The Adjustment Domain
“None will improve your lot if you yourself do not.”
Berthold Brecht (1898–1956), German playwright
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
Identify areas of change that require adjustment and coping in individuals
Describe the various types of adjustment and coping and their outcomes
Compare “helpful” personality traits with traits that are unhelpful in the coping process
Compare adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies
Identify ways to apply knowledge about personality psychology in the adjustment domain
Her life was full of hardship. Yet through all of her tragedies and challenges, Christina persevered, learned, and found renewed will and strength. She was the oldest of 15 siblings, five of whom died very young because of illness and poverty. She took care of her surviving brothers and sisters, and her first full-time job was when she was just 11 years old. She quit school so she could work. While still a young girl, she witnessed a bloody revolution and civil war in her country. She lived through many years of adversity and political repression. She survived World War II and dealt with the loss of her brothers and a husband who died on the battlefield. As a widow with two small children, she migrated from one war-torn town to another, looking for any opportunity that would help her cope and survive. She found a job. She sent both her children to college. She continued working. She maintained an active lifestyle until well into her 90s when Alzheimer’s finally took away her memories and her relentless energy.
Today, some people facing just a smidgeon of Christina’s problems would give up and fall apart. She did not.
She adjusted to every challenge and resolved the problems she faced.
She was resilient. She never gave up, and she remained hardy and tough on every difficult curve of her life and in every tragic situation.
She was proactive. She disliked procrastination, and she chose preventive actions instead of late reactions.
She was optimistic. She always saw a positive side of life, and she believed that tomorrow definitely would be better than today. She always had a reason to look forward to every day.
She was my grandmother.
Questions
Who in your family has or had the great ability to overcome difficulties and challenges better than others? What specific traits does this person have?
The Essence of Adjustment and Coping
Life is about change. Everything evolves. Some changes are slow, and we prepare for them. Other changes strike like lightening. Some changes are exciting and enjoyable. Others are unpleasant and painful. How do we deal with significant challenges and changes? Most probably, we try to adjust to them.
In general terms, adjustment is an alteration to achieve a desired result or condition. Such alteration takes place to reduce a discrepancy between (a) what is expected or desired and (b) the reality of it. Adjustments can be small, such as a slight modification or fine-tuning—for example, we sometimes alter our clothes. As with food or music preferences, we develop our own “styles” of adjustment. Imagine you are driving and suddenly see a traffic jam ahead of you. What do you usually do in such cases? Do you immediately seek a detour? Or do you prefer moving slowly through the traffic?
Many of our adjustments seem almost automatic. For example, every day when we communicate with others, we tend to automatically match other people’s language style. Research shows that almost immediately after we establish contact with another person, verbal and nonverbal behaviors become—to some degree—more synchronized than they were prior to the contact (Ireland & Pennebaker, 2010). Other adjustments can be significant. For instance, to many people, a transition from high school to college requires a major effort—they have to adjust to a new place away from home, to new friends, and to the new anxieties of college life. In the context of personality, this type of adjustment should probably interest us the most.
In personality psychology, adjustment refers to relatively significant changes in an individual’s behavior and experiences in response to external and internal challenges. Adjustment is somewhat similar to coping, which is a deliberate and conscious effort to adjust to challenges, changing situations, and new conditions (adjustment is not necessarily conscious and deliberate).
Adjustment
Relatively significant changes in an individual’s behavior and experiences in response to external and internal challenges are known as the process of adjustment.
Coping
The process of coping includes deliberate and conscious efforts to adjust to challenges, changing situations, and new conditions.
Why Individuals Cope
Why do species adjust? They do it because adjustment is essential for their survival. For example, some birds fly to warmer places in the fall and some mammals, like bears, hibernate during winters to avoid the harmful impact of cold temperatures. Humans also tend to avoid dangerous environments, physical threats, and anything that causes or may cause physical harm, pain, or discomfort. We tend to perceive and recognize the discrepancy between (a) how things are now and (b) how they should be. This discrepancy is based on a subjective experience and is influenced by many underlying physical and psychological conditions and contexts. Subjectively, this discrepancy is unpleasant and occurs in many forms, such as a mild psychological discomfort or distress or significant suffering. Challenges that disturb the individual’s physical or mental equilibrium are called stressors. The reaction to a condition that disturbs an individual’s physical or mental balance is called stress. Almost one third of adults in the United States report that stress has a strong impact on their physical and mental health.
Areas of Change Requiring Coping and Adjustment
To study the process of coping, you have to identify the stressors the individual has to face. A stressor can be a single event in one area of life; it also can be a continuous development, involving many areas of an individual’s activities. In the United States, the top three stressors are problems with money, problems with work, and family responsibilities (APA, 2015b). Stress—especially continuous stress—significantly contributes to individual problems that might include various disorders, including mental illness (see Chapter 12). Many areas of life and its activities produce stressors, and they require us to cope with them. Let’s mention just a few of such areas and activities. Feel free to suggest other areas not mentioned here.
Aging
Regardless of how old you are now, remember how much you enjoyed getting older when you were a child? Conversely, once we become adults, aging is sometimes unpleasant, stressful, and even traumatic. Simply ask around and listen to what people say about how they feel about getting older. Every age has some unpleasant realizations that are fairly typical but can still be stressful. A few significant physical and psychological changes are associated with aging that require coping (Lazarus & Lazarus, 2006). One feature of aging is that many people never feel their age—they feel younger. In a 2009 survey, people over 50 in the United States claimed to feel at least 10 years younger than their chronological age; those over 65 said they felt up to 20 years younger (Segal, 2013). Why is this disconnection between actual age and perceived age stressful? Because physical decline and other changes associated with aging do not match people’s perception of their age.
Physical Illness
Some health maladies, such as heart attacks, strokes, and accidents, are sudden and devastating. Such serious life-threatening events immediately alter the lives of the victim and their loved ones. To recover from an acute illness and get back to day-to-day life requires considerable effort. It is about making adjustments and coping in several areas of life. The uncertainty that is associated with the illness (some injuries may remain life-threatening for a long time) adds to the stress.
