Adaptation is the adaptation or habituation of the body to a new environment.

Adaptation is the ability of a living organism to adapt to changing conditions of the external world. Through this process, human behavior is regulated. Anthropologists and psychologists believe that it was thanks to this mechanism that society was able to achieve a high level of development.

There are several types of adaptation: biological, ethnic, psychological, social

Biological and psychological adaptation

Biological adaptation is a phenomenon that unites humans and non-intelligent life. The term usually refers to the ability to adapt to changing external conditions. They take into account climate, internal changes in the body, light levels and environmental pressure indicators, humidity levels, and forced limitations in the implementation of certain functions. Internal changes to which one has to adapt are also various diseases.

Adaptation

Psychological adaptation is the process of adjusting an individual to social requirements, the needs of oneself, and an individual set of interests. Social adaptation involves the assimilation of norms and values ​​that are relevant to the community in which a person finds himself. This applies not only to a large community, but also to small social formations, for example a family.

Types of adaptation

The adaptation includes:

• Biological adaptation. This is the path of evolution. The human body changes in accordance with the environment where it lives. If the body cannot adapt, then it gets sick.
• Social adaptation. It is the habituation of a person to social routines in order to be able to achieve personal goals. Adaptation can be expressed in various forms - from complete adaptation to reluctance to work or communicate with someone. In this case, a person usually adapts passively. However, the active (conscious, intentional) form of adaptation is considered more acceptable and effective.
• Ethnic adaptation. Adaptation of a person to the society in which he lives.
• Psychological adaptation. This is a person’s adaptation in character, behavior, worldview, values, which will cause harmonious and calm feelings in the world around him.

Unacceptable forms of adaptation are:

1. Deviant behavior is antisocial, directed against society, against its rules and laws.
2. Pathological behavior is neurotic and mental disorders.

Social adaptation

Social adaptation is a phenomenon that can be observed by tracking the evolution of interactions between a person and the individuals around him. To assess the ability to adapt, it is necessary to observe the active activity of the individual. The social aspect of the phenomenon under consideration presupposes the ability to study, work, create relationships with other people and adjust behavior, taking into account the expectations and requirements of other participants in society.

Any organism during its existence adapts to external conditions. This process is continuous and occurs from the moment of the beginning of existence until biological death. One aspect of the onboarding program is training. Within it there are three subtypes: reactive, operant, cognitive.

Reactive, operant, cognitive

Features of reactive type adaptation are explained by the body’s ability to respond to external factors. During the interaction, gradual habituation occurs.

Operant adaptation is much more complex than the reactive method described above. It is realizable when an individual has the opportunity to interact and experiment, during which a response from the surrounding space is observed. This makes it possible to identify cause-and-effect relationships. The widespread trial and error method is a classic example of this type of adaptation. This also includes observations and the formation of responses.

Human adaptation through cognitive learning involves identifying a cause-and-effect relationship between situations with a subsequent assessment of what is happening. To do this, you need to be able to analyze previously gained experience, as well as learn to anticipate the possible consequences of actions. Cognitive learning includes latency, insight, reasoning and the formation of psychomotor skills.

Main types

Archetype - what is it in psychology and philosophy

The term "adaptation" refers to different processes that can affect both the physiological and psychological levels. This division allows us to better understand the characteristics of each type of adaptability; this is important for understanding the development of society.

Biological

Its clearest manifestation is evolution. It means that species that were unable to adapt to their environment became extinct. Animals with different traits appear in a population. In the course of natural selection, the strongest survive and begin to reproduce.

Despite their size, dinosaurs were unable to adapt to environmental changes, so they all went extinct

In order to understand that it is not necessary to know the definition of adaptation, it is important to understand the features of the process. During adaptation, species developed survival mechanisms, such as protective coloration.

Social

It is more difficult to find out what a person’s adaptation is, since he exhibits not only biological characteristics. In life he has to adapt to the demands of society. He gets used to going to school, working, following certain rituals.

Important ! When expelled from a social group, the individual experiences negative emotions.

