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2.1.5 Principles of adjustment.
According to Lehner Kube 1960, in order to understand why we act the way we do it is important to remember that our behavior, even such a simple
act as smiling at another individual when passing him on in the street, may be influenced by many factors. Lehner Kube 1960 concentrate on three
principles that will follow in exploring the problems of adjustment. These problems involve the following concepts: one, the individual’s life-space, two,
purposive or goal-directed behavior and behavior as a function of need and need-reduction, three, the importance of learning in our behavior.
1. The individual’s life-space.
Life-space refers to the environment as we perceive and experience it. Our relationship to the environment, our perception of certain aspects of
the world around us, our unconscious section of the particular factors to which we shall react comprises what may be termed as “life-space”. We
use the term “life-space” here in preference to “environment” because we are not concerned with all aspects of environment but only with that
portion that we experience directly and that therefore affects our behavior.
Basic to our understanding of the life-space of an individual is the fact that what we perceive in any given situation is influenced not only by the
physical characteristics of that situation, but also by our needs, goals, and past experiences. It is obvious, therefore, that we must consider the life-
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space of each individual in order to understand his behavior. For purposes of analysis, however, we may focus at times on physiological processes,
at other times on psychological needs, or at the still other times on the characteristics of a given social situation in which a person finds himself.
2. Purposive behavior and behavior as a function of need and need- reduction.
As biological organisms, we all have needs that must be satisfied if we are to live. These needs have been variously called biological needs, tissue
needs, and life-maintaining needs. They include hunger, thirst, the need for air, the need for rest, and so forth. Although we can postpone the
satisfaction of these needs to some extend, they must be eventually satisfied if we are to survive. These needs have their basis in man’s
biological make-up, but their expression and satisfaction is socially determined. Therefore, to understand what a person will do, how he will
do it, and why he will do it, we need to know something not only about his biological needs, but also about his social situations in which he has
learned to satisfy these needs. Behavior is a function of both biological and psychological needs, and of the objects and methods by which we
satisfy these needs. Behavior, in being motivated by our needs, is purposive.
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3. The central position of learning
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