ADJUSTMENT INVENTORY FOR SCHOOL STUDENTS

Aim: To measure the adjustment of an individual using a standardized test for adjustment by AKP Sinha and RP Singh.
Basic Concept
The concept of adjustment has originated from the term `adaptation`. It is the process where an individual cope, responds to their environment. The behavioural process by which humans and other
animals maintain a state of equilibrium by various needs is called adjustment. It is how they cope with change in the environment to act efficiently maintaining homeostasis.
James Denver defines adjustment as the modification to compensate for or meet special conditions.
James. C. Coleman says that adjustment is the outcome of the individual`s attempts to deal with the stress and meet his needs, also his efforts to maintain harmonious relationships with the
environment
Adaptation is the action or process of adapting. It is also the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.
Features:
❖ Varies from culture to culture
❖ Subjective in nature
❖ Continuous process

In the present test, adjuatment is being measured by three different ways:

❖ Social – Man needs to be accepted by the society in which he lives. He has to follow norms of the society to be adjusted. He has to seek approval of the society and act accordingly.
❖ Emotional – An individual is emotionally adjusted if he/she is happy with themselves, realizes his/her potential and is content with what he/she has achieved.
❖ Educational – An educationally well-adjusted person is one who has an ability to think and innovate, he/she needs to be happy in their academic achievements.

History and description

The AISS seeks to segregate well-adjusted school students [14-18 years] from poorly adjusted students in 3 areas – social, emotional, and educational. The test consists of 60 items where the subject
is required to answer in terms of `yes` or `no`. each item in the test is scored as per the instructions given in the manual. The subject can be classified into five categories in accordance with the raw
scores obtained by them in the inventory. The five categories are
1. A – Excellent
2. B – Good
3. C – Average
4. D – Unsatisfactory
5. E – Very Unsatisfactory

Reliability
Split half – 0.95
Test retest – 0.93

Preliminaries
Subject`s name
Age
Gender
Class
Place of conduction
Materials required
AISS questionnaire, response sheet, scoring sheet, pen/pencil
Precautions
1. Optimal conditions for testing should be ensured before starting the test.
2. No questions should be left unanswered
3. Instructions should be clearly given

Rapport Formation
The subject was made to feel comfortable. General questions about the subject’s day and life were asked. The subject was ensured that the results will be kept confidential.

Instructions
The following instructions were given:
• In each item can be answered in `yes` or `no`
• Don’t leave any question and try to complete as soon as possible.
• There are no right or wrong answers
• Give the first natural answer as it comes to you. When in doubt, give the best possible answer.
• Read the questions carefully
• There is no time limit for this test

Administration
After the instructions were given, the subject was asked to fill in the demographic details. It was ensured that all instructions were clearly understood by the subject. The introspective report was
taken after the administration was done. The subject was asked to check whether he/she left any items unanswered.

Introspective Report/Verbal report

The test was quite insightful and fun to do. The tester made me feel at ease.
[You can write the introspective report given by your subject]

Behavioural report
The subject was calm while answering the questions. He/she did not take a long time in completing the test.

Scoring
Scoring was done as per the instructions given in the manual. The responses of the subject was marked in the scoring sheet under the three dimensions and actual response [AR] and expected
responses [ER] were tallied with one another. If the ER and AR matched then given 1 mark and if it doesn’t match then give 0 mark. After allotting the marks, total all the three dimensions and
interpret the scores from the result sheet.
Emotional Social Educational

Item ER AR Score Item ER AR Score Item ER AR Score

No. No. No.

1 Y 2 Y 3 Y
4 Y 5 Y 6 Y
7 Y 8 Y 9 Y
10 Y 11 N 12 N
13 Y 14 Y 15 Y
16 Y 17 N 18 N
19 Y 20 N 21 Y
22 Y 23 N 24 N
25 Y 26 N 27 Y
28 Y 29 Y 30 N
31 Y 32 N 33 N
34 Y 35 Y 36 Y
37 Y 38 N 39 Y
40 Y 41 N 42 Y
43 Y 44 N 45 Y
46 Y 47 Y 48 Y
49 Y 50 N 51 N
52 Y 53 N 54 N
55 Y 56 N 57 N
58 Y 59 N 60 N
Total Total Total
 Classification of adjustment in terms of categories in the three areas:-
Area Category Description Male Female
[range of score] [range of score]

A Excellent 1 & below 1 & below

B Good 2-4 2-5
Emotional C Average 5-7 6-7
8-10 8-10
D Unsatisfactory
Very unsatisfactory 11 & above 11 & above
E

A Excellent 2 & below 2 & below

B Good 3-4 3-4
Social C Average 5-7 5-7
D Unsatisfactory 8-10 8-10
E Very unsatisfactory 11 & above 11 & above

A Excellent 2 & below 2 & below

B Good 3-4 3-4
Educational C Average 5-7 5-7
D Unsatisfactory 8-10 8-10
E Very unsatisfactory 11 & above 11 & above

Classification of adjustment in terms of categories:-

Category Description Male Female
[range of scores] [range of scores]
A Excellent 5 & below 5 & below
B Good 6-12 6-14

C Average 13-21 15-22

D Unsatisfactory 22-30 23-31

E Very unsatisfactory 31 & above 32 & above

Interpretation
Dimensions Total Score Result

Social

Emotional

Educational

Sum of all dimensions: _________________________________

Conclusion
My subject has a total score of ____ suggesting he/she has _______ adjustment.

References
1. AISS Manual
2. NCERT Psychology textbook, XII