INTRODUCTION

Social adjustment means a harmonious relationship with the students and teachers, proper

understanding of social needs, requirements and group goals and meeting respectively to the
social

requirements of the home, peer groups, culture and the community. When students join an

educational institution, they come from different backgrounds with their own norms and values;

whilst the norms and values of the institute reflect the vision, mission and core values of the

institution. In order to adjust students in educational setup, they need to mold their behavior &

values so that the students can fit within the parameters of the institution (Robinson, 2009).

Adjustment is defined as the process of adapting or getting used to of a situation or environment

that can be physical or social (Raju & Rahamtulla, 2007).

Social adjustment in higher education students is defined as the degree of students

adopting the social manner of their educational life (Rienties et al., 2011). Social adaptation can

be influenced by the reputation of the university in social activities, the participation of students

in the social communities, social relations of students with their classmates and by students՚

awareness of their own social integration (Rienties et al., 2011). Adjustment also includes

dealing with tensions, stress, and conflicts to meet the individual‘s needs. In this process the

individual tries to develop and maintain a smooth relationship with environment. The two key

factors that are involved in the adjustment process are environment and individual (Julia, &

Veni, 2012). The adjustment level of each student is different from others depending on the

developmental stage of the student.

During the transition period from college life to university life, students may face many
challenges, new environment, teachers, friends, lifestyle and change of academic setup. .

(Lapsley & Edgerton 2002) reported that there are more chances that students may struggle if

they do not manage these new challenges successfully in the university and ultimately, they are

more vulnerable to anxiety and depression. There is also very high rate of psychological

indisposition throughout the world in the first year university students.

Dimensions of adjustments:

(Crede and Niehorster 2012) There are four dimensions of adjustment. i.e., social

adjustment, academic adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment and institutional commitment.

 Social Adjustment:

Social adjustment is necessary for everyone, but is of great importance for undergraduate

students as they are passing through the individualization process from their family and home.

Students ‘social adjustment to university has direct relations with students ‘Overall adjustments.

Social support has been identifying the most significant factor in minimizing the depression,

loneliness and anxiety of undergraduate students. According to (Dyson and Renk 2006) the

social adjustment of students can be defined in terms of how much students participate in social

activities, and how much they are satisfied with the social aspect of the college environment.

 Academic Adjustment:

Academic adjustment is how well students cope with the demands of education,

such as motivation to complete academic requirements, academic effort and satisfaction with

academic environment. Social adjustment includes student involvement in social activities, and

satisfaction with the various aspects of lecture experience. In order to adjust students in

educational setup, they need to mold their behavior & value so that they can fit in the parameters

of the institution (Robinson, 2009). Students are not sure about their abilities to meet the new
challenges, and it will be a new experience for some students to think independently who mostly

rely on their teachers and parents for their course work (Robinson, 2009).

 Personal-emotional Adjustment:

Personal-emotional adjustment involves students prone to emotional problems, such as

the manifestation of symptoms of depression. While the institutional adjustments describe

student’s satisfaction with their lecture experience in the university where they present as a

student (Salami, 2011). Emotional support has been identifying the most significant factor in

minimizing the depression, loneliness and anxiety of undergraduate students (Pancer,

Hunsberger, Pratt, & Alisat, 2000). The students have to prepare themselves for the new

environment and the new challenges they will have to face both mentally and emotionally.

 Institutional Adjustment:

Students joining college today are the most diverse population in terms of their gender,
age,

socioeconomic status, ethnic composition, family background, native languages and level of

academic preparation (Hurtado & Pryor, 2006). The diversity in the population of college

students create a complex and a dynamic environment where students are exposed to multiple

situations, responsibilities, choices, challenges and decision which they need to learn to deal

with

and to adjust to the new environment (Kerr, Johnson, Gans, & Krumrine, 2004). The transition

from high school to college marks a distinct step in a student’s academic career. The step denotes

adjustment from a dependent to independent learner, from studying in a carefully supervised

environment with a highly controlled timetable to students learning to manage their own time

and make decisions in a more adult and responsible manner.

New Challenges:

Studying in higher education exposes students to a variety of new challenges including

academic demands, autonomy toward their needs and activities, and more independent in
learning than the previous education (Credé & Niehorster, 2012).

First year students need to master how to set up a new social environment, develop the

orientation based on the institution in where they are admitted, become productive members of

the community in their university, and adjust to new roles and responsibilities (Aderi, Jdaitawi,

Ishak, & Jdaitawi, 2013; Credé & Niehorster, 2012; Kneipp, Kelly, & Cyphers, 2009).

