Psychology of Adjustment
The Search for Meaningful Balance

First Edition

John Moritsugu - Pacific Lutheran University, United States
Elizabeth M. Vera - Loyola University Chicago, USA
Jane Harmon Jacobs - Antioch University, Seattle
Melissa Kennedy - Kennedy Psychological Services PLLC

Other Titles in:
Applied Psychology (General)

November 2016 | 432 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

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

Preface

About the Author

PART 1- Perspectives and Processes

Chapter 1- Adjustment: A Life Process

Adjustment

Defining Adjustment

Determining Adjustment in Individuals

Goodness of Fit

Lack of Problems

Positive Life Experiences

Mind–Body Health

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Sleep Matters

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Biofeedback

Types of Change

Change Throughout Human Development

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

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Positive Psychology

Societal Change

Perceptions of Change

Change Can Be Stressful

Positive and Negative Change Events

Planned and Unplanned Change

Comprehensibility of Change

Traditions Contributing to Adjustment

Interdisciplinary Approaches

Psychoeducation

Organization of This Book

Conclusion

Chapter 2- Purpose in Life

Existential Psychology

Change, Impermanence, and Awareness of Death

Experimental Existential Psychology

The Importance of Purpose and Meaning

Coherence

Purpose in Life

Existential Hardiness

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Academic Hardiness and Grit

Spirituality and Religion

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Orientation (Individual and Social)

ASPIRES (Assessment of Spiritual and Religious Sentiments)

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Five-Factor Theory of Personality

Effects of Religion and Spirituality on Health

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Neurological Effects of Religious Belief

Religion, Spirituality, and Meaning

Note on Our Perspective

Autonomy, Choice, and Free Will

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Creating Choice Conditions

Conclusion

Chapter 3- Community Contexts

Mentoring

Social Support

Types of Social Support

Social Networks

Indegree Centrality and Brokerage

Basic Rules of Networking

Social Capital

The Importance of Situation or Context

Person by Situation Interactions

Ecological Psychology and Behavioral Settings

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Context and Identity

Discriminative Setting Stimuli

Two Powerful Social Effects

Conformity

Obedience to Authority

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: In-Group, Out-Group

Culture

Collectivist Versus Individualistic Cultures

Cultural Complexes

Developmental Psychopathology

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Gene X Environment Interaction

Resilience

The Maturation and Socialization Process

Conclusion

Chapter 4- Experience and Learning

Pavlovian Conditioning

The Basics of Pavlovian Conditioning

Preparedness in Behavior Acquisition

Operant Conditioning

Discriminative Stimulus

Response, Behavior, or Operant

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Hebb’s Rule

Consequences: Feedback, Reinforcement, Punishment, or Nothing

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Avoidance Learning

Consequences That Are Predictable But Not Always There

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Premack Principle

Shaping

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Self-Control

Cognitive Behaviorism

Social Learning

Modeling

Perceived Self-Efficacy

Collective Efficacy

Learning Probabilities (Statistical Learning

Implicit and Explicit Learning

Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget

Lev Vygotsky

Active Learning

Conclusion

Chapter 5- Mindfulness: A Path to Awareness

Mindfulness and Meditation

Defining Mindfulness

Defining Meditation

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Meditation Exercise

History of Psychology and Mindfulness Research and Practice

Origins of Mindfulness Practice

Research on Meditation and Mindfulness

Bridging Science and the Meditation Experience

Mindfulness in Practice

Mindfulness and Nonjudgmental Awareness

Mindfulness Promoting Self-Regulation

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: A Week of Mindfulness

Mindfulness Promoting Compassion

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Create a Loving-Kindness Meditation

On the Mindful Path: Moving Toward Action

The Beginning of Action and Change

The Foundation for Action

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: What Do I Value?

The Path to Change

Moving Toward Commitment and Change

Conclusion

Chapter 6- Stress, Health, and Well-Being

Stress

Stressors

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Measuring Stress

Stress Processes

Stress Reactions

Coping

Emotion-Focused and Problem Solving–Focused Coping

Active Coping and Avoidant Coping

Coping With Controllable Versus Uncontrollable Stressors

Coping With Culturally Related Stressors

Microaggressions

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Examples of Microaggressions

Culturally Relevant Coping

Healthy Stress Management

Social Support

Physical Touch

Meditation

Exercise

Self-Help

Good Stress Versus Bad Stress

Bad Stress

Good Stress

Growth Through Adversity

Reframing

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Stress and Technology

Health and Well-Being

Diet and Nutrition

Physical Activity and Exercise

Avoiding Substance Use

Conclusion

PART 2- Applications

Chapter 7- Social Relationships

Friendship and Well-Being

First Friendships

Childhood Friendships

Friendship and Diversity

Friendships During Adolescence

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Similarity and Friendships

Friendships and Social Media

Adult Friendships

Friendship Maintenance

Building Blocks of Relationships

Empathy and Compassion

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Teaching Compassion

Altruism and Prosocial Behavior

Loneliness

Conclusion

Chapter 8- Romance and Intimacy

The Seeds of Romance

Casual Sexual Arrangements

Committed Partnerships

Healthy Intimate Relationships

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Myths About Good Relationships

