Adaptation as a social process: modern scientific approaches in the system of humanities knowledge

Abstract

The article considers the scientific approaches to the phenomenon of adaptation, social adaptation and concepts derived from them, as well as essential characteristics of these concepts. The research addresses strategies of the adaptation process, and presents four types of human adaptation: biological, physiological, psychological and social ones. The concepts of socialization and adaptation have been compared. The qualities of an adapted person, his needs, his attitude to the social environment have been investigated. Attention is focused on the process of social adaptation as a way to master social norms and as an initial stage of successful socialization. The process of adaptation is closely interconnected with the process of personal development, and adaptability is an indicator of the development of the qualities and properties of the personality and his/her adaptive abilities. It is concluded that adaptation in the system of humanities knowledge is one of the significant categories that reveals the possibility and necessity of an individual to adapt to changing living conditions, which is the main condition for the stability of the social system and its development. Each scientific discipline considers it in its own subject field: Philosophy -in general theoretical plane, Psychology- at the level of the intensity of a person’s mental reactions to external influences, Sociology -in the aspect of influencing the stability of the social system at all its levels.