You are here

Psychology of Adjustment
Share
Share

Psychology of Adjustment
The Search for Meaningful Balance

First Edition


November 2016 | 432 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Psychology of Adjustment: The Search for Meaningful Balance combines a student focus with state-of-the-art theory and research to help readers understand and adjust to life in a context of continuous change, challenge, and opportunity. Incorporating existential and third wave behavioral psychology perspectives, the authors emphasize the importance of meaning, mindfulness, and psychologically-informed awareness and skill. An inviting writing style, examples from broad ethnic, cultural, gender, and geographic areas, ample pedagogical support, and cutting-edge topical coverage make this a psychological adjustment text for the 21st century.

 
Preface
 
About the Author
 
PART 1- Perspectives and Processes
 
Chapter 1- Adjustment: A Life Process
Adjustment

 
Defining Adjustment

 
Determining Adjustment in Individuals

 
Goodness of Fit

 
Lack of Problems

 
Positive Life Experiences

 
Mind–Body Health

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Sleep Matters

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Biofeedback

 
Types of Change

 
Change Throughout Human Development

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Erikson’s Psychosocial Development—College to Midlife

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Positive Psychology

 
Societal Change

 
Perceptions of Change

 
Change Can Be Stressful

 
Positive and Negative Change Events

 
Planned and Unplanned Change

 
Comprehensibility of Change

 
Traditions Contributing to Adjustment

 
Interdisciplinary Approaches

 
Psychoeducation

 
Organization of This Book

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 2- Purpose in Life
Existential Psychology

 
Change, Impermanence, and Awareness of Death

 
Experimental Existential Psychology

 
The Importance of Purpose and Meaning

 
Coherence

 
Purpose in Life

 
Existential Hardiness

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Academic Hardiness and Grit

 
Spirituality and Religion

 
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Orientation (Individual and Social)

 
ASPIRES (Assessment of Spiritual and Religious Sentiments)

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Five-Factor Theory of Personality

 
Effects of Religion and Spirituality on Health

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Neurological Effects of Religious Belief

 
Religion, Spirituality, and Meaning

 
Note on Our Perspective

 
Autonomy, Choice, and Free Will

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Creating Choice Conditions

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 3- Community Contexts
Mentoring

 
Social Support

 
Types of Social Support

 
Social Networks

 
Indegree Centrality and Brokerage

 
Basic Rules of Networking

 
Social Capital

 
The Importance of Situation or Context

 
Person by Situation Interactions

 
Ecological Psychology and Behavioral Settings

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Context and Identity

 
Discriminative Setting Stimuli

 
Two Powerful Social Effects

 
Conformity

 
Obedience to Authority

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: In-Group, Out-Group

 
Culture

 
Collectivist Versus Individualistic Cultures

 
Cultural Complexes

 
Developmental Psychopathology

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Gene X Environment Interaction

 
Resilience

 
The Maturation and Socialization Process

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 4- Experience and Learning
Pavlovian Conditioning

 
The Basics of Pavlovian Conditioning

 
Preparedness in Behavior Acquisition

 
Operant Conditioning

 
Discriminative Stimulus

 
Response, Behavior, or Operant

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Hebb’s Rule

 
Consequences: Feedback, Reinforcement, Punishment, or Nothing

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Avoidance Learning

 
Consequences That Are Predictable But Not Always There

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Premack Principle

 
Shaping

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Self-Control

 
Cognitive Behaviorism

 
Social Learning

 
Modeling

 
Perceived Self-Efficacy

 
Collective Efficacy

 
Learning Probabilities (Statistical Learning

 
Implicit and Explicit Learning

 
Cognitive Development

 
Jean Piaget

 
Lev Vygotsky

 
Active Learning

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 5- Mindfulness: A Path to Awareness
Mindfulness and Meditation

 
Defining Mindfulness

 
Defining Meditation

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Meditation Exercise

 
History of Psychology and Mindfulness Research and Practice

 
Origins of Mindfulness Practice

 
Research on Meditation and Mindfulness

 
Bridging Science and the Meditation Experience

 
Mindfulness in Practice

 
Mindfulness and Nonjudgmental Awareness

 
Mindfulness Promoting Self-Regulation

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: A Week of Mindfulness

 
Mindfulness Promoting Compassion

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Create a Loving-Kindness Meditation

 
On the Mindful Path: Moving Toward Action

 
The Beginning of Action and Change

 
The Foundation for Action

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: What Do I Value?

