxiety, fear, uncertainty, loneliness. Currently, this deepening feeling of loneliness is refracted in the special position of children in relation to adults. The adult world has come closer (now a child can watch the same films as an adult)

. Boys can pump up their muscles, and girls can take care of their sex appeal. Almost everything previously forbidden has become accessible and permitted, but at the same time the adult world has moved away, since adults not only began to engage with children less, but also do not appear before them in a clear position of their attitude and their demands. The consequence of this is that growing people lose a sense of responsibility, infantilism, selfishness, spiritual emptiness, that is, those modern acquisitions of childhood that are a heavy loss for him.” All of the above can be attributed to a fairly broad description of the negative impact of the socio-economic situation on the development of a teenager’s personality. But it would be a big mistake to consider the social situation of development only from this side. At the moment, there are undeniable positive aspects for the development of a teenager’s personality. This is greater access to educational information, a reform of the education system, in which there has been a tendency to perceive the student not as a passive object of pedagogical influence, but as an active subject of the educational process.

In many schools today, a teenager moving to senior level has the opportunity to choose the direction of study that suits his cognitive interests and intellectual capabilities - specialized education.

A modern teenager has the opportunity to try himself in various types of social activities - school government, youth parliament, etc. Participation in various youth communities makes it possible not only to satisfy the basic social needs of age, but also to expand the behavioral repertoire, which contributes to successful adaptation in society .

One of the most important tasks of a modern school, along with educational tasks, is to create conditions for successful socio-psychological adaptation of the student .

Adolescence is one of the difficult age stages of personality development; this age is an important stage in the process of personality formation, in which an internal readiness to accept adult norms of life appears, and a desire to take an active social position in the space of interpersonal communication. The teenager’s activities are aimed at mastering the norms of relationships and expanding social connections.

The current development situation exacerbates the problem of social adaptation of adolescents during school. The tension of adaptation mechanisms is required by the situation of transition from one level of education to another (from middle school to high school). Psychological adaptation is one of the leading mechanisms that ensure the socialization of the individual and its holistic formation.

By psychological adaptation we understand the process of active interaction between the individual and the social environment, as a result of which positive changes occur in the individual, his attitudes and behavioral stereotypes, the final result of this process is a state of adaptation .

Psychological adaptation is the current level of intrapersonal adaptation , which is represented by the behavioral aspect, personality characteristics and emotional balance.

One of the indicators of the successful development of a teenage student is his successful adaptation to educational activities and an educational institution - school.

From the point of view of the socio-psychological approach, violation of school adaptation and school maladjustment are considered as a consequence of the poor development of communication skills necessary for educational activities, since school adaptation is inseparable from socio-psychological adaptation .

E.V. Rudensky, considering the phenomenon of school maladaptation , notes that, despite the presence of signs characterizing a completely independent phenomenon, school maladjustment is “more correct”

be considered as a more particular phenomenon in relation to general
socio-psychological adaptation , in the structure of which school maladjustment can act both as a consequence and as a cause.
Thus, when considering the problem of psychological adaptation of schoolchildren , we must take into account that its structure includes school adaptation . On the one hand, the concept of “ psychological adaptation ”

“school
adaptation ” is broader and school
adaptation is part of socio-psychological adaptation . On the other hand, without psychological adaptation there cannot be full school adaptation .
Thus, these concepts are interrelated. Creating conditions for successful socio-psychological adaptation of schoolchildren is possible through the creation of a school socio-psychological service

Psychological and pedagogical diagnostics of social adaptation . Identification of maladjustment .

Human nature is genetically endowed with a great ability to adapt . Practice, as well as scientific research, show that a person has significant adaptive abilities in the conditions of the natural and social environment, changing even within critical limits. And as V.I. Garbuzov writes, a person’s fate is largely determined by the level of his adaptability - the innate and acquired ability to adapt , that is, to adapt to the entire diversity of life under any conditions. The most general indicator of a successful adaptation can be considered mutual satisfaction between a person and the social environment. The state of the individual that allows one to achieve such relationships with society is called socio-psychological adaptability . At the same time, a person, without long-term internal and external conflicts, chooses a life path and makes decisions, carries out his activities productively, while satisfying basic sociogenic needs, fully complies with the role expectations of the reference group, self-realizes and reveals his creative potential. Adolescence is the most difficult and complex of ages, representing a special, crisis period of personality development. Being a certain period of life between childhood and adulthood, adolescence is usually characterized as a turning point, critical. It is accompanied by a number of specific features, cardinal transformations in the sphere of consciousness, activity and system of relationships. “The basis for the formation of new psychological and personal qualities is communication in the course of various types of activities - educational, industrial, creative activities. Senior adolescence is a period of accepting responsibility for one’s destiny and loved ones, the beginning of a truly adult life, complex both internally and externally, adaptation to life , including the acceptance of many conventions, social norms, roles and forms of behavior that do not always correspond to current internal attitudes person at a given moment in time. The search for a life partner and like-minded people becomes relevant, the need for cooperation with people increases, connections with one’s social group are strengthened, and a feeling of intimacy with certain people appears. The range of social roles that people try on is expanding. Psychological difficulties of growing up, inconsistency and instability of self-image appear