Other illnesses develop slowly and remain chronic. In fact, two thirds of adults in the United States report having at least one chronic illness (APA, 2015b). Suffering from these illnesses also demands from the individual significant behavioral and psychological adjustments. Serious illnesses are frequently connected with disabilities, which involve impairments (significant problem with a physical or psychological functioning), activity limitations (inability to perform certain tasks), and participation restrictions (problems with particular social activities). Of course, not every illness becomes a disability.
Disabilities
Disabilities take the form of impairments (significant problems with physical or psychological functioning), activity limitations (inability to perform certain tasks), and participation restrictions (problems with particular social activities).
Changes in the Family
Significant changes in family life may become major stressors and require adjustment and coping. Not all of these changes, whether sudden or continuing, are catastrophic; many major life events are supposed to be easy to deal with—take marriage as an example. It can be stress-free, but it can also be a significant stressor, sometimes requiring big adjustments in habits and even personality traits. Now, think of divorce. Not only does a person have to cope with moral and psychological problems associated with the divorce but also with many interpersonal, financial, and legal challenges. There are other major changes associated with the family as well. Some parents (after they have sent their grown sons and daughters off to college) experience a stressful “empty-nest syndrome”—a persistent state of sadness and loneliness. Some parents cope with this new situation somewhat quickly; others do not.
Professional Changes
The process of getting a new job is as exciting as it is stressful. A new job sometimes requires adjusting to a different geographic area, a tough work schedule, additional or unfamiliar job requirements, daily commuting, and so on—all may require personal changes and significant adjustment. Individuals who are not ready to face these challenges may develop serious psychological problems, including burnout. Losing a job is also often very stressful. This event can cause significant, long-term psychological consequences in an individual. The loss of income is certainly an issue, but being out of work is also about loss of dignity, respect, and meaningful social interactions. Research suggests that an individual’s unemployment is associated with social withdrawal, tension in the family, and many other stressful symptoms (Brand, 2015).
There is also noteworthy psychological research about the stressors associated with retirement. It is true that some people look forward to their retirement; yet for others, retirement can be a period they dread. Some people delay the decision to retire or never make it. They may worry about financial security, fear boredom and isolation, and fret about no longer being able to do something meaningful or make a difference in other people’s lives (Knoll, 2011).
Changes in Personal Relationships
Friendship and love are supposed to be fulfilling and rewarding, and for many people, they are. However, relationships often involve conflict. Studies show that many individuals experience significant challenges and stress during a crisis in their relationships with a significant other (Borelli & Sbarra, 2011). Such a crisis may involve separation, infidelity, dishonesty, or emotional and physical abuse, which can have a profound impact on an individual and often requires serious psychological coping. A large cross-cultural study in 96 countries (Morris, Reiber, & Roman, 2015) showed that people experience an average of three significant breakups in their relationships by age 30, and at least one of those breakups affects them strongly enough that it substantially decreases their quality of life for weeks or even months.
Immigration
Immigration (the movement of people into a country) is another source of significant stress, as it often requires individuals to cope and adjust to new social and cultural conditions. The process of coping with new cultural conditions is called acculturation. Each generation of newcomers faces the unavoidable challenge of adapting to their new country and its culture, and the process of adjustment is an extremely stressful period of their lives. They have left something significant back in their home countries: They have to learn a new language, adapt to a different value system, make friends, find new reinforcements, seek social support networks, and get used to a different climate, food, and the little nuances that constitute culture. Individuals who fail to cope with the acculturation stressors are more likely to develop psychopathological symptoms. We will return to this subject again later in this chapter.
Acculturation
The individual’s process of coping with the new cultural conditions is acculturation.
Significant Social Changes
There are different types of social changes. Most people—especially those who grew up in economically developed countries such as the United States, Canada, or Japan—are shielded against devastating social cataclysms. They do not have to encounter famine, violent revolutions, or a protracted civil war. Unfortunately, this is not the case for people living in underdeveloped places. Today, hundreds of millions of people remain vulnerable to serious abuse and violations of their safety and most basic rights. Additionally, rampant poverty is a major and constant challenge in their lives.
Other social changes are of a different nature. Recall from Chapter 10 the American psychologist Rollo May’s belief that individuals are caught between an epic conflict of the old world of tradition and the new world of change. The old world represented stability and certainly; the new world is about uncertainty and instability. As a result, individuals lose their ability to learn and adjust to the rapidly changing surroundings (May, 1950), and their poor adjustment causes anxiety—also caused by consistent threats to their most fundamental values (May, Angel, & Ellenberger, 1958). Anxiety brings more confusion, which in turn increases the sense of powerlessness. People no longer know how to influence their lives or other people. This leads to anger, which can lead to violence (May, 1969).
Although May and his colleagues wrote about these problems more than 50 years ago, their analysis tends to reflect very well the challenges that we experience these days in the globalizing world. For example, the spread of fundamentalist ideas and the resulting violence are seen by some scholars as a psychological byproduct of the ongoing globalization (Huntington, 1996, 2004).
Check and Apply Your Knowledge
Describe the similarities and differences between adjustment and coping.
Name three features of disability.
How many significant breakups does an average person expect to have by age 30?
What is acculturation? Why does it require coping?
Types of Coping and Adjustment
Assisting people with adjustment requires a very diverse knowledge of their personalities. The psychology of adjustment studies problems and conditions that cause people’s need for adjustment, the psychological mechanisms of adjustment, and the ways to help them in their coping process. Some people avoid dealing with challenges, while others tend to confront them. Some individuals cope by transforming their personal features, including their habits and traits, yet others remain stubborn and unchanged. Based on age, experience, and education, people choose different coping strategies (Folkman, Lazarus, Pimley, & Novacek, 1987; Powell, 2015), and many small variables and ever-changing circumstances affect the way they adjust and cope.
Psychology of adjustment
The psychology of adjustment is the study of problems and conditions that cause the individual’s need for adjustment, the psychological mechanisms of adjustment, and the ways to help individuals in their coping process.
What do we do when we face stressors or significant challenges in our lives? Consider several general strategies. Two of them refer to the individual, and the other two have to do with the social environment.
