It is generally accepted that adaptation is the main element and mechanism of socialization, under the influence of which a person acquires the traits of sociality and feels like a full member of society. A baby from birth is a prosocial creature, its social qualities are not yet developed. An adult is a social being, he grew up in a society of his own kind and became one of them.
Human sociality does not change throughout life. Only the forms of its interaction with the public and society change, as well as the measure of compliance with its expectations and requirements. So, the socialization of a child does not consist in increasing the measure of his sociality, but in the fact that the forms of his interaction with the surrounding society and the mechanisms of this interaction are changing. Even the intrauterine development of a child occurs not only with biological interactions, but also with social forms of interaction with his mother.
A baby, having been born, needs the continuous care of adults. This is guardianship, and feeding, and caring for them.
So, a child is born and is already a social being. At the same time, sociality is the ability of an individual to interact with other people, to influence them, to change himself and his behavior as a response to their actions in a direction that meets their expectations, that is, to show the quality of adaptation in society.
Social and social formation and development of the individual is called socialization. That is, socialization is the process of full integration of a certain person into a social system through adaptation or adaptation to the latter. Therefore, the concepts of socialization and adaptation are inextricably linked here.
What gives rise to adaptation as a form, component or mechanism of the socialization process? What is the reason for adaptation? According to biology, the purpose of adaptation is considered to be the usefulness of various adaptations for reproduction and survival. At the same time, adaptive changes follow changes in environmental conditions and represent improvements in progress. The rest of the changes, which are random or do not contribute to reproduction and survival, are genetically reproduced in future generations.
The meaning of adaptation from the point of view of psychology, or its usefulness for the subject of socialization consists in getting rid of feelings of loneliness, fear, or reducing the duration of social learning, when, based on the experience of the public, a person is freed from the need to make trials and make mistakes, choosing immediately the optimal program of behavior.
Different people have different speed and success of adaptation. In such cases, they talk about the degree of maladjustment or social adaptation of the individual.
Social factors that determine the success of adaptation include:
1. homogeneity of the group;
2. the competence and relevance of its members;
3. the size of the group;
4. position in society;
5. uniformity and rigidity of the requirements;
6. the nature of the activities of the group members.
7. Subjective or Personality Factors:
8. the level of human competence;
9. self-esteem of the individual;
10.degree of self-identification with a group or other community and correlation with it;
11. level of anxiety;
12. age, gender and other typological features.