That is why communication between adolescents and peers and adults must be considered the most important psychological condition for their personal development. Failures in communication lead to internal discomfort, which cannot be compensated for by any objective high indicators in other areas of their lives and activities. Communication is subjectively perceived by adolescents as something personally very important: this is evidenced by their sensitive attention to the form of communication, its tone, trust, attempt comprehend and analyze your relationships with peers and adults.

If a child at school cannot find a system of satisfying communication, he “leaves”

from school, more often
psychologically , although not so rarely literally. This is a manifestation of socio-psychological maladjustment , the signs of which are considered to be increased anxiety and self-doubt, aggressiveness and a feeling of low value, excessive passion for smoking, computers, long-term intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts experienced without searching for possible solutions.
A diagnostic examination is not an end in itself, but, as a rule, serves to solve some practical or research problems. Therefore, it is first necessary to answer the question: why is the diagnosis carried out, what will the data obtained be used for? This may be collecting information for consulting, monitoring adaptation , making a forecast, as well as for research purposes. The goals set determine the subject of diagnosis

Most often, the subject of diagnosis is:

– level of adaptation at the current moment in time,

– adaptation ,

– individual adaptation ,

– features of the adaptation ,

– adaptive potential of a particular individual.

When diagnosing adaptation , parameters such as

deviant behavior, level of tension, frustration, experience of stress, indicators of the cost of adaptation . If the subject of diagnosis is the individual characteristics of adaptation , then adaptation , preferences for certain adaptation strategies , etc. . d.

adaptation process are studied through tracking the changes occurring during the adaptation : the dynamics of a person’s general emotional state, the degree of his awareness of the situation and the nature of the activity aimed at transforming it are recorded. Possible violations of the adaptation (such as skipping a stage, fixation at a certain stage of the process, etc.).

The adaptive potential of an individual is determined through an assessment of productivity

strategies used and diagnostics of the severity of such personal characteristics that are necessary for the successful passage of various stages of the adaptation and contribute to the construction of productive interaction with the environment (for example, flexibility, tolerance, sociability, etc.)

.

Adaptation criteria (description of A. A. Rean’s model)

When studying adaptation , two main adaptation : external and internal.

The external criterion is closely related to the concept of “adaptation”

.
The result of adaptation is understood as the achievement of the desired behavior in the environment and is described in terms of efficiency, competence, success, and external well-being.
An external criterion usually determines good fitness and compliance with environmental requirements. The internal criterion reflects the general mental state , feeling

satisfaction, comfort, social well-being. The internal criterion is associated with the ability to satisfy individual needs, self-expression, preservation of internal energy resources, and the absence of tension and anxiety.

Adaptation according to external criteria is characterized by high success, formal achievement of well-being, but is accompanied by pronounced dissatisfaction and psycho-emotional stress . Adaptation according to external criteria is associated with the so-called “ adaptation ”

.
The cost of adaptation is the amount of internal psychological resources spent on adapting to the environment. The cost of adaptation increases when the adaptation is dominated by an orientation towards external criteria and the internal needs of the individual are ignored.
Signs of adaptation according to internal criteria are low success, sometimes even deviant behavior, but against the backdrop of a positive tone of individual mood.

Complete disadaptation is stated when a person experiences dissatisfaction, shows a high degree of psycho-emotional stress, and at the same time does not reach even the average level of standards of success and well-being accepted in the social environment around him.

Systemic adaptation presupposes high success, which is accompanied by a subjective feeling of satisfaction. Systemic adaptation is closely related to the concept of self-realization. It is the finding of a socially approved, productive and socially useful way of actualizing and expressing the internal potential of the individual that determines the possibilities of self-realization and, accordingly, the highest form of adaptation .