The Individual
Facing a stressor, we can choose—if we think logically—between two alternatives: to change something internally (such as our own thinking, emotional responses, and behavior) or not to change anything. The choice between these two strategies (“To change or not to change?”) depends on our personality features as well as on specific circumstances and contexts. In the first case, coping will require some personal transformation and correction. New assessments of the stressors and innovative responses should be sought and found. A change of habits and even personality features may also be required.
There are some individuals who are more flexible and, thus, have a greater propensity for constant adjustments to changing environment and stressors. Flexibility can be viewed as a trait measured by the degree (scope and depth) or the extent to which a person can cope in novel ways. There is evidence that flexibility can form early in life and is based on parenting style. For instance, authoritarian parents are likely to diminish psychological flexibility in their children by constantly restricting the ways their children cope with stressors in life (Williams, Ciarrochi, & Heaven, 2012). The power of psychological flexibility in the workplace is correlated with better mental health and job performance. Allowing workers more job control would likely increase work productivity as well as job satisfaction (Bond & Flaxman, 2006). Studies also show that psychological flexibility is a factor that affects long-term coping—people who are better “managers” of their emotional responses are less likely to be stressed over time (Bonanno, Papa, Lalande, Westphal, & Coifman, 2004).
Flexibility
Flexibility is a trait measured by the degree (scope and depth) or the extent to which a person can cope in novel ways.
Individuals who choose the second alternative—not changing anything—keep most of their evaluations, responses, habits, and personality features unchanged when faced with a stressor. We may use the adjective stubborn to describe this pattern. Stubbornness may result in successful coping, or it may be harmful and cause significant psychological suffering.
The Stressor
Which challenges—or stressors—do we accept, and which do we contest? The discussion has been ongoing in social sciences and the humanities for centuries. Some philosophers in the past called for the individual’s active engagement in life events in attempts to transform them. Others called for more wisdom and acceptance of one’s own fate (Yakunin, 2001). Both sides offered reasonable arguments in defense of their positions: On the one hand, we should be able to overcome life’s challenges by standing tall against them; on the other, there are many challenges that we are incapable of overcoming, and, thus, we should not falsely believe that we can resolve every problem and negotiate every obstacle (you may recall similar arguments in Chapter 9).
Coping and adjustment can be active or passive, with many variations in between the “active” and “passive” alternatives of the imaginary spectrum. On one end of it is approaching, which is a type of coping that refers to deliberate attempts at changing self as well as the sources of stress. A person who is approaching is also is seeking internal (self) and external (others) resources to deal with a stressor or a problem (Zeidner & Endler, 1995). Approaching involves cognitive operations, such as thinking, as well as actions. Approaching can be proactive when an individual is aware of a problem or anticipates a stressor to emerge and thus has one or more strategies to deal with them. For instance, a couple expecting a baby is proactive about understanding the challenges that new families face, such as night feeding, changing diapers, and having much less free time for a while, and they prepare for these challenges in advance. Approaching can also be reactive, as a response to the changes. Approaching might be mostly behavioral (involving actions) or mostly cognitive (involving thinking) or both.
Approaching
Some patients use approaching, a type of coping that refers to deliberate attempts at changing self as well as the sources of stress.
Coping may also take a form of avoiding, which is keeping oneself away from addressing a challenge or a stressor. There are several types of avoidant behavior. Avoidant behavior can be rational, which means that we consciously try to discount or ignore an apparent problem for some time, even though we are aware of it. Many of us, from time to time, avoid certain unpleasant challenges because we have a realistic understanding that we have little time or opportunity to address known stressors that confront us. On the other hand, avoiding can be a way of ignoring or hiding from a problem. This often leads to a more serious problem that arises because the original stressor is not addressed. Avoiding can be behavioral (not doing anything to address the problem), cognitive (not thinking about the problem), or both. Avoiding can take a form of compensatory behavior, which may distract the individual from addressing the stressor. Such behavior is often associated with certain unhealthy activities. For example, approximately two in five adults in America report overeating or eating unhealthy foods in the past month due to stress (APA, 2015b). Avoiding can also be a result of our lack of knowledge and understanding, our deliberate ignorance (“I don’t even want to know”), our inability to correctly assess the problem and its significance, or our specific individual psychological features, including mental illness. Recall the discussion of avoidant personality disorder in Chapter 12. It is important for psychologists to study and recognize the differences between an individual’s use of avoiding as a healthy, successful way to cope and avoiding that is an unhealthy, harmful behavioral style.
Avoiding
Keeping oneself away from addressing a challenge or a stressor is called avoiding.
In terms of the dynamics, or speed, of coping, some people tend to adjust quickly. As soon as the stressor appears or as soon as they realize an adjustment is necessary, they think about what to do and then act. Others display a persistent pattern of behavior and thought called procrastination—putting off impending tasks to a later time. We procrastinate for various reasons and tend to be aware of the consequences of our procrastination. How often do you hear the phrase “I wish I had done this earlier”? It is true that for many people occasional procrastination is not a serious problem, but it may become significant when it becomes a consistent pattern. Chronic procrastinators have a deficiency in their self-regulation: There is a gap between their intentions and actions, as studies show (Pychyl, Lee, Thibodeau, & Blunt, 2000). Procrastinators often fail to correct their behavior and face the same problem in new situations and create a false excuse that turning to their problem later is a better choice (Pychyl et al., 2000). Research finds that procrastinators tend to carry accompanying feelings of guilt, shame, or anxiety associated with their constant choice to delay (Jaffe, 2013; Sirois & Pychyl, 2013). Some procrastinators act more efficiently when they work under time pressure; however, many of them use this argument, as studies show, to justify their chronic inaction now and in the future (Sirois & Pychyl, 2013).
Procrastination
Putting off impending tasks to a later time is called procrastination.
Passive adjustment, or passive coping, is a general pattern of relying on others to address or resolve stressful events or life situations. This pattern of dependency is rooted in an individual’s feeling of helplessness and the inability to deal with the stressor (recall dependent personality disorder from Chapter 12). Those who engage in passive coping tend to relinquish control of the stressful situation to others. These individuals often want others to help them find the best way of coping (Carroll, 2013).
