Definition of Maladjustment

The failure to “respond successfully and appropriately to the demands of one’s environment” is referred to as maladjustment in psychology. Maladjustment is a general phrase that may be used to describe an array of different physiological and social disorders. Adaptation problems might be either inherent or exogenous.

“Maladjustment is a process wherein a person is unable to adequately meet his or her biological, psychological, or social requirements and creates an imbalance between those needs and what society expects of him or her, disrupting psycho-equilibrium.”

Characteristics of Maladjustment

  • Withdrawn and timid: Individuals who frequently withdraw from trying circumstances may become fearful and weak when confronting real-life challenges.
  • Shyness and self-consciousness: Personality, care for the appearance one makes on others, and worry over their negative opinion are frequently linked to shyness. A shy person has poor self-esteem and prefers to foresee difficulties, thus they frequently avoid eye contact and remain quiet.
  • Dread: is a powerful feeling that includes the impression of threat, uncomfortable agitation, and frequently the desire to hide from significantly greater companions, being alone in a room, and having a fear of dogs, weird noises, the dark, etc.
  • Anxious: Conflict, a natural element of life, is the cause of it. Anxiety encapsulates the person’s emotional state. There are a lot of kids who are tense and worried (very anxious) as well as pupils who are calm (hardly anxious). Anxiety cannot be immediately witnessed since it is an implied emotional condition of the person. It may be assessed using psychological tests and procedures.
  • Delusions: A delusion is an unreasonable and persistent idea that the participant supports, such as when a youngster doesn’t study for a test and believes that only God can help him pass it. This demonstrates the illusion that causes him to be maladjusted.
  • Extremely aggressive: Students that are aggressive tend to dominate others in the classroom or at school or display entrepreneurial or active conduct. In other cases, a person fails to assert their dominance in a social setting and harms herself instead, such as when a youngster kicks the dog or other items or hits her doll.
  • Tension: is the strain that occurs from muscular opposition and by which muscles, tendons, and other connective tissues are extended in a potentially dangerous scenario.
  • High hopes and aspirations: a person has lofty goals for the future. He has false expectations for life when his dreams are not realized.
  • Feeling insecure: A feeling of inferiority that results from the perception of flaws and incompleteness in a specific area of life inspires a person to work toward reaching a higher degree of development and, as a result, is the root of all improvements in life circumstances. When a new level of accomplishment is attained, inferiority emotions resurface, further encouraging upward progress. A person may become maladjusted if inferiority emotions are exacerbated by unfavorable circumstances at home through physical or mental diseases or inferiority complexes.

Causes of Maladjustment

There are five broad categories into which we might divide the root causes of teenagers’ maladaptive behavior. These are what they are:

  • family; 
  • personal; 
  • school; 
  • Educators
  • Student group

Family: It goes without saying that the family is an institution with a variety of duties to carry out. Parents indirectly meet their children’s needs by fulfilling their obligations. The social, economic, and psychological spheres all have a major role in the development of maladaptive behavior in children.

For personal reasons: It has been noticed that people with physical, mental, and visual disabilities respond oddly to situations. Especially children with minor deficiencies, such as poor vision, hearing loss, and speech impairment, may have trouble adjusting in everyday circumstances. They experience an inferiority complex when they perform poorly academically in comparison to their peers. They eventually become socially isolated and start daydreaming.

Causes associated with school: Children attend school for around seven hours each day. Growing kids display maladjusted behavior when they can’t discover ways to focus their energy in a constructive way at school. To meet the requirements of the developing students, the school administration, teachers, and other staff members should plan a variety of extracurricular and curricular activities.

Factors attributable to the teacher: A teacher’s personality imbalance might affect how the students behave. The mental health of the pupils in the school is unquestionably impacted if the instructor is unjust, prejudiced, or uninvolved with the students.

Peer-group-related causes: A student’s unhealthful relationship with their peer group is another significant factor that disturbs their psycho-equilibrium. In later childhood and adolescence, pupils typically ask genuinely for acknowledgement from their peer group.

Popularity among peers, however, is influenced by a variety of traits, including attractiveness, physical prowess, social standing, academic success, and unique skills. If a kid lacks these traits, he or she may struggle to fit in with his or her peer group, which can lead to frustration and behavioral problems.