During the interaction, a person understands how he treats the organization’s personnel or what to do in different situations. The higher his adaptability, the easier it is for him to achieve success in all areas. It is difficult to understand what exactly adaptation means. For each individual this process takes place individually.

Ethnic

The adaptation of national groups also proceeds differently. The main difficulty is that the process is hampered by racial conflicts.

In everyday life, an individual ethnic group may be given offensive nicknames, be oppressed socially, and not allowed to work or study. Despite the modern development of the world, this problem has not yet been fully resolved.

The ethical issue is the line of acceptable influence. If an ethnic group moves to live in the territory of another country, is it obliged to abandon its traditions and completely adopt those of others? In such a situation, it is impossible to unambiguously determine whether adaptation will be a benefit; what it is is considered separately in each specific case.

Psychological

This is an important variety that determines the social life of an individual. It includes adjustment to certain requirements of society. For example, in Russia it is customary to respectfully call a person “You”; anyone who does not follow this rule is considered a violator.

Adaptation is a definition from social psychology. The term refers to the ability of an individual to understand the requirements of other people and change according to them.

The ability to switch to social roles also relates to adaptability

An organization may have its own rules of conduct. If a beginner can adopt them quickly, then he has a high level of adaptation. In modern pedagogy, this term is also of great importance - for students, getting used to the educational process takes place under stress.

Features of human adaptability, from the point of view of social sciences, are considered within the framework of social science. This information is of great importance for understanding the features of social development.

Knowledge about adaptability will be useful in the professional field. It can be difficult for a newcomer to join the team, but some get used to it quickly, others slowly. It is important for a manager to understand how to properly manage a team in order to reduce stress levels.

Training: what is it like?

A classic example of adaptation is learning through trial and error. It is common in both human society and animals. The object, when encountering an obstacle for the first time, tries to cope with it. Ineffective actions are discarded, and sooner or later the optimal solution is identified.

Forming a reaction is to some extent training. This adaptation involves a reward for an adequate response. The reward can be physical or emotional. Some psychologists are firmly convinced that children's adaptation is most effective in this way. As soon as the baby learns to pronounce sounds, those around him are delighted with his babble. This is especially pronounced in the mother, who thinks that the child is calling her.

Observation is another way of learning. Social human activity is largely organized in this way - the individual observes how those around them behave. By imitating them, a person learns. The peculiarity is that understanding the meaning of actions and their sequences is not assumed.

Vicarious and latent adaptation

Vicarious adaptation presupposes the assimilation of a certain model of behavior, an understanding of its relevance and the consequences of the actions taken. Typically, such adaptation is observed after becoming familiar with the behavior patterns of famous and famous, successful individuals. Some imitate movie characters or their friends.

Latent adaptation is based on receiving signals from the surrounding space. Some of them are conscious, others are not clearly perceived, and others are not perceived by consciousness at all. The brain forms a cognitive map of the world in which the individual is forced to survive, and determines what response to the situation in the new environment will be optimal. This development of adaptation was confirmed by conducting excrement experiments with rats that were able to detect their way to food through a maze. In particular, scientists first taught the road, then filled the labyrinth with water. The animal still got to food, although it was forced to use other motor reactions to do this.

Insight and reasoning

One of the learning methods within adaptation is insight. The term usually refers to a situation where an individual receives data at different points in time, which is then formed into a single picture. The resulting card is used when it is necessary to survive under conditions of adaptation, that is, in a situation completely new to the individual. Insight is, to some extent, a creative process. The solution, as a rule, appears unpredictably, spontaneously, and is original.

Reasoning is another relevant method of adaptation. They resort to it when there is no ready-made solution; trials with the possibility of making mistakes seem to be an ineffective option. The result that the reasoning individual receives is used in the future to get out of various situations.

We work in a team: features

For any company manager, an extremely important aspect of internal policy is personnel adaptation. With an irresponsible attitude towards this issue, staff turnover becomes high, and the active development of the company is almost impossible. The manager may not always deal with new employees - this approach is applicable only in small-scale businesses. Instead, it is necessary to develop standard optimal procedures to help a new person integrate into the work process of the enterprise.

