Adjustment

Know how to Work on your Will Power

Published

September 14, 2021

Psychologist believe that will power is a learned skill that can be strengthened through principles of learning. This will power is termed as self-control in psychology. A person learns self-control through interaction with his or her environment.

Skinners distinguish between controlled and controlling behaviors. The controlling behaviors are primarily learned and thus more susceptible to change. Generally, people believe that we should have insight and mastery of the internal forces of behavior. But that alone is not enough for effective adjustment. We must have awareness of external forces too. Much of our behavior is heavily influenced by situational factors which is one reason why our will fluctuates from one situation to another.

There are two important influences for behavior, the cues that precipitate behavior and the consequences that follow it. Alerting both types of variables is essential for achieving greater self-control. Certain cues in our surrounding or within us may trigger what we say to do. Often we are dimly aware of this. For instances, merely seeing food may make us suddenly feel hungry.

A cue may set off a whole series of behavior, which is termed as chain behavior. A behavior chain is a complex sequence of behavior that tend to occur together. For example, a man who leaves office at 5 p.m. finds himself too drunk at 6 p.m. He realized that coming home early and having much time on hand served as a cue to his drinking. As a result, he decided to play tennis for two days and go for a walk for the rest of the days. By altering the cue (too much of time alone) he modified his behavior.

Setting a goal. The starting point for achieving a better self-control is setting a goal for yourself. The goal is known as a target behavior. Two aspects should be kept in mind while setting a goal. One is defining the target behavior and the other is selecting and attainable goal.

The target behavior has to be defined in behavioral terms. One may want to decrease or eliminate an undesirable behavior like excessive smoking. Or one may want to acquire a more positive behavior like completing the class assignment on time. In this process, describing the goal in terms of personality traits like dependency should be avoided. Instead think of specific behaviors associated with this general characteristic.

For instance, learning to be assertive; what kinds of behavior are associated with this term?
It is better to attempt modifying behavior in only one situation like speaking up in class, then in meetings etc. In due course, this may be generalized to other situations. It is also preferable to define your target behavior in positive terms.

For instance, instead of stating that I would like to be less dependent, state as I would like to be more independent. Focus on what you want to be not what you are in trying to eliminate undesirable behavior, make your goal an incompatible alternative.

For instance, to reduce watching TV if you try to punish yourself whenever watching TV then you is giving more attention to the undesirable behavior. Instead focus on the development of a competing activity like reading gardening etc. The target behavior must be realistic i.e., should be attainable. The most common mistake is that people select and overly ambitious or unrealistic goal. Here they see only the goal and the associated benefits.

More instance, a student securing 60% marks aims for distinction. Here the students see only the appreciation, popularity etc. that he/she may get but fails to see the means to the goal. So he is likely to meet with failure. A better goal would be to aim for the next grade and proceed further.

A person may not be sufficiently motivated unless the behavior is bothersome or problem to the individual. If a person selects a difficult, long-standing problem, then the person will feel that the problem is more complex than the person realized but also may not find sufficient objectively to analyze it correctly. Hence he may not know how to change.

So it is appropriate to select a more limited goal and experience success. Such an experience will reinforce for continuing the self-improvement.

Connected Topics:

Don't Miss

Individual’s ability to cope effectively with the Environment

Aarti BR Singh - Psychoanalyst

Hi, I’m Aarti, My Psychoanalytical approach towards my clients is to empower them to better their lives through improving their relationship with themselves. I believe shame and guilt is a common barrier to change. I aim to guide my clients through re authoring their narratives where shame, guilt, and other problems have less power and take up less space.

Adjustment

Individual’s ability to cope effectively with the Environment

Published

2 years ago

July 20, 2021

Aarti BR Singh - Psychoanalyst

Adjustment is concerned with the individual’s ability to cope with the environment. It is a general term that denotes either good or successful adjustment or fits the purpose for which he is intended. The housewife organizes her daily routines to meet the needs and is concerned with the adjustment of worker responsibilities. We constantly attempt to meet our needs and interests. At the same time, we are engaged in the process of adjusting ourselves-our attitudes and behaviors to meet the satisfactorily the demands made up on our personal problems and our social relationships. Poor environmental conditions and/or deficient personality are more than likely to encourage the development of maladjustment that can be harmful both to the individual himself and to those other persons whose lives are affected by his demonstrated attitudes and behavior.

Process of human adjustment. There are two points to view concerning the process of human adjustment. According to one point of view an individual is personally responsible for his attitudes and behavior in all areas of his/her life and relationships. Emphasis is placed on the ability to chart his course of action. He is master of his fate. The other school of thought claims that an individual’s beliefs, attitudes, and general pattern of adjustment of any one time are determined to a great extent by the effects on his developing personally, of his previous experiences and his present environmental influences. Whether, human needs must be aroused and then satisfied.

And individual’s degree of successful life adjustment is closely related to past experience, environmental influences and personal strengths. An individual possesses the power to select and to apply to himself the environmental elements and the experiences that may seem to him to be best suited to satisfactory adjustment.

An individual’s adjustment is adequate wholesome or healthful to the extent that he has established a harmonious relationship between himself and the condition and social environment. An individual who is unable to surmount obstacles in his path to achievement or when is rejected by the members of his group may become inadequately adjusted. Complete rejection or repeated failure to achieve is likely to be conducive to maladjustment.

Among the criteria that encompass are the possession of

A wholesome outlook on life.
A realistic perception of life.
Emotional and social maturity.
A good balance between the inner and outer forces that activate behavior.

Human beings are alike in many ways but they differ from one another in physical constitution and health status, degree of mental alertness and emotional status. Temperamental differences show themselves in individual likes and dislikes, compelling interests and ambitions and attitudes and behavior toward other ‘people’. As one attempts to adjust in his interaction with environmental elements, he may either attempt to adapt to them or try to change them in light of his own interests and needs. The child or adolescent attempts to adjust to interpersonal relationship in such ways as to find a respected place for himself / herself in various groups. Hence, he is encouraged, for example, to consider the interests and needs of other person as well as his own. Interaction between ourselves and our environment is an integral part of our living.

Adjustment is a continuous process that tends to bring out more or less changing attitudes throughout the individual’s life. For example, a person who has spent much of the life to rural areas removed from the meeting of various types of group usually find his attitudes affected toward this new groups by his moving to an urban community in which they are found. During his or her entire life time every human being is struggling toward the attainment of one another goal- self-expression, self-realization, self-esteem, adventure, economic and social security and the like. A person’s compulsion toward activity and its overt manifestation are influences by the interests, ambitions and altitudes of other persons. When an individual and the other members of his or her group are motivated by similar interests and ambitions, their cooperative activities tend to be productive of individual and group satisfaction and interadjustment.