Personality and Adjustment and skill of the therapist.

20 This is at least one reason why

psychopathic conditions are resistant to treatment; the psychopath is characteristically lacking in
the capacity for self-control. Fortunately, in normal personalities, adjustment and mental stability
are subject to the capacity for self-control and self-realization. From the standpoint of
wholesome adjustment, this means that worth-while habits can be formed and damaging ones
broken; that ideals and principles can be us~d to further wholesome conduct; that goals can be
carefully selected and striven for; that feelings and emotions can be regulated in the interest of
mental harmony, at least by indirect means; that such factors as imagination and thought can be
directed toward socially and morally desirable ends; and that interests and attitudes can be
formed or changed as the requirements of adjustment demand. Stressing the point that therapy
should be directed toward greater maturity and greater adequacy as a person, Mowrer boldly
states, An objection I have commonly encountered in connection with the position I have taken
in this paper is this, that in stressing the ethical rather than the biological nature of neurosis, I
seem to be saying that if a .person is neurotic, it is his fault, his responsibility. To this I assent,
and willingly. We are excused from blame, from responsibility, only for events or conditions
over which we have no control. Do we, as psycho-therapists, wish to imply that neurosis and the
lesser states of unhappi-ness are such that nothing can be done to avoid or correct them, without
our special intervention? Or would we not rather see human beings in general take the point of
view that neurosis is lawful, not capricious, and that by observing certain principles, by
accepting certain responsibilities it can be both cured and prevented?21 Self-realization and
Adjustment The capacity for self-regulation implies also the potentiality for personal self-
realization. Neurotics, psychotics, and other disturbed persons are particularly deficient in this
potentiality, and the lack of it sets a serious 20 See Rogers, C. R. Counseling and psychotherapy.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1942, pp. 28-30. On this same point Magner states, "Inasmuch as personality is
really the individualization of one's spiritual nature, it is quite natural that this should be the right order of
importance. Moreover, while no one, as Christ says, 'by taking thought can add to his stature one cubit,' it is
within our power to modify, change, develop, and perfect our attitudes of mind, our emotional reactions, and
the habits that fall under the competence of our wills. These habits and developed aptitudes arc what make up
character and integrate personality."-Magner, ]. A. Personality and successful living. Milwaukee: Bruce,
1944, p. 7. Reprinted by permission. 21 Mowrer, O. H. Pain, punishment, guilt, and anxiety. In Hoch, P. H. &
Zubin, J. (Eds.) Anxiety. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1950, p. 39. Reprinted by per-",;"ion. See Mow",·,
di,=ion of ""'"PY. pp. 27-4~ 1lI
Nature and Conditions of Adjustment limit to their ability to meet the demands of
wholesome adjustment. As you already know, the process of adjustment and the gradual
achievement of mental stability are intimately associateq with the development of
personality. When this development proceeds normally throughout child-hood and
adolescence, there is a con~tant udfolding of latent potential-ities and a gradual
accretion of traits, skills, ·dttitudes, and other personal characteristics, all of which, taken
together: constitute the total adult personality. It is this unfolding and accretion that underlie
self-realization. Whenever, therefore, there are impediments to the process of total devel-
opment, the organism fails to acquire the skills and characteristics that are necessary to
adequate adjustment. For this reason, immaturity is inimical to good adjustment, since
immaturity is directly opposed to self-realization. 22 Intelligence and Adjustment The
capacity of self-regulation is itself dependent on another basic quality important to
adjustment. This is the quality of intelligence or rationality. Maturity, self-realization, self-
control, and the like, are determined to a great extent by the manner in which, and often the
degree to which, ra-tional understanding and judgment are applied to personal growth and to
the problems that arise in daily living. Often the difference between good and bad adjustment
is determined by how intelligently or unintelligently we attack difficult situations,
frustrations, and conflicts.23 In many instances of maladjustment, human stupidity can be
discerned. Take, for example, the student who fails in his work because he does not apply the
talents he possesses. His academic maladjustment is due simply to an unintelligent approach
to responsibilities. Similarly, the housewife who plods along doing her household tasks in the
same ; inefficient way is unintelligently courting frustration, discouragement, and
unhappiness. Many of the difficulties that eventually lead to ment~il unrest and
maladjustment could be resolved by the careful application of understanding and sound judg-
ment. This does not mean that all personality ~disord_~~ are simply a matter of stupidity;
but it is significant that effective treatment of such disorders is contingent on the
achievement and development of rational insight. The criterion of self-knowledge, described
in the foregoing chapter as one of the requirements of adjustment, is based on an under- 22 See
Maslow, A. H. Self-actualizing people: a study of psychological health. Personality, 1950, Symposium No.1,
11-34. See also Ausubel, D. P. Ego development and the personality disorders: a developmental approach
to' psychopathology. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1952. _,/...:.. -' 23 As one writer says, "an individual with
'an inadequate personality is one who deals with virtually all of his problems and difficulties with an apparent
lack of intelligence. Such a person seems unable to do what is expected of him." -Thorpe. Op. cit. p. 273. 112
Personality and Adjustment standing and a proper evaluation of personal limitations and
assets and of the relations between the causes and symptoms of personal difficulties.