Adaptation represents an individual’s acquaintance with the internal organization and corporate culture. The new employee must adapt to the voiced requirements and integrate into the team.

Personnel adaptation is the adaptation of new people to the conditions of the work process and the content of work, to the social environment in the workplace. To make the process easier, you need to think about how to make the process of getting to know your colleagues and responsibilities easier. Adaptation involves conveying the stereotypes of behavior accepted in the team. The responsibility of the new employee is to assimilate, adapt to the environment and begin to identify common goals and personal interests.

Adaptation in childhood

One of the most important stages in the life of any person. Each of us went through psychological adaptation to school.

Entering this educational institution is an exciting and difficult period, both for a first-grader and for his parents. Everything changes: from the social situation to the child’s social circle. The demands placed on him are increasing, and his range of responsibilities is expanding significantly. And how successful the psychological adaptation to learning will be will determine his academic performance, well-being and even health.

Psychologists call the age of 6-7 years a crisis. It is at this stage that the need for initiative, activity and independence is formed. The child loses his spontaneity, his self-esteem begins to form, he tries himself in the role of a schoolchild, a student. Play activities fade into the background, and studies come to the fore. Naturally, the child begins to strive for independence. In addition, it is during this period that verbal and logical thinking, attention and memory actively develop.

In addition to all this, he also has to adapt to unusual conditions. Getting to know your classmates, building relationships with the teacher, having to sit still patiently for long periods of time and being disciplined. This is very difficult for a child, since all of the above requires organization and responsibility.

It is not surprising that difficulties result in such consequences as poor appetite, increased fatigue, headaches, moodiness, depression, frequent mood swings, and even anger and a negative attitude towards school.

To prevent this from happening, parents and teachers must help the child. Respect, love, support, as well as a competent explanation of what is happening in simple words - this is very important. As a rule, within two to three months children integrate into school life.

Theory…

The conditions of adaptation, the rules of this process and the features regulating its course have more than once become the object of study by prominent minds of our world. Abroad, Eysenck's definition is currently most widely used, as well as expanded versions formed by his followers. This approach involves treating adaptation as a state of satisfying the needs of an object and the environment, as well as the process during which such harmony is achieved. Thus, adaptation presupposes a harmonious balance between nature and man, the individual and the environment.

There is an opinion that psychological adaptation in the workplace involves changing the process of familiarizing a new employee with his obligations and with the company as a whole. The process must be subject to environmental requirements.

Personnel adaptation, if we follow from the conclusions in Egorshin’s works, is the adaptation of the team to environmental conditions outside and inside the enterprise. Employee adaptation, accordingly, is the result of the process of adapting a person to colleagues and the workplace.

Professional adaptation

This is another concept worth considering. In this case, other psychological features of adaptation are highlighted. This is due to internal and external circumstances. Indeed, in this case, the process of a person’s entry into a professional environment and interaction with it is considered.

What exactly do the factors of psychological adaptation include:

1. Features of the goals and content of the organization, the means and technologies it uses.
2. The uniqueness of the social and labor conditions in which people work.

Internal circumstances are the level of adaptive potential. The external ones, which include professional spheres and subject areas, are a kind of “field” on which a person has to realize himself. What exactly are the tasks facing him:

1. Get used to the “rhythm” of the organization: the regime, intensity of activity, goals, means, technologies.
2. Adapt to the requirements of labor and production discipline, learn organizational rules and regulations.
3. Master professional-role social functions.
4. Begin to live up to your socio-professional status (teacher, doctor, lawyer, etc.).
5. Accept socio-psychological role functions, unwritten norms, values, rules, relationships in the organization and work team.
6. To integrate into the social circumstances in which professional activity takes place (political, legal, ethnic, religious sphere).

All of the above requires a certain level of preparedness. As a rule, the implementation of these tasks does not represent much difficulty for a person, since he is already familiar with socio-psychological adaptation. The technique, of course, is somewhat different, since the situation is different, but at least he knows what awaits him.

...And practice

It so happens that in our country adaptation is often equated to a probationary period, but in fact these concepts are different. Adaptation for an employee lasts 1-6 months. The probationary period is a quarter of a year. An adaptation period is necessary for any person, but a test for employment is not always necessary.