New Methods of Teachings:

However, first-year students will face the challenge of adjustment. They often find that
the

package of learning and teaching methods is different from those obtained from the secondary

school level. Generally, learning in college has more challenge than high school. It provides
more

reading assignments, preparing articles and examination of articles through class presentations
and

quizzes to evaluate achieved competence. Lecturers expect them to do more work outside the

classroom. In order to survive, they must take responsibility for their actions. This condition can

lead them to emotional tension.

Successful Adjustment:

Successful college adjustment can be seen from their involvement in institutional

activities,

psychological wellbeing, and good academic performance (Julia & Veni, 2012). Some of the

students adjust to the new environment really well and most of the times these are those students

who take part in the activities, take less pressure on themselves and stay calm while adopting the

change.

Complications:

 Student adjustment will affect academic performance (Abdullah & Elias, 2009).

Adjustment complications happen to them because they are at the level of adolescent

development. It is a period when they feel self-identity crisis and meet demands of other

development as an effect of new challenges such as being separated from their parents

(Wiley & Berman, 2013). The adjustment process is the way in which individuals try to

cope with stress, conflict, tension, and meet their needs (Julia & Veni, 2012). During this

process, the individual also seeks to maintain a harmonious relationship with the

environment. In addition, adjustment is also defined as someone interaction with the

environment (Abdullah & Elias, 2009). Furthermore, adjustment to college demonstrates

academic achievement and personal growth of the student (Abdullah & Elias, 2009). This

approach means that students are able to make adjustment by having sufficient academic

performance, passing all subjects, and meeting graduation time while those who do not

adjust to college well are characterized with the contrast criteria; their achievement is not

satisfactory, marginal, failure, as well as the tendency to drop out increases. Besides

academic achievement, adjustment to college also involves an element of personal

 growth as well in non-academic such as art and music, creativity, and leadership

(Abdullah & Elias, 2009).

High Number of Drop-out Students:

This adjustment poses unnerving problems and few of which are early dropout, difficulty

in handling stress and coping with the academic demands, less drive to study and low academic

performance (Reddy, Menon, & Thattil, 2018; Waghachavare, Dhumale, Kadam, & Gore, 2013).

Gabriela (2010) concluded that there is a higher rate of school dropout due to inability to adapt to

school. She found out that 60% of students who cannot adjust to college drop out early in school.

(Sahin, Arseven, and Kilic (2016) reported that students who cannot establish good relationships

with their friends, teachers and school administration, who do not like the school and the subjects

have a higher tendency to be absent from school and to drop out of school. (Fan and Wolters

2014) also stated that the individual causes of school dropouts include the difficulty to adjust

with the school curriculum.

Emotional affects:
A study conducted by (Clinciu 2013) found out a negative correlation between

adjustment to college and stress. The highest correlation was pointed out on the emotional-

affective component. This means that students who have low level of adjustment to college have

increased level of stress, particularly in the emotional aspect. The peer pressure of doing good

i.e. getting good grades and having a good performance overall is also an aspect which affects

the student’s emotionally.

Types of Social Adjustment:

 In the present study, we focused on five social adjustment behaviors e.g.
1) peer exclusion
2) asocial behavior
3) interpersonal skills
4) Academic demands.
5) Social demands

which reflect children's performance in social interaction

1. Peer exclusion:

Interpersonal exclusion involves rejection from individuals or the peer group because of
individual differences, such as attractiveness (Leets & Sunwolf, 2005), or social deficits, such as
temperamental characteristics, including being an introvert or withdrawn (Bierman, 2004; Rubin
et al., 2006).

2. Asocial behavior:

Asocial behaviors are more personality traits where individuals have a general anxiety or
lack of confidence in social situations. They may sometimes avoid these situations as a result,
which points toward social anxiety; however, they have no problem socializing with those they
already know. Interpersonal skill is an aptitude enabling a person to carry on effective
interactions and relationships with others, such as the ability to communicate thought and feeling
or to assume appropriate social responsibilities.

3. Academic demands:

For most college students, the transition to the college classroom requires an adjustment of
academic habits and expectations. They often must study harder, improve their study habits, and
take school more seriously. Classes are larger, instructors have differing teaching styles, the pace
is faster, written work is more frequent, reading assignments are lengthier, standards are higher,
and the competition is more acute. Students need to learn to set and balance priorities, and for
commuter and adult students this includes balancing work, home, and school.

4. Social demands:
The social environment of college requires adjustment on the part of new college students.
Students must learn to balance the many social choices they have with their academic
responsibilities. Developing new relationships represents an important element of social
adjustment. Other social issues that require adjustment include negotiating dating in an era of
sexually transmitted diseases, homesickness, shifts in daily routines, and the lack of externally
imposed structure on their lives.