Moreover, as we suggested at the outset of this discussion, self-reali-zation depends on
intelligence. It is the quality of rationality that makes possible intelligent choices and
decisions; and it is these decisions that form the groundwork of intelligent self-regulation.
Intelligence, too, is necessary for the acquisition and development of the ideals,
principles, and goals that play so important a part in self-realization. All along the line,
therefore, intelligence or rationality influences growth in person-ality.24 The relation
between intelligence and adjustment is indicated in still another way. Although
maladjustment is no respecter of persons, striking the intellectually elite as well as the
lowly, it is nevertheless true that the kind of disorder varies with the factor of
intelligence. For ex-ample, feeble-minded children often develop psychosis, but they are
not likely to manifest neurotic characteristics. Hysteria is found more often in persons of
average or low intelligence, whereas neurasthenia seems to be more common to those of
higher intellectual ability. These rela-tions, while not invariable or absolute, clearly
suggest that the manner in which a person meets problems and difficulties will be
determined to a great extent by his intelligence. This relation is to be expected, since
every kind of response, good or bad, normal or neurotic, will always be conditioned by
the personal matrix in which it develops. Just as physical conditions, such as good health,
brain damage, fatigue, or disease, can be expected to influence adjustment and mental
health, so other factors in the total personality, including intelligence, should be con-
sidered as having a determining influence. These basic qualities of personality have a
direct bearing on the problem of the criteria of adjustment discussed in the preceding
chapter. In fact, it is by determining what these qualities are that we can work toward a
more thorough understanding of adjustment criteria. Criteria or standards of good
adjustment and mental health must be based on the nature of human personality; and the
qualities to which we have referred are merely expressions of this nature. It is because of
this basic relation that a factor like self-control can be interpreted both as a quality of
personality and as a criterion of adjustment. PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT AND
ADJUSTMENT Personality an Emergent Phenomenon Personality is essentially and at all
times, at least under normal conditions, 24 See Chap. Ten for a more detailed normal adjustments.
Nature and Conditions of Adjustment a continuously emerging reality.25 This process of
emergence begins at birth, or even prenatally, and continues until death overtakes the organ-
ism. The implications of this characteristic ~or adjustment and mental health are very great,
and demand careful consideration. First of all, it means that the organism \ starts out in life
with the barest essentials of personality and acquires, I through such processes as learning,
training, discipline, and maturation, the majority of its char-acteristics and responses, good
and bad. Secondly, it means that personality is a constantly changing phe-nomenon and is
therefore naturally suited to the constantly changing demands imposed by the requirements
of good adjustment. If or when personality becomes fixed, as in certain cases of
schizophrenia, the possi-bilities of adjustment are nil, and even readjustment by means of
psy-chotherapy becomes a hopeless impossibility. Thirdly, the principle of emergence serves
to de-emphasize certain predetermining factors like heredity and to emphasize the role that
maturation and learning play in the growth of personality. You can readily see that if
personality characteristics are largely an outgrowth of experience, learning, and other
nongenetic factors, the successful appli-cation of mental hygiene principles and of
psychotherapy is a more likely possibility than would be the case if personality were
determined by heredity or physical constitution. In the view of personality as emergent, the
maladjusted and the neurotic personality are the results of a process of growth that is in itself
reversible. If maladjustive responses are!learned, they can be avoided (mental hygiene); if
they are learned, they can be unlearned (psychotherapy). The acceptance of this principle
does not require the complete exclusion of hereditary or constitutional influence; but it serves
to emphasize the fact that personality is primarily a develop-mental phenomenon and only
secondarily the result of genetic and con-stitutional determinants. Characteristics of
Personality Development ... _----,.___ The gradual emergence of personality throughout
chil~iihood and adole:5-cence is marked by a number of important characteristics that
bear directly on the achievement of adjustment. These characteristics hinge on the nature of
development itself. In its bro~dest meaning, develofYl1lent is a steady progression toward
maturity; and maturity, as we .have seen, is a basic criterion of adjustment.26 In other words,
adequate development 25 There are many good references on personality deve\opment. See, for example,
Stagner, R. The psychology of personality. (2n.<i=Ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill, 1948, Chaps. V-VII.