Passive adjustment
Putting off impending tasks to a later time is called procrastination.
Although there are several ways we can classify different kinds of adjustment and coping, our behavior doesn’t always fall into the same category from stressor to stressor. While some individuals tend to maintain a particular adjustment style, others do not. Sometimes we may use an approaching style, other times we may use an avoiding style, or we may use a combination of the two, depending on the situation.
Outcomes of Coping and Adjustment
Coping has a continuum of outcomes, ranging from successful to unsuccessful. On one end of the spectrum, successful coping responses allow an individual to maintain a happy and productive life, score high on the measures of subjective well-being (see Chapter 9), and be free of distressful symptoms. In a famous study, the psychologist Shelly Taylor (1983) was looking for successful coping strategies in women treated for breast cancer. She wanted to identify the inner resources that help women return to their previous, “normal” level of functioning after going through traumatic experiences associated with their illness. The interviews conducted with the women revealed that rather than simply “getting back” to what their healthy lives used to be, most of the women reported that their lives had changed for the better in many ways. Some noted that they had a new sense of themselves as being strong and resilient; others talked about their ability to stop procrastinating, reestablish priorities, and make time for the activities that were most important (Taylor et al., 2004).
On the other end of the outcomes scale is unsuccessful adjustment and coping associated with the inability to adjust to a stressor and continuous emotional distress. One of the most severe forms of such distress is adjustment disorder.
Adjustment disorder refers to a cluster of symptoms associated with significant distress that occurs in someone who is unable to cope with a major life stressor. This stressor is associated with an individual’s immediate social network (e.g., separation from a significant other) or broader network (e.g., becoming a refugee and moving to a foreign country), or it is caused by a life transition or crisis (e.g., becoming a parent or being diagnosed with a serious illness). The manifestations include persistent depressed mood, anxiety, irritability, sleep problems, and feelings of helplessness. Individual personality features and circumstances may worsen the manifestation of the symptoms. Once the individual is able to cope with the stressor, the harmful symptoms diminish and can disappear. The challenge is in finding the right path to an individual’s coping strategies (Powell, 2015).
Adjustment disorder
Someone unable to cope with a major life stressor experiences a cluster of symptoms associated with significant distress and is diagnosed with adjustment disorder.
One of the negative outcomes of coping is burnout—a state of a significant exhaustion and disappointment brought about by devotion to an activity (often work related) that failed to produce the expected result or reward. Burnout is a problem usually born out of the individual’s attempts to achieve unrealistic goals or take on undeliverable promises. Those who experience burnout feel extremely fatigued, distrustful, pessimistic, and tend to be increasingly inefficient despite their efforts (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996). They also tend to maintain a negative attitude toward work and are at risk of developing serious health problems (Bakker, Demerouti, & Sanz-Vergel, 2014). One who once was enthusiastic and full of energy becomes irritable, frustrated, and bitter. Burnout may resemble some symptoms of depression, but one of the differences is that depression is likely to impact an individual’s whole life, while burnout relates mostly to the job context (Plieger, Melchers, Montag, Meermann, & Reuter, 2015).
Burnout
Often a work-related term, burnout is a state of a significant exhaustion and disappointment brought about by a devotion to an activity that failed to produce the expected result or reward.
Although earlier research showed that differences in how genders handle general coping were relatively small (Billings & Moos, 1981), psychologists were often looking at specific stressors and situations. Some earlier studies suggested that women tend to have a harder time coping with a breakup (Davis, Matthews, & Twamley, 1999). However, more recent cross-cultural research shows that this is not the case. Researchers measured the subjective rate of the emotional and physical pain in the immediate aftermath of the breakup on a sample of more than 5,700 people in 96 countries. While breakups affect women the hardest emotionally and physically, this is true only immediately after the breakup. Men tend to have more emotional issues in the long term. In other words, women tend to recover more fully and come out emotionally stronger after a breakup than men (Morris et al., 2015).
There are different explanations for this phenomenon. Evolutionary psychologists suggest that women cope better in the long term because they have better skills in finding “substitutions” (in other words, a new partner) for the lost relationship (Morris et al., 2015). Men also tend to reevaluate their losses, and once they have a new partner, they realize their new partner may be not as great as the one they lost. Other research suggests that men tend to cope by either confronting the stressor or avoiding it; women, on the other hand, when a relationship becomes a source of stress, tend to be better “negotiators” than men (Wang et al., 2007).
Check and Apply Your Knowledge
Define and explain flexibility.
Explain proactive approaching.
Ferrari (2010), in Still Procrastinating? The No Regrets Guide to Getting It Done, would like to see a general cultural shift from punishing procrastination to rewarding the “early bird.” The author proposed, among other things, that the federal government and other agencies give financial incentives to those who do things (such as paying taxes) early, long before the deadlines. Discuss whether this strategy could reduce procrastination or would just reward the people who are too anxious and do everything very early.
In one of the most famous plays by Shakespeare, the main character Hamlet posed probably the most frequently quoted question: “To be or not to be?” In the monologue that followed, he complained about life’s pains and unfairness yet was also afraid that the alternative, which is suicide, might be worse. What kind of coping was Hamlet choosing from?
Define adjustment disorder.
Explain burnout.
Have you ever experienced burnout? How did you cope with it?
Identifying “Helpful” Personality Traits
Psychologists have identified a stable pattern of behavior and experience that appears helpful in the process of coping with significant stressors (Block & Block, 2012). This pattern has different names, but we can call it stress tolerance. At least three specific traits have been identified as contributing to stress tolerance: openness to experience, hardiness, and individual impulse control (Weiten, Dunn, & Hummer, 2011). We studied openness to experience and impulse control in earlier chapters (remember, for instance, instant gratification in Chapter 2). Psychological research also provides interesting data about hardiness—the individual’s general ability to withstand difficult conditions. Hardiness may resemble stubbornness, which was described earlier in this chapter. Hardiness and stubbornness share some common psychological features, yet stubbornness is usually a pattern of resistance to change by all costs. Hardiness has three specific characteristics (Kobasa, 1979). It involves these actions:
Changes in strategies and behavior, as well as a commitment or sustained effort to achieve a goal
Control, or the belief in and ability to rely on your own efforts, to solve a problem
A challenge, or a commitment to test self and confront difficulties
Stress tolerance
Stress tolerance is a stable pattern of behavior and experience that appears helpful in the process of coping with significant stressors.