Adaptation processes occur as age develops. L. I. Bozhovich notes that mental characteristics and qualities arise through the child’s adaptation to the demands of the environment. But, having arisen in this way, they then acquire independent significance and, in the order of reverse influence, begin to determine subsequent development. Social and pedagogical adaptation of schoolchildren is determined by both the class of primary, individual-typical (gender, age, constitutional and other properties)

and secondary
(
psychodynamic , psychomotor ) individual properties, as well as
mental states , properties and characteristics of the individual, level of intelligence, and performance efficiency. Adaptation forecast , as a rule, is carried out on the basis of the study of individual aspects, components of the holistic structure of a person’s personality.
Socio-pedagogical adaptation is an emotional and sensory adaptation psyche when he is included in new social conditions.

Adaptation is seen as both a process and a result. When considering adaptation as a process, its time characteristics, stages of adaptation , and their length is considered.

adaptation process is denoted by the term adaptation , the state of the body as a result of the successful implementation of this process is adaptation , and the differences in the state of the body before and after the completion of the adaptation process are adaptive effect .

The degree of adaptation of a teenager is determined by the nature of his emotional well-being. As a result, two levels of adaptation : adaptation and maladaptation .

Adaptation potential determines the nature of existing abilities, their practical use in the practice of social functioning and determines the level of realized capabilities of a teenager

Characteristics and properties

According to the American psychologist Richard Lazarus, socio-psychological adaptation is influenced by information received by an individual when interacting with the social environment and that contradicts the original life attitudes.

As a result, there is an inconsistency between the internal message and the real conditions of existence. This causes a state of psychological discomfort, which prompts action.

The hypothesis was confirmed experimentally when Richard Lazarus and a group of researchers studied the cognitive assessment of threat on the formation of stress reactions.

The conditional intensity of emotional experiences indicates the degree of adaptation of the individual to socio-psychological conditions. Freud, Adler and Hartmann considered the problem in the context of the development of defense mechanisms.

Social structures, division of labor, social inequality and other factors, according to the masters of psychoanalysis, have a strong influence on the success of personality adaptation. Their properties and characteristics determine the development possibilities of the individual.

The structure of society, upbringing and training shape behavioral reactions and ensure successful adaptation. An important condition for harmonious integration is social compliance. It determines the norms of individual behavior.

The speed and depth of adaptation depends not only on mental characteristics, emotional stability and internal reserves. External influences have a great influence on the process of adaptation.

At the material level, material factors are distinguished, and in the social environment - social development, ethnic issues, and living conditions. Each individual enters the adaptation process in a different moral and physiological state.

Some people adapt easier and faster, others more difficult and slower. According to many researchers, adaptability is strongly influenced by environmental factors and subjective influence.

The first include:

1. Nature of work activity. Professional mental deformation slows down the adaptation process and makes adjustments to it.
2. Living conditions. They are of fundamental importance, since the environment largely shapes the inner world and views of the individual.
3. Social layer. This is a complex characteristic of the adaptation process that influences behavioral reactions and ideological position.

The subjective properties of the adaptation process usually include gender, age, psycho-emotional and physiological characteristics of the individual.
Researchers do not have a consensus on which group of factors has a greater influence on an individual’s ability to adapt to changed conditions.

According to one theory, adaptation is influenced by a set of the following criteria:

• cognitive;
• emotional;
• motivational;
• practical.

In the process of life under the proposed conditions, a new behavioral model is formed, which accelerates adaptation.

Medical certificate

Adaptation is a systemic protective process that occurs in stages. The basis of adaptation is the formation of adaptive characteristics of the body to the factors affecting it; most often they are of a stressful nature and can differ in varying intensity and duration of impact on the body.

The development of the adaptation process occurs sequentially, which makes it possible to distinguish several stages in this syndrome. This term was first introduced by the Canadian scientist of Czech origin Hans Selye in 1935.

The adaptation syndrome is a whole complex of human mechanisms and reactions to any new stimulus and is formed through the unconditional reflex activity of the nervous system and the activation of neurohumoral defense mechanisms, such as activation of the immune system, an increase in the level of basal anxiety and activation of the vasomotor center of the brain.

Psychological adaptation is an important part of the general adaptation syndrome and shows the activity of the central nervous system in making certain decisions aimed at eliminating the stress factor.

Functions and role

Adaptation is a special form of personal transformation in psychology, which involves reducing the expenditure of internal energy to withstand stressful situations and irritating factors.

An important function of this process is the individual’s ability to level out traumatic circumstances to more comfortable ones. For example, a person who goes hunting for the first time often experiences shock. As you get used to new conditions, your perception becomes calmer.

A mechanism of stress resistance is developed, which contributes to the formation of psychological compensatory internal reserves. The role of adaptation in human life is obvious.