Factors of Social Adjustment:

Every individual has the ability to adapt to his environment. The ability of individuals to
adapt to their environment is not the same from one individual to another. The adjustment
process is determined by several factors that determine personality, both internal and external
factors. Sunarto and Hartono explain several factors that influence individual adjustment, where
social adjustment is one aspect of self-adjustment, then the factors that affect social adjustment
are the same as the factors that affect self-adjustment, which are classified into two parts, namely
physical factors and psychological factors. Sunarto and Hartono explain the internal factors that
influence social adjustment, including

Physical Factors:
 Physical condition:

Physical structure is the primary condition for behavior because the nervous system,
glands, and muscles are important factors in the process of social adjustment. If there are
disturbances in the nervous system, glands, and muscles, it can cause symptoms of personality
disorders, behavior, and mental disorders. Good physical health conditions will affect social
adjustment. So if good social adjustment can be obtained and maintained in good physical
health conditions.

 Development, maturity, and adjustment:

In a developmental process, the child's response develops from an instinctive response to a

response obtained through learning and experiences that have been experienced. Changes and
developments in individual responses continue to increase according to increasing age.
Individuals who are getting older, become more mature to make responses that determine
patterns of social adjustment. The patterns of social adjustment of each individual are different,
not the same from one individual to another, this is influenced by the level of maturity achieved
by different individuals. Emotion, social, moral, and intellectual are aspects of a person's
personality that are influenced by the conditions of his development.
Psychological Factors:
 Experience:

Individual experiences also influence social adjustment. Experiences that affect social
adjustment include pleasant experiences, tend to lead to good social adjustments, and traumatic
experiences, namely experiences that tend to result in failure in a social adjustment.

 Learn

Learning is a basic factor in social adjustment. Through learning, patterns of response will
develop that will form a personality. Learning in the process of social adjustment is a
modification of behavior since the early phases which is continuous and is strengthened by
individual maturity.

 Determination

Self-determination is a force factor that drives individuals to be able to achieve something

good or something bad, which aims to achieve a high level of adjustment or which can be self-
destructive. Self-determination plays an important role in the process of social adjustment
because it has a role in controlling the pattern and direction of social adjustment.

 Conflict

Every individual certainly has conflict in his life. Conflicts faced by each individual have
various effects that affect behavior, but the effects of conflict on individual behavior depend on
the nature of the conflict, including destructive, disruptive, and beneficial. Each individual has
their own way of dealing with conflict, so each individual has different ways of dealing with
conflict. Ways to resolve the conflict, among others, can increase efforts towards achieving goals
that are socially beneficial. Individuals who easily make good social adjustments in a variety of
different situations are individuals who can overcome the conflicts they have experienced.

Aspects of Social Adjustment:

Hurlock (2010: 287) has suggested various aspects of social adjustment that includes;
 Real appearance:
 Overt performance shown by the individual according to the prevailing norms in his group,
can meet the expectations of the group, meaning that the individual can meet the expectations of
his group and he is accepted as a member of the group.

 Adaptation to various groups:

Individuals are able to adjust or adapt well to each group they enter, both peers, and groups
of adults.

 Social attitude:

Individuals can show and show a pleasant attitude towards others, individuals are able to
participate and can carry out their roles as good individuals in various social activities, it is
enables to make judgments for others so that the individual can adjust well socially.

 Personal satisfaction:

Individuals have a feeling of satisfaction within themselves, marked by a sense of

satisfaction and happiness because they take part in group activities and are able to accept their
own situation as it is in social situations.

 Emotional affective aspects:

Emotional affective aspects include feeling safe, confident, enthusiastic, caring, not avoiding,
able to give and receive love, brave.

 Aspects of intellectual or cognitive development:

Aspects of intellectual or cognitive development including the ability to understand oneself

and others, the ability to communicate and the ability to see the reality of life.

 Aspects of social development:

Aspects of social development include developing potential, being independent, flexible,

participative, and working together (Zainun, 2011: 6)

Theories of Social Adjustment:

Social adjustment is defined as the degree to which an individual engages in competent

social behavior and adapts to the immediate social context (Crick and Dodge, 1994).
 Theory of work adjustment (TWA):
 The theory of work adjustment (TWA) describes how and explains why workers adjust to
their work environments. It depicts adjustment as the interaction of person (P) with environment
(E). Interaction refers to P and E acting on as well as reacting to each other. P and E interact
because, to begin with, each has requirements that the other can fill, and each has capabilities to
fill the other’s requirements. So long as each is satisfied with the outcomes, the interaction will
be maintained. But when one or both are dissatisfied with the outcomes, adjustment will be
attempted. The theory of work adjustment asserts that satisfaction and work adjustment depend
not so much on P variables or E variables, but on the particular combination of P and E variables
(TWA calls the combination P-E correspondence). Thus, in TWA, work adjustment is described
and explained by two psychological propositions (a) Satisfaction drives behavior, and (b)
satisfaction is a function of P-E correspondence. Here, satisfaction extends to dissatisfaction and
correspondence to discorrespondence.