During the test, special attention is paid to the professionalism of the employee and his ability to fulfill obligations. Adaptation consists of two components: professionalization and inclusion in the microsociety.

Although adaptation and probation are not identical concepts, they cannot be called incompatible either. If, during employment, the contract stipulates the need for a probationary period, testing and adaptation overlap each other.

Coming to a new workplace, a person tries to enter into internal relationships characteristic of the company. At the same time, he has to take different positions, which have characteristic rules of behavior. A new employee is a colleague, a subordinate, for some, perhaps a leader, as well as a participant in a public formation. It is necessary to be able to behave as required by a specific position. At the same time, the new employee must follow his own goals and take into account the admissibility of this or that behavior from the point of view of personal priorities. We can talk about the relationship between adaptation, working conditions, and motivation.

What is adaptation?

What does the concept of adaptation mean? This is a person's adaptation to the environment. This is done at one of or at all levels at once:

• Physiological.
• Behavioral.
• Genetic.
• Personal.

This looks like a person changing his behavior in accordance with surrounding circumstances. The individual strives to maintain harmony in the conditions of the environment to which he adapts, plus the people who are in it and also adapt to it.

1. Adaptation is the ability of an organism to maintain constant characteristics in changing environmental conditions.
2. Adaptation is the process of getting used to changing circumstances in the environment.

Man as a social being undergoes adaptation at three levels: physiological, psychological and social. Sometimes they influence each other, and sometimes they are not reflected.

Many people talk about adaptability to life. Successful people are proud of this quality. In the literature, you can increasingly read about various kinds of people adapted to life. But what is meant by this phrase?

To answer this question, we should turn to a life example that clearly demonstrates the phenomenon of adaptability to life. Many people may notice that students who studied excellently in schools and universities occupy lower levels of professions than those who were famous for being “low students” during their school years. Cases when once beautiful women suddenly turned into “gray mice”, and successful men into poor people are no exception. Why is this happening? Why do some continue to maintain their status or develop, while others, on the contrary, degrade and fall from their pedestal as kings?

Everything is quite simple. The life of any person is divided into periods: infancy, childhood, school years, adolescence, student life, growing up, etc. Periods can also consist of life events: marriage, birth of a child, new acquaintances, change of place of work, separation from a loved one or starting a new love relationship. By periods we can understand everything that affects the way of life to a greater or lesser extent. Some periods are easily perceived by the individual, while others are difficult. For example, the death of a loved one is more difficult to bear than meeting a new partner whom you will see only once in your life.

So, every period that changes a person’s habitual way of life affects him. It is at this very moment, when a person’s life changes in the slightest way, that changes occur in his personality: he can remain the same, begin to develop, or, conversely, degrade. Simply put, the past lifestyle (period) helped a person to be successful and beautiful, and the new period does not correspond to the person’s usual actions. Everything that worked before has ceased to work, and if a person is unable to change his habits in accordance with changed circumstances, then he turns into a failure.

Many can attribute this to the following factor: previously a person had a goal for which he did something and developed, but when the goal was achieved, a new goal did not appear. Therefore, the person has lost his former ardor, activity or success. Added to all this is the loss of activity of a person who previously was constantly doing something and was passionate about something, but now, due to new circumstances, has become passive, not interested in anything.

This is why some “A” students work for “B” students when they become adults; This is why former businessmen cannot always start a new business; that’s why some former beauties become boring and “gray”, etc. Their lives have changed (they are no longer in school; there is no more business; the woman has reached marriage) and has moved to a new stage of its formation. But the people themselves were not ready for such changes: they did not set new goals for themselves that would lead them to new growth, and they also stopped being active.

What may have come to the fore is depression from the loss of former glory, the opinions of people around him rather than one’s own, the desire to achieve something, fight one’s own laziness and live in accordance with one’s desires. Periods of life constantly replace each other, but a person is ready for only some periods (and then he becomes a King), and not for others (then he becomes an unhappy and unlucky person).

