TEST III

ASSESSMENT OF ADJUSTMENT

PURPOSE:

To assess the level of adjustment of the three major areas of life i.e. emotional, social and
educational with the help of the Adjustment Inventory for School Students (AISS) developed by
A.K.P. Sinha and R.P. Singh.

INTRODUCTION:

Adjustment refers to the adaptive behaviour of the individual to cope with the internal and external
demands in order to maintain peace and harmony. Internal demands may be level of aspirations,
emotional well-being, health concerns, skill and competencies, quality of thoughts. External
demands refer to opportunities, money matters, relationships etc. These factors put stress on the
individual and can result in physical, social behavioural and cognitive effects on the individual.

According to Lazarus, primary and secondary appraisals are important in stress perception and
experience (Cognitive theory of stress).

Hans Selye proposed the GAS (General Adaptation Syndrome) model for understanding stress. It has
three stages – alarm, resistance and exhaustion.

Coping is defined as a situation specific dynamic reaction to stress. Endler and Parker have identified
three coping strategies – task oriented, emotion oriented and avoidance oriented. Lazarus and
Folkman have referred to the problem focused and emotion focused coping strategies.

Life skills refer to adaptive behaviours in challenging situations for e.g. – assertiveness, time
management. There are various stress management techniques, for e.g. - creative visualization,
meditation.

DESCRIPTION OF AISS:

AISS inventory is designed to identify the level of adjustment of school students of age group 14-18
years. Three important areas of adjustment – a) emotional, b) social and c) educational are analysed
and classified as good or poor adjustment. A list of 100 questions indicating significant problems of
the school students need to be answered in yes or no. The final inventory (revised) now has 60 items
with 20 statements for each area. This is a self-administered inventory; high scores are indicators of
problems in adjustment.

PARTICULARS OF THE SUBJECT:

NAME: SD

CLASS: XII

GENDER: Female

HEALTH: Normal

AGE: 16
MATERIAL REQUIRED:

AISS test booklet, answer sheet, manual and a pencil

PROCEDURE:

The examinee is seated comfortably and rapport is formed. He/she is provided with test booklet and
the answer sheet. The following instructions are given:

INSTRUCTIONS: “This is a test booklet with stress related questions to your real-life experiences.
There are two response alternatives – ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Read each question carefully and mark your
answers in the answer sheet. Your responses will be kept confidential. There is no time limit but do
not ponder over any question for a long time.

TEST ADMINISTRATION: The test administrator reads out the instructions as written on the front
page of the test booklet. The examinee responds as Yes or No to the 60 items in AISS.

SCORING: AISS can be scored manually.

1. The table 8 in the manual provides the key response indicative of lack of adjustment. If the
response of the examinee matches with the response in table 8, score 1 is given.
Alternatively, score 0 is indicated.
2. The sum total for items set for – a) emotional b) social and c) educational is found out.
3. The total score for all the three areas is calculated.
4. Table 6 provides classification of adjustments in terms of categories in the 3 areas. Hence,
the level of adjustment is categorized as a) excellent, b) good, c) average, d) unsatisfactory,
e) very unsatisfactory.
5. Table 5 provides classification of overall adjustment (in all the three areas combined).

RESULT TABLE
GRAD
AREAS RAW SCORE E INTERPRETATION
A. EMOTIONAL 1 A Excellent
B. SOCIAL 7 C Average
C. EDUCATIONAL 3 B Good
TOTAL SCORE 11 B Good
INTERPRETATION:

The purpose of the present test is to assess the level of adjustment in 3 major spheres of life
(emotional, social and educational) with the help of AISS. The test is highly useful for clinical and
counselling purposes.

Area A is emotional adjustment. The examinee obtained a total score of 1 and falls in the grade A.
the level of adjustment is therefore excellent. As per AISS norms, high scores are indicative of lack of
adjustment causing emotional instability, whereas low scores are indicative of emotional stability.
This area refers to general emotional well-being, ability to effectively express and manage negative
emotions of one’s own and others.

Area B is social adjustment. The total score on this dimension was found to be 7 and the grade
obtained is C. This indicates average level of adjustment. High scores indicate inability to maintain
healthy and harmonious relationships, submissive temperament, poor social initiatives and inability
to work in a team. Low scores are indicative of good social adjustment.

Area C is educational adjustment. The examinee’s final score was 3 and has grade B indicating good
level of adjustment. Individuals scoring high in this area show poor adjustment in their curricular and
non-curricular activities. On the contrary, students with low scores on this dimension show keen
interest in school programs and the educational curriculum.

The examinee has obtained a total score of 11, grade B and has good overall adjustment.

CONCLUSION:

The examinee is found to have excellent, average and good adjustment in emotional, social and
educational areas respectively. The overall adjustment is found to be good.

REFERENCES:

1. AISS manual
2. Psychology Textbook for Class XII (NCERT publication,2006) Ch – 3, pages 50-67