Which of the following is incorrect with reference to adjustment?
2022
Which of the following is incorrect with reference to adjustment?
Answer: C. It is not a continuous process — ConceptAdjustment is the ongoing behavioural process through which a person keeps a harmonious balance between their own needs and the demands of the…
- A.
It provides balance
- B.
It solves the problem
- C.
It is not a continuous process
- D.
In the absence of adjustment one is surrounded by tension, struggle and anxiety
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Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
Adjustment is the ongoing behavioural process through which a person keeps a harmonious balance between their own needs and the demands of the environment. By the standard definition (Gates and Jersild) it is a continuous, lifelong process: it begins at birth and continues until death because conditions keep changing and the person must keep adapting. From this definition flow its key features — it maintains balance, it is need-reducing/problem-solving, and its failure (maladjustment) breeds tension and anxiety.
Applying it to this item
The stem asks which statement does NOT fit this concept of adjustment. Testing each against the definition:
Providing balance follows directly from the definition — adjustment restores equilibrium between the individual and the environment.
Solving the problem follows too — adjustment is need-reducing and resolves the conflict between a need and an obstacle.
Denying that it is a continuous process clashes with the definition — adjustment is by definition continuous and lifelong, so this claim is the one that does not hold.
Linking its absence to tension, struggle and anxiety follows as well — maladjustment produces exactly these states.
Cross-check
Three statements are direct consequences of the definition of adjustment; only the denial of its continuity contradicts it. Because the stem asks for the statement that is incorrect, that contradiction is the answer.