In order not to “fall from the peak” that you have climbed in the future, you should understand that life will not always be stable and constant. You need to be flexible and adaptable to change. The normal course of life will change, but you can set new goals for yourself that will contain everything that is important to you and what you still want to achieve, and also be active in their implementation. Remember, only you can raise yourself up or bring yourself down. Do not succumb to factors that may deprive you of the necessary qualities and abilities. Adapt to life: take care of what you have, set new goals and actively achieve them.

Adaptation often becomes necessary during the period of achieving a goal. This is where barriers and difficulties arise. These are the very external circumstances to which you need to adapt. In what ways?

• Gain new knowledge.
• Set a clear goal.
• Adequately assess the situation.
• Make your actions such that the barrier is removed.

Adaptation mechanisms are:

1. Social intelligence is the perception of relationships and connections between objects.
2. Social imagination - creating experience by being aware of oneself, one's own capabilities and resources, placing oneself in current circumstances and predetermining the future.

Defense mechanisms during adaptation are:

1. Denial is ignoring the traumatic and unpleasant.
2. Regression is a manifestation of infantile behavior.
3. Repression is the erasing of unpleasant memories from memory.
4. Formation of a reaction is a change in emotional states and irrational impulses to the opposite.
5. Suppression is the same as repression, only conscious.
6. Projection is the endowment of others with qualities that a person himself possesses, but is not aware of them.
7. Rationalization is an attempt to interpret an event in such a way as to alleviate the traumatic element.
8. Identification is the attribution to oneself of the qualities of another real or fictitious person.
9. Humor – reducing emotional tension through funny stories.
10. Sublimation is the transformation of instincts into socially acceptable forms of behavior.

Emotions are a regulator of how well a person adapts. Successful adaptation is a feeling of physical and mental balance in the external environment. In this case, a person experiences balanced and calm emotions.

Nuances of the question

Adaptation is more successful the more the values ​​and norms that are relevant for the individual and the team correspond to each other. This allows the individual to quickly accept and better understand and assimilate the features of a new environment for him.

As scientists say, in order to start working to the best of your abilities and capabilities, you need to spend at least 8 weeks getting used to new conditions. For mid-level workers, 20 weeks are required, and for management, 26 weeks or more. When choosing the length of the adaptation period within an enterprise, you should be aware that a quarter of a year is a fairly long period of time. If during this period there is no return from the person hired, it is unlikely that he is suitable for the enterprise.

At the same time, we must remember that a quarter of the year is a period that for many is not enough to successfully socialize. This lies in the difficulty of assimilating the values ​​and rules of behavior adopted at the enterprise. Consequently, it is difficult for a person to become a full-fledged member of the team. The main task of the leader is to distinguish between adaptation and testing and to realize that the process of adaptation cannot occur instantly. It consists of successive stages and stretches over a long time.

By the way, the relevance of adaptation in the workplace is well proven by statistical data. As researchers have found, up to 80% of workers who quit in the first half of the year after employment make this decision within the first 14 days from taking office.

Children: special age, special attitude

Childhood adaptation is a particularly sensitive issue. As a rule, problems first arise when the child needs to be sent to a nursery or kindergarten. Over time, the time comes to get the child ready for school, and parents and children again face adaptation problems. The first days are the hardest. To facilitate this stage, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the baby’s age. Psychologists who specialize in the problems of children’s adaptation to educational institutions come to the aid of parents.

A special feature of adaptation in kindergarten is the abundance of negative emotions at first. Babies tend to be capricious and cry, whine. For some, the negative state is expressed in fear - the child is afraid of the unknown, new people, especially adults. Stress can trigger anger. It is possible to show aggression towards anyone and anything. During the adaptation period, some children exhibit depression, lethargy, and lethargy.

To somewhat smooth out the transition, positive emotions should be provided, and they should be associated for the child with the new place. An abundant option is a selection of incentives, games, and rewards that the baby receives for adequate behavior. Over time, negative emotions will completely give way to positive ones. Parents should be prepared for the fact that the child will have trouble sleeping for the first time after starting to attend a child care facility, even if such difficulties have not previously been observed. Restless sleep, waking up in tears or screaming is a problem that ends on its own by the time the adaptation stage is completed.