Slotkin, J. S. Personality de-:;elopment. New York: Harper, 1952; Bernard, H. W. Toward better personal
adjustment. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1951, Chap. VI; Thorpe, Gp. cit., Chap. VIII. 26 See Bernard. Gp. cit.,
Chap. II, Growth processes and mental hygiene. ", 114
Personality and Adjustment is necessary if the organism is to reach a point where it can deal
success-fully with problems, conflicts, and frustrations. When development or maturation
fails to occur, becomes fixed at some point, or becomes dis-torted, the organism invariably
shows signs of poor adjustment, mental instability, inadequate personality integration, or
emotional impoverish-ment. To understand these effects better, we have to take into account
the myriad conditions and determinants that surround the processes of develppment and
adjustment; this is the problem we shall tackle in the following chapter. The first thing to
note about personality development is that it is gradual and continuous and that it starts from
a point of almost complete immaturity. The infant possesses only the barest rudiments of
personality and is very poorly equipped to meet the demands of adjustment. These facts are
of particular significance for mental hygiene, because they imply that by the proper
application of sound principles of training, and by provision of the right kind of milieu for
normal development, there is every likelihood of wholesome personality growth and
adjustment. The potentialities of such growth are of course present in the newborn; the infant
has latent capacities and dispositions out of which personality characteristics will gradually
emerge. These potentialities include intel-ligence, special aptitudes, emotional disposition,
sensory capacities, and the like. In order to actualize a child's potentialities, there must be a
careful nurturing by parents and teachers, to whom the development of personality is
ordinarily entrusted. Development, therefore, is a gradual evolution of inner potentialities,
which find expression in overt characteristics. Within the general frame-work of this
development, the special process or series of changes referred to as maturation may be
distinguished. The organism develops when it realizes its inherent potentialities; it matures
when these potentialities are brought to a stage of growth-physical, intellectual, emotional,
moral, and social-where the aemands and requirements of reality, and of sensible, adult
living, can be dealt with in an effective and wholesome manner. This i!; what makes the
process of development so important to adjustment and to the achievement of mental
stability.27 Implied in this interpretation of personality development is the notion, quite
generally accepted in psychology, that development and maturation, which occur within
personality, must be complemented by external agencies, which serve to ,stimulate and
nurture the entire process. Thus development is always ~omplemented by learning, which
results from such factors as conditioning, training, experience, and education. These factors,
along with the environmental and cultural setting within 27 See Cameron, N., & Magaret, A.
Behavior Mifflin, 1951. Chap. V. Boston: Houghton
Nature and Conditions of Adjustment which development takes place, are applied to the
organism in order to foster the expression of basic potentialities and the subsequent growth
of personal characteristics. It can happen, of course, that c;me or another of these factors is
misapplied, with the result that personality development takes a wrong tum. Inadequate or
punitive discipline, rraumatic experi-ences, faulty training, and a distorted educati~mal
procedure are typical instances of this sort of misapplication. Every ~ersonality,
therefore, will reflect a balanced combination of the natural evolution of individual
potentialities and the influence of external factors that serve to promote, hinder, or distort the
emergence of personal characteristics. Emphasis on personality development in relation to
adjustment must not be taken to mean that genetic or constitutional factors have nothing to
do with personal growth, adjustment, or mental stability. On the con-trary, these factors often
set the stage for the emergence of individual characteristics; and therefore the whole problem
of personality growth and adjustment must be brought into line with the concept of genetic
and constitutional determinism. This ,is, in part, subject matter for the following chapter on
the determinants of adjustment; but since we are here dealing more specifically with the
problem of personality develop-ment in relation to adjustment, we must emphasize the fact
that person-ality development is conditioned in many ways by genetic and constitu-tional
factors. This interpretation is required by the psychosomatic principle described earlier in
this chapter, in terms of which the physical and mental aspects of personality are regarded as
intrinsically related to each other. Put into concrete terms, this means· that physical
constitution forms the groundwork of at least some capacities that, in the course of
development, are expressed as individual characteristics of personality. And, since physical
constitution is determined to an important extent by heredity, it must be assumed that
heredity finds some expression. in personality. The clearest example of this relation is
temperament, which everyoQe agrees is determined in large measure by physical make-up

and heredity. Thus, such personal traits as excitability~ emotional stability, or -, __

apathy, all of which are important to adjustment and mental health, could well be the indirect
expression of physical an<4genetic factors. With the evidence now available, there is no way
of determining the extent to which certain patterns of adjustment, notably the neuroses and
psy-choses, are influenced by these two factors; but we must admit the possibility that innate
temperament may constitute the groundwork for the emergence of neurotic and psychotic
personalities, always, of course, within the limits set by nongenetic influences. / Segmental
versus Integrative Develo;P;;;ent of Personality The repeated reference in the foregoing
pages to the emergence of indi-vidual characteristics will give us a one-sided view of
personality develop-,
Personality and Adjustment ment if we fail to remind ourselves that development is
integrative as well as segmental. Segmental development of pers-onality refers to the
emergence of separate traits and characteristics, like timidity, introversion, honesty, shyness,
sociability, and so on. From the standpoint of individual aspects and problems of adjustment,
personality can be conceived as the aggregate or totality of such separate characteristics.