In TWA, P and E are described in parallel and complementary terms. P requirements are
called needs, and E requirements are called tasks. Needs are requirements for specific reinforces,
such as compensation and opportunity to achieve. Tasks are response requirements to produce a
product or perform an action. Needs differ in degree of importance, whereas tasks differ in
degree of difficulty. P has response capabilities, called skills, to meet E tasks, and E has
reinforcement capabilities, reinforces, to meet P needs. Furthermore, TWA posits latent
dimensions as underlying needs, called values, and latent dimensions as underlying skills, called
abilities.

The theory of work adjustment describes the work adjustment process further by introducing
the concept of adjustment style, the distinctive characteristics of adjustment behavior. P’s
adjustment style can be described by four variables: flexibility, which refers to the amount of P-E
discorrespondence P is typically willing to tolerate before initiating adjustment behavior;
activeness, or P’s tendency to act on E to change E to reduce P-E discorrespondence;
reactiveness, or P’s tendency to react to E by changing self to reduce P-E discorrespondence; and
perseverance, or how long P typically continues adjustment behavior before either giving up or
leaving E. To change E means changing E reinforces and/or E skill requirements, whereas to
change P (self) means changing P needs and/or P skills. The purpose, then, of adjustment
behavior is to change P-E discorrespondence to P-E correspondence or, at the cognitive level, to
change dissatisfaction to satisfaction. When P-E correspondence or satisfaction is attained, P and
E return to maintenance behavior.
  Theory of mind(TOM):

Perceived social acceptance, theory of mind (TOM) and social adjustment were investigated
in 45 children with intellectual disabilities (ID) compared with 45 typically developing (TD)
preschoolers, matched for developmental age assessed by means of the Differential Scales of
Intellectual Efficiency Revised edition (EDEI-R, Perron-Borelli, 1996). Children's understanding
of beliefs and emotions was assessed by means of TOM belief tasks (Nader-Grosbois & Thirion-
Marissiaux, 2011) and TOM emotion tasks (Nader-Grosbois & Thirion-Marissiaux, 2011).
Seven items from the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for
children (PSPCSA, Harter & Pike, 1980) assessed children's perceived social acceptance. Their
teachers completed the Social Adjustment for Children Scale (EASE, Hughes, Soares-Boucaud,
Hochmann, & Frith, 1997). For both groups together, the results showed that perceived social
acceptance mediates the relation between TOM skills and social adjustment. The presence or
absence of intellectual disabilities does not moderate the relations either between TOM skills and
perceived social acceptance, or between perceived social acceptance and social adjustment. The
study did not confirm the difference hypothesis of structural and relational patterns between
these three processes in children with ID, but instead supported the hypothesis of a similar
structure that develops in a delayed manner.

1. Perceived social acceptance, theory of mind (TOM) and social adjustment were
investigated.
2. Children with intellectual disabilities were compared with typically developing
preschoolers.
3. The two groups were matched for developmental age.
4. Perceived social acceptance mediates the relation between TOM and social adjustment.
5. The hypothesis of a similar structure in children with intellectual disabilities was
supported.
 Tinto’s theory:

Tinto’s “Theory of Departure” which states that college outcomes have been examined
mainly from the retention and commitment perspectives. However, even retention models stress
the importance of experiences. Most current models of student retention include academic and
social variables (Tinto, 2002). In his model derive from the theory of student departure, Tinto
placed particular focus on social and academic integration as critical to institutional and goal
commitments and, in turn, to college retention. He suggests that students need to separate and
successfully merged into academic and social aspects of college life in order to persist in college.
9 Tinto’s theory is most relevant to students who reside on campus who may have the greatest
opportunities to successfully integrate into college life. Conversely, he suggests that commuter
students may struggle the most with the integration process as they spend less time on campus
compared to residential students. The Alexander Astin’s “Theory of Involvement” was also used,
in which emphasis is placed on the input (past experiences and personal characteristics) and the
college environment as related to the college outcomes, such as academic performance,
adjustment, or retention (Astin A., 1982).

