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accomplished either badly or well. This is a practical way of looking at the matter because it permits us to turn to such questions as how unsatisfactory
adjustment can be prevented and how it can be improved.
2.1.3 Aspects of adjustment.
We think of self-adjustment as meaning harmony among the various parts of the self and that is considered as harmony among our thoughts, our feelings,
and our actions.
As described by Watson Tharp 1972, the person who is racked by internal contradiction, who is indecisive, confused, self-contradictory, is not
considered happy or balanced. In common language, such a person may be called mentally ill, disturbed, or badly adjusted. Significantly, a synonym for
mental illness is unbalanced. Another aspect of adjustment is the self to the environment. An individual may be out-of-phase with the world around him.
He may be called out-of-touch, flipped, spaced, gone, way out, these terms colorfully express our awareness that the maladjusted individual is out-of-tune
with his environment.
According to Watson Tharp 1972, the idea of adjustment has been used to mean conformity. Many people believe that the well adjusted individual
must not be in conflict with his environment. Particularly, he must not be
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opposed to his social environment he must be like others around him. In the case of international students, it is not all students that find the harmony they
need to feel happy and contented. They are in conflict with their thoughts and actions because of the mere fact that they have to prove to all that they are
the strong student and nothing is wrong with them. So in this case students fight with themselves in the sense that they fighting a loosing battle and they
think that they will not be able to overcome the difficult phases they go through during their stay. Maybe this point brings about conflict within the
students which allows students to go through rough patch of loneliness.
2.1.4 Process of adjustment
The emphasis on adjustment was on changing ourselves to fit into our surroundings. It implied a great deal of social conformity. The well-adjusted
person is always more of an ideal than a reality. He was highly stable and more inhibited with his or her desires and feelings than people are now.
Today we sometimes feel it necessary to change our surroundings as a way of satisfying our needs. Atwater, 1983
According to Lazarus 1976, adjustment consists of two kinds of processes:
Adjustment as a process: We ask, “How does an individual, or how do people in general, adjust under different circumstances, and what influences this
adjustment?”
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1. Fitting oneself into given circumstances and, 2.
Changing the circumstances to fit one’s needs.
Psychologist are unwilling to consider psychological health as merely getting along or fitting into the external environment whatever its characteristics, and
who regard the effective person as one who changes things as well as himself or herself. “Adjustment” remains a highly serviceable word in
psychology, although its roots lie in biology. In psychology it concerns the many ways in which an individual manages his or her affairs.
Everything in life we do, there are processes and procedures towards it. In order for us to adjust in a good manner we must grow in our experiences in
life. Actually, adjustment and growth refer to a complementary life process. Both involve satisfying our needs as well as the demands of our
surroundings. But the emphasis is different in each. In adjustment, it is the relationship with our surroundings that is foremost.
In growth, the emphasis falls on the individual. Similarly there is stability and change in both processes. But the stability is more valued in adjustment,
while change is the key to growth. Each process also brings its own kind of satisfaction. The movement toward self-fulfillment has served as a corrective
to the excessive elements of self-denial implicit in the traditional notion of
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adjustment, thereby modifying the giving or getting compact, between us and the environment.
A child is born into this world and acquires a personality in a specific social environment. In this environment he learns a language, acquires approved
forms of conduct, and attains some degree of adjustment to others. In this process of learning his behavior is continually reinforced. From this example
we can see that the process for international students in their new environment is almost the same procedure.
First of all, language is the basic medium of interaction, without which human social life as we understand it, could not have originated and without which
social participation could not be carried on. In the second place, it is the sole carrier of culture from one generation to another. In the third place, language
makes possible a common set of meanings, common definitions by which students regulate their lives.
Apart from language, there can be no significant social and cultural life. According to Bonner 1953, language as a system of sounds and symbols for
communicating his affective and cognitive experiences is wholly acquired. Language is a social product, a thing of invention and culture. Language is
fundamentally social. Since most individual needs can be satisfied only in
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group living, language has been an important instrument for making these needs known and for having them gratified through concerted action.
Language arises and is preserved because of its effectiveness in binding individuals together into a social group. As means of communication and of
social control, language has played a role second to other human function.
Successful adjustment involves individual initiative, willingness to communicate and concern for the mutual satisfaction of needs. Personal
fulfillment has greatly enriched our understanding of adjustment. The movement toward self-fulfillment has served as a corrective to the excessive
element of self-denial implicit the traditional notion of adjustment, thereby modifying the giving or getting compact between ourselves and the
environment.
From the above mentioned statement, the researcher concludes that the process of adjustment focuses more towards the individual and his
surroundings. How important it is to know oneself in order to survive daily. Each individual have needs and desires. In order to be able to meet the
standards of those needs, we need to fully understand ourselves as interactive beings. If the individual knows himself or herself, adjustment would
be seen as an achievement that is accomplished either badly or well Lazarus 1976.
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2.1.5 Principles of adjustment.