It allows:

• it is easier to achieve your goals;
• react more calmly to stressful situations;
• be more resistant to moral pressure;
• increase self-esteem;
• reduce the level of conflict;
• improve your own communication skills;
• move up the career ladder more successfully.

In the process of resolving adaptation difficulties, conflicts and contradictions, intellectual abilities develop and the necessary psycho-emotional reactions are developed.

Forms of manifestations

The main, longest and most complex adaptation is considered to be adaptability to a new social environment and changed social conditions. This is an active form of personality development, within which the mutual influence of a person and the environment is felt.

An important manifestation of such adaptation is the nature of the interaction, which includes communicative nuances, between the individual and the people around him. Successful adaptation to changed conditions means the individual’s ability to function in a new social environment.

The adaptation mechanism at the psychological level can take on various forms and manifestations. This is determined by the personal emotional and physiological characteristics of a person. Adaptation is manifested by changes in attitudes and behavioral reactions to situational stimuli.

Mechanisms

First of all, the formation of adaptation mechanisms is associated with an increase in the hormonal activity of the secretory cells of the anterior pituitary gland. Stimulation of the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone, the target of which is the adrenal cortex, is to enhance the secretion of catecholamines in it: adrenaline and norepinephrine. Increased secretion of catecholamines leads to the mobilization of reserve protective mechanisms, including an increase in the energy pool.

Psychological theories and schools

There are 2 forms of personality adaptability in the aspect of reducing mental stress - active interaction with the social environment and passive. The first is called the anaplastic type of adaptation and best contributes to the improvement of the individual.

Passive or conformal interaction involves accepting the value guidelines of a social group and is called the autoplastic approach.

The interactionist psychological school identifies the following types of adaptation in the aspect of socio-economic interaction:

• extrapersonal;
• situational;
• individual;
• general.

This classification is characterized by a high level of generalization in the absence of meaningful criteria reflecting the effectiveness of the adaptation process. The interactionist school is a branch of American psychology, cultural studies and sociology that studies the symbolic interaction of the individual with society.

Her adaptation theory is complemented by research by the Russian psychologist and public figure A. D. Rean, conducted in 2004. True adaptation, in his opinion, lies in the mutual change of oneself and the environment.

Adaptation. What is this in psychology

The school of analytical psychology, based on the research of Freud and Jung, interprets personality adaptation within the framework of social consciousness. This is a kind of theory of collective intelligence, which states that an individual’s behavioral reactions are formed under the influence of the social environment.

The British anthropological school of applied psychology draws a parallel between the development of mental processes of modern man and primitive beliefs, ideas about morality and customs of various socially isolated groups.

The Austrian psychological school puts forward an adaptation theory of the integrity of the consciousness of an individual, which determines the success of its adaptation to new conditions of existence.

Management methods

In psychology, adaptation is the process of bringing a person’s emotional reactions and mental activity into line with social standards and the requirements of the living environment. It can be controlled using special methods developed by leading industry experts.

Trial and error method

American psychologist and teacher Edward Lee Thorndike in 1898 proposed to manage the adaptation of an individual in a social environment or work group empirically, using a person’s innate abilities to sort out options for action.

The method consists in solving life problems using accumulated experience and simultaneously acquiring new ones in the process of overcoming difficulties. According to this theory, less time, effort and resources are spent on achieving each subsequent goal than on the previous one.

The technique has found wide application in the development of the adaptation mechanism of schoolchildren, students and other social groups. The advantage of this method is that it does not require learning. The ability to find solutions to a problem is inherent in every person from the very beginning.

Formation of behavioral reactions

This method provides for the development of a motivational component and a reward system that stimulates further improvement of the personal adaptation mechanism. This method of managing an individual’s adaptability was developed by a representative of the behaviorist psychological school, J. Watson.

He considered the “stimulus-response” system as a mechanism for the formation of new forms of behavior in a certain social environment. Watson categorically stated the decisive role of the influence of the environment on the development of a psychological type and behavior pattern.

Observational method

The theory put forward by the French psychologist and neuropsychiatrist Henri Vallon provides for managing adaptation by creating conditions convenient for observation and analysis.

According to the author, placing an individual in a new social environment forces him to subconsciously look closely at the behavior of others and unwittingly imitate it. This is how the individual integrates into the social group.

This type of adaptation is called latent-passive. In psychology, this is a common phenomenon characteristic of people of phlegmatic temperament. Most of the information received from the outside world, according to the author of the theory, is perceived at a subconscious level, which plays a key role in the development of generally accepted norms of behavior.