 
The Path to Change

 
Moving Toward Commitment and Change

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 6- Stress, Health, and Well-Being
Stress

 
Stressors

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Measuring Stress

 
Stress Processes

 
Stress Reactions

 
Coping

 
Emotion-Focused and Problem Solving–Focused Coping

 
Active Coping and Avoidant Coping

 
Coping With Controllable Versus Uncontrollable Stressors

 
Coping With Culturally Related Stressors

 
Microaggressions

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Examples of Microaggressions

 
Culturally Relevant Coping

 
Healthy Stress Management

 
Social Support

 
Physical Touch

 
Meditation

 
Exercise

 
Self-Help

 
Good Stress Versus Bad Stress

 
Bad Stress

 
Good Stress

 
Growth Through Adversity

 
Reframing

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Stress and Technology

 
Health and Well-Being

 
Diet and Nutrition

 
Physical Activity and Exercise

 
Avoiding Substance Use

 
Conclusion

 
 
PART 2- Applications
 
Chapter 7- Social Relationships
Friendship and Well-Being

 
First Friendships

 
Childhood Friendships

 
Friendship and Diversity

 
Friendships During Adolescence

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Similarity and Friendships

 
Friendships and Social Media

 
Adult Friendships

 
Friendship Maintenance

 
Building Blocks of Relationships

 
Empathy and Compassion

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Teaching Compassion

 
Altruism and Prosocial Behavior

 
Loneliness

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 8- Romance and Intimacy
The Seeds of Romance

 
Casual Sexual Arrangements

 
Committed Partnerships

 
Healthy Intimate Relationships

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Myths About Good Relationships

 
Sexuality in Intimate Relationships

 
Gay and Lesbian Relationships

 
Intimacy Problems

 
Infidelity

 
Online Cheating Versus Off-Line Cheating

 
To Cheat or Not to Cheat

 
Relationship Violence

 
Ending Relationships

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Predictors of Divorce

 
Relationship Maintenance

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 9- School
School’s Importance in the Life of a Child

 
Fundamentals of School Success in Preschool and Kindergarten

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Head Start

 
Individual and Environmental Factors Related to Academic Success

 
Self-Beliefs

 
Motivation

 
School Belonging

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Bullying

 
Teacher Beliefs

 
Teachers’ Encouragement and Praise

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Intelligence Testing

 
School Climate

 
School Size

 
School Resources

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: School Dropout

 
The College Experience

 
First-Generation College Students

 
Understanding College Success Factors

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: TRIO Programs

 
Helping College Students Succeed

 
Mentoring

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: How to Find and Gain a Mentor

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 10- Work and Vocation
The Psychological Importance of Work

 
Work Across the Life Span

 
Adolescence

 
College

 
Career Indecision

 
First Job

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Involuntary Job Loss

 
Midcareer

 
Retirement

 
Demographic Factors in Vocational Development

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: STEM Careers

 
Theories of Vocational Decision Making

 
Theory of Occupational Circumscription and Compromise

 
Social Cognitive Career Theory

 
Theory of Person–Environment Fit

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Holland’s Theory

 
Rewards and Risks of Work

 
Flow

 
Job Stress

 
Dealing With Work Stress

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 11- Money
The History of Money

 
Learning About Money

 
Developmental Aspects of Money

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Social Class

 
Behavioral Economics

 
Comparisons

 
Two Decision-Making Processes

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Money’s Effect on Us

 
Money Skills

 
Buying

 
Seeing Free Is Tempting

 
Slowing Down and Thinking

 
Shopping When Tired

 
Anticipating Pleasure

 
Determining the Worth of Things Bought and Things Lost

 
Delaying the Pain

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Credit Cards and Loans

 
Saving

 
Parental Influence on Saving

 
Identification With the Future Self

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Present–Future Similarity Test

 
The Powerful Self

 
Regular and Automatic Savings

 
Money and Happiness

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 12- Aging
Life Expectancies

 
Age-Related Changes

 
Physical Changes

 
Early Adulthood

 
Middle Adulthood

 
Older Adulthood

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: How Old Is Old?

