Adjustment, Emotional Control and Perceived Loneliness among Adolescents

Adjustment is the behavioral process by which humans and other animals maintain equilibrium among their various needs or between their needs and the obstacles of their environments. A sequence of adjustment begins when a need is felt and ends when it is satisfied. Hungry people, for example, are stimulated by their physiological state to seek food. When they eat, they reduce the stimulating condition that impelled them to activity, and they are thereby adjusted to this particular need. In general, the adjustment process involves four parts: (1) a need or motive in the form of a strong persistent stimulus, (2) the thwarting or no fulfillment of this need, (3) varied activity, or exploratory behavior accompanied by problem solving, and (4) some response that removes or at least reduces the initiating stimulus and completes the adjustment. Social and cultural adjustments are similar to physiological adjustments. People strive to be comfortable in their surroundings and to have their psychological needs (such as love or affirmation) met through the social networks they inhabit. When needs arise, especially in new or changed surroundings, they impel interpersonal activity meant to satisfy those needs. In this way, people increase their familiarity and comfort with their environments, and they come to expect that their needs will be met in the future through their social networks. On-going difficulties in social and cultural adjustment may be accompanied by anxiety or depression. Psychology of Adjustment is an applied Psychology course that teaches the basics of human adjustment in everyday life. Applications of the concepts taught in this course help students understand themselves better, change their behaviors, and enhance their relationships. The term adjustment is often used as a synonym for accommodation and adaptation. Strictly speaking, the term denotes the results of equilibrium, which may be affect by either of these processes (Monroe, 1990). It is used to emphasize the individual’s struggle to along or survive in his or her social and physical environment. Good (1959) sates that adjustment is the process of finding and adopting modes of behavior suitable to the environment or the changes in the environment. Shafer (1961) emphasized that adjustment is the process by which a living organism maintains a balance between its needs and the circumstances that in fluency the satisfaction of these needs .Kulshrestha (1979) explained that the adjustment process is a way in which the individual attempts to deal with stress, tensions, conflicts etc., and meet his or her needs. In this process, the individual also makes efforts to maintain harmonious relationships with the environment.