Thus the symptom of chronic anxiety may be related to timidity or some similar trait, just as
withdrawal tendencies are often traced to introversion. In such in-stances, the diagnosis and
perhaps the treatment of the difficulty may depend upon the identification and evaluation of
the trait in question. But it is important to realize that this is only part of the relation between
personality development and adjustment. Personality is not merely the totality of individual
characteristics peculiar to a person; it is an emergent synthesis or integration of these
characteristics; and this integration is as much a feature of development as are the separate
traits themselves. Integrative development, in fact, permeates every aspect of the human
organism. Muscular responses that at first were clumsy and disorganized become in time
integrated into a smoothly functioning, coordinated pattern of movement. Speech becomes
integrated with thougl:t, and thought with other mental processes. We have reason to believe,
too, that the nervous system, in the course of its development from conception to maturity,
achieves an increasingly higher level of integrative functioning. This is manifested clearly in
the remarkable executive control that the nervous system exercises over sensory and motor
functions. In every department of personality, development tends toward integration. This
synthesizing characteristic of personality and personality devel-opment is of great
importance to adjustment and to mental health. We may note, first of all, that a certain degree
of personal integration is necessary to both; and therefore, the higher the level of integrative
development, the more likely is the individual to achieve adequate adjust-ment. It is a
significant fact, as we have already indicated, that maladjust-ment, especially in its severest
form, is characterized by disintegration of personality. This relation is not difficult to
understand when we realize that the overcoming of-frustrations and conflicts, and of
problems and difficulties necessarily depends on integrated effort. Obviously, the person
who is torn between conflicting motives or whose mental life is disrupted by anxiety, fear, or
jealousy is going to find it difficult to tackle his problems in a concerted manner. Integrative
development signifies, also, the essential unity or oneness of personality, whic:h means
that, in any crucial situation, it is not some part but rather the whole of the personality that is
involved; for this reason maladjustment tends to reach into every aspect of personality. In the

last analysis, it is the person himself, nONome abstracted trait or /tJ

Nature and Conditions of Adjustment quality, that is called upon to solve a problem,
overcome frustratIOns, or adjust to the demands that arise in daily living. In fact, whenever
there is a disruption of personality in the direction of futonomous functioning, as happens
typically in hysteria, maladjustment already exists. To achieve a high level of integration, it
is of primary importance to create the-most favorable setting for persoh.ality development,
one in which training and education, environment Jnd culture, discipline and precept are such
that a high level of personality integration is assured. Our attention is directed to these
factors in the following chapter. SUMMARY In this chapter, as a prelude to discussing the
conditions and deter-minants of adjustment and mental health, we concerned ourselves with
the relations between personality and adjustment. We saw, first of all, that the concept and
the reality of personality are central to the entire problem of adjustment, and that an
understanding of the nature, characteristics, and development of personality is therefore
necessary to an adequate treatment of adjustment problems. Personality was interpreted
simply as a mind-body or psychosomatic reality, in which mental and physical functions are
intrinsically related to each other. Considerable evidence was cited for the reciprocal
influence of both functions, and the implica-tions of this relation for adjustment were sharply
drawn. In addition, we took note of the possibility of intramental influences, in which;
mental functions affect each other, and also of the relations between personality and
behavior, and between personality, environment, and culture. Here, too, the implications for
adjustment and mental health were indicated. We then considered briefly certain qualities of
personality that are particularly important to adjustment, ihcluding modifiability and resili-
ence, self-regulation and self-realization, and intelligence and rationality. In each, case, we
analysed the quality in terms of its meaning for adjust-ment and mental health. In general, we
noted thai:the-level of adjustment varies in proportion to the degree to which these
fundamental qualities are realized in daily living. Because of their _intrinsic rdation to
adjust-ment, we noted, too, that these qualities have a direct bearing oli. the criteria of
adjustment described in the preceding chapter. Finally, we studied the relation between
adjustment and the develop-ment of personality. Interpreting personality as an emergent
phenomenon, we pointed out that, although genetic and constitutional determinants are
important to its formation, personality is primarily de,:,elopmental in nature, and therefore
such factors as le~Ji1ing, di~cipline, training, and education are of primary
importance in so far as they complement the process of maturation. The,Jmplications of this
developmental interpre-tation were pointed up by a concluding statement regarding the Slg-
Personality and Adjustment nificance of integrative development of personality for the
achievement of good adjustment and mental health.