Hardiness
An individual’s general ability to withstand difficult conditions is called hardiness.
These features help the individual to launch effective coping and actively seek solutions, seek and receive social support, and engage in effective self-care (Maddi, 2006). Hardiness is a continuous variable. Research shows that it is likely to be correlated with internal locus of control and self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997), which we studied in Chapter 6.
Another feature that tends to be helpful in successful coping is optimism—the general belief in positive or successful outcomes. Optimism involves an act of cognitive assessment of the present and the future. We call people optimists if they tend to believe things that belong to them and around them (a) are better than they seem or (b) will be better in the future. These beliefs refer to material things and developments (such as the stock market or weather) as well as social and psychological phenomena (such as personal health and professional career). When facing challenges, optimists tend to think they will overcome the difficulties, or the challenges will just go away. Leonel Tiger, in Optimism: The Biology of Hope (1979), argued that optimism is an evolutionary useful feature, mostly because of its role in coping: It allows human beings to counteract their fears, manage their anxiety, and cope with significant problems and crises. Optimism is also associated with exploratory behavior, such as finding alternative solutions and experiences. For example, a person’s exploratory activities affect building more new neurons in the hippocampus (a process called neurogenesis), which is the brain’s center for learning and memory (Bergmann & Frisén, 2013). Optimistic views of self are connected to the person’s views of others: Individuals who scored high on self-coherence also perceive life as comprehensible, cognitively meaningful, and manageable (Antonovsky, 1987).
Optimism
The general belief in positive or successful outcomes is referred to as optimism.
Optimism can be a situational, short-lived phenomenon or a stable personality feature or trait. Scheier and Carver (1992) were among the first to study dispositional optimism—a general and stable belief that good things and positive outcomes will happen. People who possess this trait tend to expect that in most life situations, the balance between good and bad things will be in favor of good things. “In uncertain times, I usually expect the best,” says an optimist. Dispositional optimism is likely to affect behavior since optimists tend to sustain their efforts to pursue their goals, while pessimists tend to give up (Peterson, 2000). Optimism has also been tied to active and preventive coping efforts, which enable people to guard against undesirable life changes caused by significant stressors (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1997). Because optimism is associated with effective social relationships and interpersonal coping strategies, optimists develop a stronger sense of personal control and tend to have greater social support during times of stress.
Dispositional optimism
An individual’s general and stable belief that good things and positive outcomes will happen is displayed as dispositional optimism.
Pessimism is the general belief in negative or unsuccessful outcomes. A pessimistic person tends to believe in the likelihood of bad outcomes and anticipates that difficulties will continue and troubles will prevail. As a famous saying goes, optimists see a glass “half full,” while pessimists see the same glass “half empty.”
Traits That Negatively Affect the Coping Process
Even in ancient times, philosophers in India, China, and Greece stated that many individuals had a distorted way of looking at things, and they could not effectively cope with difficulties (Isaeva, 1999). Modern research provides supporting evidence for those philosophical assertions. As in the case of “helpful” traits, there are also features that negatively affect coping.
Consider again procrastination, which we discussed earlier in this chapter. Research shows that constant procrastination becomes particularly maladaptive in an individual’s coping strategies. It becomes especially harmful if a person is measured high on impulsivity and low on self-discipline (Jaffe, 2013). People who procrastinate persistently create false excuses that turning to their problem later is a better choice (Pychyl et al., 2000).
Consistent cognitive distortions (we discussed them in Chapter 8 and Chapter 9) also can negatively affect the coping process. These are thoughts and assumptions that cause individuals to perceive reality inaccurately. They are rooted in negative emotions (Burns, 1989). An individual, for example, is angry that the college courses are too difficult for her and therefore she is failing academically. Instead of changing her learning habits, she is preoccupied with her anger and other negative emotions. Consider, for example, consistent catastrophic thinking—the stable tendency to overestimate the probability of very negative outcomes. People who are prone to this type of thinking tend to focus on their negative emotions—a process that is called rumination. These individuals see threats when there are few or none of them. They tend to exaggerate minor threats. They also tend to be dispositional pessimists—people who have the general and stable belief that bad things and negative outcomes will happen. Studies show that people who have a tendency for catastrophic thinking have problems coping with pain (Wideman & Sullivan, 2011).
Catastrophic thinking
The stable tendency to overestimate the probability of very negative outcomes is catastrophic thinking.
Dispositional pessimists
People who have the general and stable belief that bad things and negative outcomes will happen.
Catastrophic thinking as a thought pattern has been linked to certain personality characteristics. Psychologists, for example, identify the Type D personality (D stands for distressed in cognitive and behavioral terms). The Type D personality is linked to the persistent tendency toward negative affectivity (being constantly irritable, anxious, and expecting failure) and social inhibition (which involves both self-restraint and a lack of self-assurance). This type is also associated with the development of burnout (Geuens, Braspenning, Van Bogaert, & Franck, 2015).
Type D personality
A Type D personality has the persistent tendency toward (a) negative affectivity (being constantly irritable, anxious, and expecting failure) and (b) social inhibition (involving both selfrestraint and a lack of self-assurance).
Contemporary studies also show the existence of so-called latent vulnerability traits, which are specific behavioral and psychological features that individuals may develop at any period in life (e.g., bad eating habits, substance use or abuse, or propensity for hostile behavior). These features may later develop into stable traits that are harmful in the process of coping (Beauchaine & Marsh, 2006). American psychologist Karen Matthews demonstrates in her research how certain habits, such as smoking and physical immobility, contribute to physical changes in the cardiovascular system and make individuals more vulnerable in coping with their health problems (Matthews, 2005; Matthews & Gallo, 2011). John Curtin and colleagues showed that an alcohol or drug habit can also become a latent vulnerability trait for some people when a difficult life situation arises, and they turn to substances to cope rather than address the problem (Curtin, McCarthy, Piper, & Baker, 2005).