Sexuality in Intimate Relationships

Gay and Lesbian Relationships

Intimacy Problems

Infidelity

Online Cheating Versus Off-Line Cheating

To Cheat or Not to Cheat

Relationship Violence

Ending Relationships

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Predictors of Divorce

Relationship Maintenance

Conclusion

Chapter 9- School

School’s Importance in the Life of a Child

Fundamentals of School Success in Preschool and Kindergarten

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Head Start

Individual and Environmental Factors Related to Academic Success

Self-Beliefs

Motivation

School Belonging

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Bullying

Teacher Beliefs

Teachers’ Encouragement and Praise

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Intelligence Testing

School Climate

School Size

School Resources

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: School Dropout

The College Experience

First-Generation College Students

Understanding College Success Factors

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: TRIO Programs

Helping College Students Succeed

Mentoring

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: How to Find and Gain a Mentor

Conclusion

Chapter 10- Work and Vocation

The Psychological Importance of Work

Work Across the Life Span

Adolescence

College

Career Indecision

First Job

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Involuntary Job Loss

Midcareer

Retirement

Demographic Factors in Vocational Development

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: STEM Careers

Theories of Vocational Decision Making

Theory of Occupational Circumscription and Compromise

Social Cognitive Career Theory

Theory of Person–Environment Fit

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Holland’s Theory

Rewards and Risks of Work

Flow

Job Stress

Dealing With Work Stress

Conclusion

Chapter 11- Money

The History of Money

Learning About Money

Developmental Aspects of Money

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Social Class

Behavioral Economics

Comparisons

Two Decision-Making Processes

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Money’s Effect on Us

Money Skills

Buying

Seeing Free Is Tempting

Slowing Down and Thinking

Shopping When Tired

Anticipating Pleasure

Determining the Worth of Things Bought and Things Lost

Delaying the Pain

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Credit Cards and Loans

Saving

Parental Influence on Saving

Identification With the Future Self

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Present–Future Similarity Test

The Powerful Self

Regular and Automatic Savings

Money and Happiness

Conclusion

Chapter 12- Aging

Life Expectancies

Age-Related Changes

Physical Changes

Early Adulthood

Middle Adulthood

Older Adulthood

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: How Old Is Old?

Cognitive Changes

Early Adulthood

Middle Adulthood

Older Adulthood

Socioemotional Changes of Aging

Identity Changes

Generativity and Meaning

Sense of Control

Social Support

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Decreasing Loneliness

The Third Age

Retirement

Role Redefinition

Finances

Successful Aging

Adjusting to Losses

Grieving

Aging in Place

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Retirement Communities and Nursing Homes

Conclusion

Chapter 13- Dysfunction and Maladjustment

Section One: Mental Illness

Supernatural, Somatogenic, and Psychogenic Explanations

Mental Illness Today

Anxiety Disorders

Origins of Anxiety Disorders

Mood Disorders

Origins of Mood Disorders

Psychotic Disorders

Origins of Psychosis

Eating Disorders

Origins of Eating Disorders

Substance Abuse Disorders and Addictions

Origins of Addictions

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Suicide—The Most Drastic Choice

Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Attention Deficit Disorders

Origins of Attention Deficit Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Origins of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Section Two: Treatment of Mental Illness

Early Treatment: Asylums

Psychotherapy: A Psychogenic Approach

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: The Experience of Seeking Professional Help

Psychosurgeries and Psychotropic Medications: Somatogenic Approaches

Psychotropic Surgeries

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Brain Stimulation Therapies

Psychotropic Medications

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: Making a Choice to Try Medication

The Future of Mental Health

Conclusion

Chapter 14- The Search for Balance and the Future

Personal Challenges of the Future

The Dynamics of Person and Place

Agency and Communion

Personal Perspectives

Societal Challenges of the Future

Diversity

Demographics of Age and Ethnicity

Gender and Sexual Orientation

Effects of Diversity

Reducing Reactivity and Increasing Appreciation

Travel

RESEARCHING ADJUSTMENT: Multicultural Experience

Classes

Being Happy

Common Goals

Desire to Change

Contact

Loving Kindness Meditation

Declassification, Reclassification, Individuation

Changing Technologies

A Brief History of Technology

Technology Around the Globe

Interpersonal Relationships

Negative and Positive Effects of Today’s Technologies

Narcissism

Increasing Isolation

Negative Self-Perceptions

Internet Addiction

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

Positive Aspects of the Internet

Conclusion

ADJUSTMENT IN PRACTICE: The Power of the Narrative

Glossary

References

Index

Supplements

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