Literature Review

The transition from high school to college marks a distinct step in a student’s academic
career. The step denotes adjustment from a dependent to independent learner, from studying in a
carefully supervised environment with a highly controlled timetable to students learning to
manage their own time and make decisions in a more adult and responsible manner. This
adjustment poses unnerving problems and few of which are early dropout, difficulty in handling
stress and coping with the academic demands, less drive to study and low academic performance
(Reddy, Menon, & Thattil, 2018; Waghachavare, Dhumale, Kadam, & Gore, 2013). Gabriela
(2010) concluded that there is a higher rate of school dropout due to inability to adapt to school.
She found out that 60% of students who cannot adjust to college drop out early in school. Sahin,
Arseven, and Kilic (2016) reported that students who cannot establish good relationships with
their friends, teachers and school administration, who do not like the school and the subjects
have a higher tendency to be absent from school and to drop out of school. Fan and Wolters
(2014) also stated that the individual causes of school dropouts include the difficulty to adjust
with the school curriculum. A study conducted by Clinciu (2013) found out a negative
correlation between adjustment to college and stress. The highest correlation was pointed out on
the emotional-affective component. This means that students who have low level of adjustment
to college have increased level of stress, particularly in the emotional aspect. This stress was
shown to be negatively correlated to academic achievement (Elias, Ping, 2 & Abdullah, 2011).
Daniel et al. (2018) argued that stress is perceived by undergraduate students to have a negative
impact on their academic performance. Aside from stress, multivariate analysis of Páramo,
Vacas, and Rodriguez (2015) revealed that students with lower levels of academic and
institutional adjustment to college achieved less well academically than students with
intermediate and higher levels of adjustment. In the Philippines, low academic adjustment of
college students of results to poor academic achievement (Alipio, 2020; Calaguas, 2011). It was
found out in the study of Hernandez (2017) that first year students from the selected higher-
education institutions in Calpain City have poor social adjustment. They can easily adjust to
college life in terms of academic and emotional as well as being attached to their institution but it
takes them a while to be socially adjusted (Alipio, 2020). The researcher recommends that the
guidance counsellors of higher-education institutions may create a guidance program specifically
designed for first year college students. This program may include seminars, workshops,
psychological testing, and counselling that aim to facilitate their transition and adjustment to
college, as well as the enhancement of self-esteem. It also addresses the personal, emotional, and
psychosocial development of the students. Given these problems, there is a need to study the
level of adjustment and its impact on academic performance of students. Few research have been
published examining the relationship of adjustment to college and academic performance. Rai
(2009) revealed that adjustment is significantly related to achievement. Seetha (2009) found out
that no significant relationship existed between social adjustment and academic achievement.
Chen et al. (2011) investigated that children’s social adjustment contributed to academic
achievement. On the other hand, Mathur (2010) studied the effects of socio- 3 economic status
on the achievement and behavior. The results revealed that achievement was highly correlated
with adjustment. The abovementioned research mentions the relationship of students’ adjustment
to college and academic performance. In the Philippines, higher-education institutions are
accepting their first batch of freshmen who just graduated from senior high school, an additional
2 years of education after the country adopted the international standards which is the K-12 basic
education curriculum. This new curriculum is implemented by the Department of Education
under Republic Act 10533. Thus, this research provides new ideas into how academic strand
taken during senior high school as well as the gender, income class, and proximity to house
affects the relationship between adjustment of student to college and academic performance. The
adjustment of students to college from senior high school is worthwhile to know and the result of
this study is beneficial to the Department of Education, high school and college institutions and
to the students.
 METHODOLOGY

Objective:

To study social adjustment among college students.

Hypotheses:

Social adjustment is relatively high in females and low in males.

Variable:

Independent Variable

Social adjustment

Dependent Variable

College Students

Operational Definition:
Social adjustment refers to an individual's actual attainment of those goals, including the ability
to function in different social roles (e.g., worker, parent, spouse, student), to enjoy leisure and
recreational activities, and to care for oneself (Mueser, Bellack, Morrison, & Wixted, 1990).

Sample:

The sample of study consists of 50 participants including 25 males (n=25) and 25 females
(n=25). Colleges are selected through purposive sample technique and the students are selected
through random sampling technique. The age group of the study was ranging from 17-20.

Instrument:

Instrument for Measuring Social Adjustment. This questionnaire was designed to measure social
adjustment in students during the last two weeks among males and females. This scale has 45
items. It is a five Spoint scale ranging from 1 to 5 with 1 indicating ‘not at all’, 2 indicating
‘occasionally’, 3 indicating ‘about half the time’, 4 indicating ‘most of the time’, and 5 indicating
‘all the time’.
.