 
Cognitive Changes

 
Early Adulthood

 
Middle Adulthood

 
Older Adulthood

 
Socioemotional Changes of Aging

 
Identity Changes

 
Generativity and Meaning

 
Sense of Control

 
Social Support

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Decreasing Loneliness

 
The Third Age

 
Retirement

 
Role Redefinition

 
Finances

 
Successful Aging

 
Adjusting to Losses

 
Grieving

 
Aging in Place

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Retirement Communities and Nursing Homes

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 13- Dysfunction and Maladjustment
Section One: Mental Illness

 
Supernatural, Somatogenic, and Psychogenic Explanations

 
Mental Illness Today

 
Anxiety Disorders

 
Origins of Anxiety Disorders

 
Mood Disorders

 
Origins of Mood Disorders

 
Psychotic Disorders

 
Origins of Psychosis

 
Eating Disorders

 
Origins of Eating Disorders

 
Substance Abuse Disorders and Addictions

 
Origins of Addictions

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Suicide—The Most Drastic Choice

 
Neurodevelopmental Disorders

 
Attention Deficit Disorders

 
Origins of Attention Deficit Disorders

 
Autism Spectrum Disorder

 
Origins of Autism Spectrum Disorder

 
Section Two: Treatment of Mental Illness

 
Early Treatment: Asylums

 
Psychotherapy: A Psychogenic Approach

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: The Experience of Seeking Professional Help

 
Psychosurgeries and Psychotropic Medications: Somatogenic Approaches

 
Psychotropic Surgeries

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Brain Stimulation Therapies

 
Psychotropic Medications

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Making a Choice to Try Medication

 
The Future of Mental Health

 
Conclusion

 
 
Chapter 14- The Search for Balance and the Future
Personal Challenges of the Future

 
The Dynamics of Person and Place

 
Agency and Communion

 
Personal Perspectives

 
Societal Challenges of the Future

 
Diversity

 
Demographics of Age and Ethnicity

 
Gender and Sexual Orientation

 
Effects of Diversity

 
Reducing Reactivity and Increasing Appreciation

 
Travel

 
RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Multicultural Experience

 
Classes

 
Being Happy

 
Common Goals

 
Desire to Change

 
Contact

 
Loving Kindness Meditation

 
Declassification, Reclassification, Individuation

 
Changing Technologies

 
A Brief History of Technology

 
Technology Around the Globe

 
Interpersonal Relationships

 
Negative and Positive Effects of Today’s Technologies

 
Narcissism

 
Increasing Isolation

 
Negative Self-Perceptions

 
Internet Addiction

 
ADJUSTMENT APPLICATION: Steps to Healthy Limits in the Use of Technology

 
Positive Aspects of the Internet

 
Conclusion

 
ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: The Power of the Narrative

 
 
Glossary
 
References
 
Index

Supplements

Instructor Teaching Site

Instructor Teaching Site

 

SAGE edge for Instructors supports teaching by making it easy to integrate quality content and create a rich learning environment for students.

 

  • Test banks provide a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity to edit any question and/or insert personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
  • Sample course syllabi for semester and quarter courses provide suggested models for structuring one’s course.
  • Editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides offer complete flexibility for creating a multimedia presentation for the course.
  • Lecture notes summarize key concepts by chapter to ease preparation for lectures and class discussions.
  • EXCLUSIVE! Full-text SAGE journal articles support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter.
  • Video and multimedia links appeal to students with different learning styles.
Student Study Site

SAGE edge for Students provides a personalized approach to help students accomplish their coursework goals in an easy-to-use learning environment.

 

  • Learning objectives reinforce the most important material.
  • A complete online action plan includes tips and feedback on progress throughout the course and materials, allowing students to enhance their learning experience.
  • Mobile-friendly eFlashcards strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts.
  • Mobile-friendly practice quizzes allow for independent assessment by students of their mastery of course material.
  • Web Exercises and meaningful web links facilitate student use of internet resources, further exploration of topics, and responses to critical thinking questions.
  • EXCLUSIVE! Full-text SAGE journal articles support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 6


For instructors

Select a Purchasing Option

SAGE Knowledge is the premier social sciences platform for SAGE and CQ Press book, reference and video content.

The platform allows researchers to cross-search and seamlessly access a wide breadth of must-have SAGE book and reference content from one source.