Latent vulnerability traits
Specific behavioral and psychological features that individuals may develop at any period in life that are harmful in the process of coping are latent vulnerability traits.
Identifying Adaptive Coping Strategies
Successful adaptive coping strategies improve the individual’s functioning in everyday situations and reduce the impact of life-changing stressors. These strategies should have significant, long-term impact. There are at least three types of such strategies that are interconnected: problem-focused, appraisal-focused, and emotion-focused.
Problem-focused strategies center on changing or eliminating the source of an individual’s problems. Here, the individuals act independently or seek advantageous social support, including practical advice and guidance from another person or people. For instance, a person diagnosed with a serious illness immediately studies several available treatment options and chooses one. If the problem persists, the individual seeks other options. Success of these strategies is not necessarily about the speed of the decision. These strategies can be effective in part because they are informed (an individual’s knowledge is based on a range of facts) and efficient (an individual critically analyzes and chooses the best option).
Problem-focused strategies
Problem-focused strategies are methods that center on changing or eliminating the source of an individual’s problems.
Quite often, we cannot tackle our problems head on. Appraisal-focused strategies center on the way we see the problem (or a particular life development), its causes, its impact on us, and the expected outcome of our coping behavior. The goal here is to gain knowledge about the stressor to help better understand and discuss the anticipated outcomes. Optimistic strategies, for example, help to deal with unfortunate events in these ways:
Explaining a misfortune or a difficult period in a circumscribed way: “This may be difficult, but it will not ruin my life. I will deal with my problems, one day at a time.”
Identifying external, unstable, and limited causes of the problem: “I am just unlucky; bad things happen. I will be better tomorrow; things change for the better.”
Appraisal-focused strategies
Appraisal-focused strategies are methods that center on the way we see the problem (or a particular life development), its causes, its impact on us, and the expected outcome of our coping behavior.
People can turn to emotion-focused strategies that center on the emotional meaning of the stressor, on distraction from it, and on relaxation. These strategies include actively reevaluating the psychological impact of the existing problem, gaining emotional strength, switching attention to something else, or seeking emotional support from other people and new sources (learning about spirituality, for instance). Of course, we do not choose just one strategy and reject others. We use a mixture of coping strategies and skills, which develop and change over time.
Emotion-focused strategies
Methods that center on the emotional meaning of the stressor, on distraction, and on relaxation are called emotion-focused strategies.
Consider distraction, for example. Distraction refers to avoidant coping strategies that are employed to divert attention away from a stressor and toward other thoughts or behaviors that are unrelated to the stressor. Simple distraction, such as focusing on an external object like a painting on the wall or imagining a peaceful place like a mountain lake, may ease pain and discomfort during or after serious medical procedures. Other examples of distraction include deliberate daydreaming or engaging in substitute activities to keep one’s mind from several stressors related to a chronic illness (Traeger, 2013). These are called calming behaviors that can grow into a habit of engaging in a pleasant activity to reduce anxiety. Successful distraction often involves daily activities, such as working out, playing sports, or getting busy as a volunteer.
Distraction
Distraction is an avoidant coping strategy that diverts attention away from a stressor and toward other thoughts or behaviors that are unrelated to the stressor.
Empirical research has long suggested that quality of social support is linked to coping and improvement in well-being (Stanley, Beck, & Zebb, 1998; Weissman, Markowitz, & Klerman, 2007). Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) aims at improving the quality of relationships and usually addresses unresolved grief, social isolation, or the significant lack of social skills. We will turn to other strategies—in the context of therapies—in the section on applications.
Psychologists do not encourage people to forget about their troubles or ignore them or see all adversities in a positive light. Instead, they teach that to cope with changing circumstances, we should learn from mistakes and find a way to recover and win. The death of a friend, an illness in the family, personal setbacks—no matter how unpleasant and devastating their impacts can be on our lives, they should make us reexamine what happened (to see everything from a new perspective), reevaluate our strategies (to seek a way out), and mobilize our resources (and if there are none left, then seek help from others). The state of helplessness causes inaction.
We all know that, unfortunately, life is full of unpleasant “surprises.” We all eventually will die, and illness strikes practically everyone. How do people cope with the inevitable threat of an illness? Weinstein (1989) examined people’s perception of personal risk for illnesses and various mishaps. When people were asked to provide a percentage estimate of the likelihood that they will someday experience a particular illness or injury, most respondents underestimated their risks. The average individual sees himself or herself as far below average at risk for a variety of maladies and misfortunes. These results spark a critical argument: What if some individuals who do not foresee many dangers in life are not necessarily optimistic? What if they are somewhat careless or ignorant about illnesses? It is known, for example, that if some people were more vigilant about their health, many illnesses could have been diagnosed at earlier stages and many lives could have been saved. However, if people are not vigilant enough about their health, this does not mean they are pessimistic. On the other hand, educating people to be aware of possible health dangers is not necessarily a process that evokes people’s pessimism.
Identifying Maladaptive Strategies
While adaptive coping strategies improve functioning, maladaptive coping strategies do not. Sure, some maladaptive techniques may be effective in the short term, but they tend to be harmful for the long-term coping process. Maladaptive coping strategies often lead to increased anxiety, other emotional problems, and even substance abuse.
Denial
Denial, in a psychological context, is the belief that something is untrue and often presents itself as ignoring an issue or a fact. Though denial has been sometimes called an adaptive strategy, there has been little evidence that it is actually helpful for long-term coping or reduces a person’s stress-related anxiety.
Denial
In a psychological context, denial is the belief that something is untrue.
Denial involves several interconnected strategies. Fantasy involves persistently using creative imagination in attempts to avoid facing the problem, and it becomes a substitution for the real coping strategy. Anxious avoidance involves a person who dodges thinking about the stressor and refuses dealing with it in all situations and by all means. Anxious avoidance often presents in alcohol and substance abuse, both common maladaptive strategies. Giving up is a form of passive coping and results when the individual stops paying attention to the problem, most likely when the bad consequences of inaction increase. In contrast to distractive strategies (focusing on pleasant activities), giving up is mostly about withdrawal and depressive thinking. This strategy is sometimes called dismissive.