Features of the adaptation period

Social adaptation of children when they begin attending an educational institution usually involves a deterioration in appetite. Psychologists explain this by the atypical, unusual taste of food, and a new diet. Stress leads to disruption of the receptors responsible for the perception of taste. If your appetite returns to normal, you can confidently talk about successful adaptation to a new place.

Sometimes parents note that in childhood adaptation is accompanied by a temporary deterioration in vocabulary. Psychologists explain this by a person’s tendency to use the simplest possible verbal structures in a complex stressful situation, when it is necessary to get used to a new environment. To some extent this is a defense mechanism. There is no need to panic: if adaptation proceeds normally, over time the vocabulary will increase again, and the functionality of speech will be completely restored.

Another manifestation of adaptation is a weakening of activity, the desire to learn, and a decrease in curiosity. The inhibited state is replaced by normal activity towards the end of the habituation period. In addition, the first month of visiting a new facility is usually accompanied by a deterioration in the immune system. Many people are susceptible to colds. The causes of the disease are psychological, much less often physiological. Under the influence of stress, the body's defenses weaken and the ability to resist aggressive factors decreases. As soon as emotional stability is achieved, the tendency to get sick goes away.

Diagnostics

An individual can be diagnosed with adjustment disorder based on the presence of symptoms:

1. Asthenic - fatigue, increased irritability, sleep disturbance.
2. Anxious - increased excitability, causeless anxiety, drowsiness, nausea, dizziness, loss of a sense of security.
3. Depressive - predominance of decadent mood, decreased concentration, apathy.
4. Behavioral reactions - indifference to the team, withdrawal into negative habits, a sharp change in the usual way of life.
5. Inappropriate emotional reactions - increased level of aggression, sudden outbursts of anger, followed by apathy.
6. Cognitive reactions - decreased speed of information processing, intellectual productivity.
7. Vegetative syndrome - muscle spasms, a sharp decrease in blood pressure, sweating, rapid heartbeat.

In cases of severe adjustment disorder, a person experiences suicidal mood. This does not necessarily lead to a suicide attempt, but is often accompanied by self-harm: the person cuts himself.

Benefits and harms

You should not send your child to an educational institution too early. Even if the child can cope with the adaptation normally, being separated from the mother too quickly does not bring anything good. Scientists have found that attending kindergarten at the age of two is guaranteed to cause severe stress, affecting the baby’s physiology and psyche. This practice can lead to neurotic reactions, because the age is still too young for separation from the mother to be painless. Consequently, the baby develops slowly, and the quality of the skills acquired also becomes lower.

The child cannot adequately contact and trust his parents, since the connection was broken too early, without strengthening. Over the years, the problems only get worse, and kids face problems interacting with peers. By the age of four, children form groups to play, and until this point it is preferable to play alone. If a child finds himself in a group setting too early, he cannot develop adequately. This often has a negative effect on speech functions.

Metaneeds and metapathologies

These concepts are directly related to the topic of problems of psychological adaptation. Metaneeds are the highest human needs. These include:

1. Freedom.
2. Integrity.
3. Beauty.
4. Justice.
5. Self-respect.
6. Gratitude.
7. Self-realization.
8. Creative self-actualization.
9. Honor.
10. Self-transcendence.

If a person does not receive any of the above (what is very important and valuable for him), then metapathologies are formed:

1. Anger and hatred.
2. Inability to love and show feelings.
3. Apathy.
4. Loss of interest in life.
5. Egocentrism.
6. Depression.
7. Despair.
8. The habit of shifting responsibility to others.
9. Impatience.
10. Vulgarity.

Naturally, metapathologies interfere with the process of psychological adaptation. Because they cause distortion of value development. Many people are deprived of justice, honesty, kindness, and therefore compassion, nobility, respect for other people, their views, values ​​and feelings are alien to them.

A perfect person is not born. But you need to strive for self-improvement. The more harmonious and holistic a person becomes, the easier psychological adaptation is for him. And this makes life in society much easier.