Anxious avoidance
A person exhibits anxious avoidance if he or she dodges thinking about a stressor and refuses to deal with it in all situations and by all means.
Ruminative Strategies
In contrast to denial, ruminative strategies refer to behaviors and thoughts that focus on the individual’s negative experiences, failed strategies, and distressful psychological symptoms associated with the inability to cope with a stressor. Examples of ruminative responses include expressing how unhappy one feels, wondering why one feels unhappy, and thinking about how difficult it will be tomorrow. Individuals who use ruminative strategies are highly involved in their attachment experiences and focus on the possible negative outcomes that might affect their attachment.
Ruminative strategies
Ruminative strategies are behaviors and thoughts that focus on the individual’s negative experiences, failing strategies, and distressful psychological symptoms associated with the inability to cope with a stressor.
Learned Helplessness
Experiencing uncontrollable aversive events or a crisis, some people become helpless—passive and unresponsive—presumably because they have learned during the crisis that there is nothing they can do to help themselves. This phenomenon has been called learned helplessness (Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989; Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978). People believe there is no connection between their actions and the outcomes of these actions—no matter what they do, it will be irrelevant. Therefore, during a crisis the chances of resolving it will be next to zero. This expectation becomes prevailing, affects individual activities, and interferes with subsequent learning from self and others. Individuals then become passive and withdrawn. Learned helplessness may be a result of a certain parenting style, unsafe social environment, accidents, and a variety of other contributing circumstances and conditions.
Learned helplessness
When they experience uncontrollable, aversive events or a crisis, some people exhibit learned helplessness—they become passive and unresponsive— presumably because they have learned during the crisis that there is nothing they can do to help themselves.
Check and Apply Your Knowledge
Describe the Type D personality.
What are latent vulnerability traits?
Some say, “Optimism is costly if it is unrealistic.” Give examples of unrealistic and realistic optimism.
Describe and give an example of a problem-focused strategy.
Describe and give an example of an emotion-focused strategy.
Denial involves several interconnected strategies. Describe them.
Explain ruminative strategies and give an example. Do you use these strategies and how often?
Have you experienced learned helplessness? How did it affect your life? What is your advice on how to overcome learned helplessness?
Applying the Adjustment Domain
Coping With Serious Illness
When the Australian scientist Denis Wright was diagnosed in 2009 with an aggressive brain cancer, his doctors said the illness was incurable. While his health was slowly deteriorating, he started a blog called My Unwelcome Stranger (the title referred to his illness) in which he shared his daily experiences. He gave his most sincere advice about how we can live fulfilling and happy lives even with a terminal illness (Wright, 2013). His blog shares a very optimistic, caring, and powerful story of coping.
The coping strategy Wright used is called sensitization. This is a strategy to learn about, rehearse, and anticipate fearful events in a protective coping effort to prevent negative emotions and despair. Recall from Chapter 9 that psychologist Rollo May believed people can be happy only if they confront the difficult circumstances of their lives, especially those that are manageable (May, 1967). Yet how can we manage the fear of an outcome as frightening as our own death? One strategy is to focus on acceptance—we cannot deny death. It is better to accept the existential inevitability of death rather than be afraid of it (Fernandez, Castano, & Singh, 2010). Recall from Chapter 9 that the humanistic tradition in personality psychology considers the issue of acceptance as important in an individual’s life.
Sensitization
Sensitization is a strategy to learn about, rehearse, and anticipate fearful events in a protective coping effort to prevent negative emotions and despair.
From their research, Shelly Taylor and her colleagues (1983) formulated and applied the cognitive adaptation theory, which was described earlier in this chapter. Their research evolved from a psychological study of breast cancer patients. Psychologists showed that human perception tends to be marked by three positive illusions, which are mild and positive distortions of reality: self-enhancement, unrealistic optimism, and an exaggerated perception of personal control (Taylor, 2000). They are called illusions because they may contradict, to some degree, the facts. Self-enhancement is a tendency to think better of yourself. Unrealistic optimism is a tendency to believe mostly in positive outcomes (even when the facts do not suggest the same). And finally, personal control is the belief that the individual can exercise control over many events in his or her life.
Cognitive adaptation theory
The cognitive adaptation theory is rooted in a set of ideas suggesting that adjustment depends on personal ability to sustain and modify positive illusions.
Studies show that positive illusions tend to promote healthy behaviors. People who develop (1) a positive sense of self-worth, (2) beliefs in their own control, and (3) optimism are more likely to practice conscientious health habits, including healthy dieting and exercising. Positive illusions appear to have protective psychological effects and become especially important in the context of predicaments and threatening events. Positive beliefs, such as those that form the core of positive illusions, might influence the course of various illnesses, including depression (Taylor, 1989).
Fighting Alcoholism
One of the most harmful coping strategies is substance abuse. Some people use substances as a distraction. They turn to alcohol to relax and “forget” about their problems or stressors. A short-term effect of substance use may actually seem positive since alcohol, as a depressant, may temporarily reduce an individual’s painful anxiety and physical tension. However, drinking (and other substance use) does not address the stressor itself, and it does not produce adaptive coping strategies. On the contrary, many individuals end up turning to substances again and again, which can lead to dependency and addiction. Psychologists have a professional responsibility to spread awareness about the harmful effects of drinking, especially as a coping strategy. This “strategy” quickly becomes a habit, the consumption of alcohol increases, and the dependency grows.
Many interventions related to alcoholism require face-to-face interaction between a professional therapist and a person who seeks help. Support groups gained popularity as well. During the past 2 decades, research has provided evidence about the effectiveness of online groups in providing help to find social support, distributing new facts about coping strategies with alcoholism, and encouraging members to share personal experiences and success stories with others (Das & Rae, 1999; Griffiths et al., 2012). Studies suggest that online support groups for people with alcohol-related problems could strengthen a person’s “circle of support” in almost the same way as face-to-face groups (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, 2016).
Relaxation Techniques
Close your eyes, and relax…
Millions of people over the years have heard this phrase in the beginning of their sessions of relaxation therapies. Relaxation training is a technique or method to cope with stress. This method has been used in developing effective skills of self-control—the skills that can be an asset in coping with serious life problems (Davis, Eshelman, & McKay, 2008). In the 1920s, German physician Johannes Shultz suggested the method of autogenic training (AT), which is a self-administered technique for physical and emotional relaxation. For many years, it has been used as a stress management procedure to build and improve self-control skills (Sadigh, 2012). The main technique is autosuggestion. In a relaxed sitting position, the person who learns AT concentrates on heaviness in the arms and legs, warmth in the body, respiratory and cardiac regularity, abdominal warmth and comfort, coolness of the forehead, and overall feelings of harmony and peace. Each of these experiences is learned and practiced with a professional and then alone at home for several weeks until the intended effects are achieved (Krampen, 1999). Once learned, autogenic exercises may provide relief for psychological and somatic symptoms associated with stressors. Individuals reduce their anxiety and improve their memories and cognitive skills as well as report greater levels of self-control (Stetter & Kupper, 2002).
Relaxation training
Relaxation training is a technique or method to cope with stress.
Autogenic training (AT)
Autogenic training, or AT, is a selfadministered technique for physical and emotional relaxation.
With a measure of imagination, we can find many similarities between AT and several techniques in Chinese and Japanese holistic treatments, which emphasize the balanced interaction of the body and the mind (Sutton, 1998). These techniques have been very popular among millions of people around the world. For example, according to academic research, the methods of tai chi, which originated in China, have been found to be beneficial for individual physical and emotional health (Lee & Ernst, 2011). More recently, contemporary health psychology has accumulated evidence that regular relaxation can be more beneficial if it is combined with proper diet and physical exercises (Lewis, 2001; McCarthy, 2013). A combination of physical and talk therapy is welcome if it helps the client overcome persistent anxiety or chronic pain (Clay, 2002). Physical therapy can reduce a client’s constant anxiety, thus easing a therapeutic dialogue with a psychologist.
To achieve deep relaxation or concentration, therapists can teach their clients various forms of meditation. In fact, during the 1960s, various relaxation methods rooted in Eastern philosophies and religious traditions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, gained significant popularity (Aanstoos, Serlin, & Greening, 2000). These methods remain very popular today, gaining popularity because they place self-awareness, forgiveness, and growth-seeking experiences at the center of therapeutic treatment. Interest in mindfulness (internal and external experiences occurring in the present moment) and the practice of meditation is growing (Kabat-Zinn, 2012). Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin, who founded the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, has developed a serious research base to support and further develop many traditional methods of therapy (Davidson & Begley, 2012).
Along the way, the implementation of key principles of the humanistic tradition (see Chapter 9) inadvertently invited psychologists and their clients to discover the incredible world of Indian and Asian philosophy and mythology.
Overcoming Acculturative Stress
Acculturative stress (sometimes called culture shock) is a distressful psychological reaction to an unfamiliar cultural environment. The symptoms include significant psychological changes in individuals who undergo major cultural transitions usually associated with immigration and might manifest as persistent anxiety, sadness, pessimistic thoughts, and low self-esteem.
Acculturative stress can be short-term and continuous (Tsytsarev & Krichmar, 2000). Significant language barriers, lack of knowledge about local norms, detachment from familiar environments, and the challenges of a new country can be very stressful (Shiraev & Levy, 2013). Individuals who cope with the negative consequences of their lives as immigrants often need the acquisition and development of the skills and habits required in the new cultural settings. Several steps are necessary to help individuals cope with acculturative stress:
Gaining knowledge. The person should be aware of the symptoms of acculturative stress.
Overcoming stigma. Many individuals do not want to accept that they have developed a psychological disorder. The phrase mental illness terrifies them. The less educated a person is, the stronger the stigma (or negative perception) of mental illness in this person’s mind (Wood & Wahl, 2006). It takes a significant effort to explain that suffering from the symptoms of acculturative stress should not be embarrassing, and it is not a sign of personal failure—it is a treatable problem that social workers or psychologists can help with.
Commitment. Several forms of cognitive and behavioral intervention can be used to reduce the harmful impact of acculturative stress. However, the key to the successful coping with this problem is the person’s commitment and perseverance where treatment is concerned.
Summary
Adjustment refers to relatively significant changes in an individual’s behavior and experiences in response to external and internal challenges. Adjustment is somewhat similar to coping, which is a deliberate and conscious effort to adjust to challenges, changing situations, and new conditions.
Many areas of life and activities produce stressors and thus require adjustment. Among them are aging, illness, changes in the family, professional changes, migration, and many others.
Psychology of adjustment studies problems and conditions that cause the individual’s need for adjustment, the psychological mechanisms of adjustment, and the ways to help individuals in their coping process.
Different types of adjustment exist. They can relate to the individual or to the stressor.
Coping and adjustment can be active or passive, with many variations in between the “active” and “passive” alternatives. One style is approaching, which is a type of coping that refers to deliberate attempts at changing self as well as the sources of stress. Another is avoiding; contrary to approaching, it is keeping self away from addressing a challenge or a stressor.
In terms of the dynamics, or speed of coping, some people tend to adjust quickly. As soon as the stressor appears or as soon as they realize that an adjustment is necessary, they think about what to do and then act. Others display a persistent pattern of behavior and thought called procrastination—putting off impending tasks to a later time.
Successful coping responses that allow the individual to maintain a happy and productive life score high on the measures of subjective well-being. Unsuccessful coping is associated with the inability to adjust to a stressor or continuous problem and includes emotional distress—the most severe version of which is adjustment disorder.
Another feature that tends to be helpful in successful coping is optimism—the general belief in positive or successful outcomes. Optimism involves an act of cognitive assessment of the present and future.
As in the case of “helpful” traits, there should be individual features that negatively affect coping.
Adaptive, successful coping strategies improve the individual’s functioning in everyday situations and reduce the impact of life-changing stressors. These strategies should have significant, long-term impact. On the other hand, maladaptive coping strategies often lead to increased anxiety, other emotional problems, and even substance abuse.
Scientific knowledge of adaptive strategies can be applied to a wide variety of problems that people face in their daily lives. These problems range from coping with illness to alcoholism to stress-reduction techniques.
