The International Journal of Indian Psychology

ISSN 2348-5396 (e) | ISSN: 2349-3429 (p)

Volume 4, Issue 4, DIP: 18.01.124/20170404
DOI: 10.25215/0404.124
http://www.ijip.in | July-September, 2017
Original Research Paper

A Comparative Study of Adjustment between Boys and Girls at

Undergraduate Level

Anchal Agarwal1*, Nikita Kaul 2, Dr. Nidhi Gandhi 3

ABSTRACT
Adjustment is one of the most important psychological activities of human being. In
psychology, it refers to the behavioural process by which humans and other animals maintain
equilibrium among their various needs or between their needs and the obstacles of their
environments. The present study was conducted on the undergraduate students of various
colleges of Ahmedabad city. The main objective of the study was to identify the adjustment
problems among the college going students. The four dimensions of adjustment i.e. Home,
Health, Social and Emotional were studied across two sexes i.e. Boys and Girls. A sample of
64 students (32 Boys and 32 Girls) was selected by using quota sampling technique from
various colleges. Bell’s Adjustment Inventory for college students by Dr.R.K.Ojha (1968)
was administered. The statistical analysis was done using t -test to find out the significant
difference of adjustment across different variables. The findings revealed that the male and
female students differ significantly in their emotional and social adjustment. However, the
two groups showed no significant difference in their home and health adjustment. Thus,
based on the results it can be said that male and female students significantly differ on their
adjustment level. This research creates awareness regarding different problems in various
domains of adjustment and its critical evaluation can help to design appropriate intervention
programs.

Keywords: Adjustment, Home, Health, Emotional, Social, Boys, Girls, Undergraduate

The term adjustment refers to the extent to which an individual’s personality functions
effectively in the world of people. The concept of adjustment was originally a biological one
and was used in Darwin’s (1859) “Theory of Evolution”. It was termed as adaption. Darwin
maintained that only those species that are fit to adapt to the hazards survived (Survival of the

1
Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, L. D. Arts College, 16/1, University Area, Ahmedabad, Gujarat,
India
2
Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, L. D. Arts College, 16/1, University Area, Ahmedabad, Gujarat,
India
3
Professor, Department of Psychology, L. D. Arts College, 16/1, University Area, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
*Responding Author
Received: July 6, 2017; Revision Received: September 18, 2017; Accepted: September 25, 2017
© 2017 Agarwal A, Kaul N & Gandhi N; licensee IJIP. This is an Open Access Research distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
 A Comparative Study of Adjustment between Boys and Girls at Undergraduate Level

Fittest). The biological concept of adaptation has been borrowed by the physiologist and
renamed as “adjustment”. Adjustment and adaptation together represent the functional
perspective for view and understanding human behaviour i.e. behaviour is seen as having the
function of mastering demands that are made upon the individuals by his environment.
Human behaviour can be understood by conceiving it as an adjustment to psychological
demands. Some of the definitions of adjustment are as below:

According to William Clark (1970), "Adjustment is a harmonious relationship with the

environment in which most individual needs are satisfied in socially acceptable ways, the
resulting informs of behaviour which may range from passive conformity to vigorous action."
According to Henary Smith (1961), "It may be concluded that a good adjustment is one
which is both realistic and satisfactory. At least in the long run it reduces to a minimum the
frustrations, tensions and anxieties which a person must endure. According to Baring,
"Adjustment is a process by which a living organism maintains balance between its needs and
the circumstances that influences the satisfaction of these needs. According to Symonds
(1949), he wrote, "Adjustment can be defined as a satisfactory relation of an organism to its
environment."

There are many and untouchable fields in the sphere of life, but some held prime position in
life sphere such as home, health, social, emotional and educational fields. The way of
adjustment of an individual in these fields affect him to create his personality according to his
type of adjustment. So, it is necessary to know about of these types of adjustment.

Home Adjustment:
Home promotes satisfaction and security. The degree of adjustment of an individual exhibit
in his behaviour with others. So is the ease with home adjustment, if one is well adjusted in
home, most probably he must have been well adjusted socially because the adjustment in
different fields of life are related and effective to each other. So, the home adjustment of
students should be healthy one. The reflection of well and poor adjusted students, however, is
clearly seen in their behaviour with their class fellows. A well-adjusted child will be more
cherished and happy in comparison to the poor-adjusted.

Health Adjustment:
Health also plays prime role in the development of one's personality. Sound health is the
source of satisfaction and adjustment. The person should be physically as well as mentally
healthy. Physically and mentally healthy person always feel herself or himself well-adjusted
in society than the unhealthy ones. An unhealthy person always cries for his or her weakness
and cannot participate fully with others. Physically and mentally healthy person will be less
guided by emotions. This is known as the roof of personality. Such physically and mentally
healthy people feel themselves to be secure and content in their life.

© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 32
 A Comparative Study of Adjustment between Boys and Girls at Undergraduate Level

Social Adjustment:
It is generally said that man is a social animal. In reference to this it can be said that a person
develops his personality in his social environment, he tries to mould himself on according to
his society's social values and ideals, and to achieve these values and ideals his activities and
behaviours will be same as other members of his society, in which he lives and where his
social needs and desires are satisfied. And then he feels himself to be socially adjusted. Area
of social adjustment is influenced by social maturity of the person. Maturity in social
relationship means to establish good relations with family, neighbors, playmates, class
fellows, teachers, and other members of the society.

Emotional Adjustment:
A balanced personality is one which is emotionally adjusted. Every instinct is followed by
some emotion and in this way various emotions play an important role in the personality of
an individual. Emotionally guided personality is not sound in nature and disciplined in
manner. A person is emotionally adjusted if he expresses emotion in a proper situation in a
proper form. An emotionally stable person may be well adjusted and emotionally unstable
conditions causes mental disorders and maladjustment. Emotional adjustment is essential for
creating a sound personality. It is the root of personality adjustment and physical, intellectual
mental and esthetical adjustments are possible when emotional adjustment is made.

A well- adjusted person tries to respond in a manner reasonably consistent with the social
goals and standards of the community and not too inconsistent with his own convictions and
personal integrity. On the other hand, a maladjusted person adopts numerous response
mechanisms for solving their problems which are probably only variant behaviour pattern for
cloaking their inadequacies, for disguising their feelings, for evading their responsibilities,
and for finding security and satisfaction in deceptive compromises.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In a study done by Roy, Ekka and Ara (2011), they observed that female students were better
adjusted in all areas of adjustment than male students. Lama (2010) reported that there is a
great tendency for female students to experience adjustment problems more than males. This
finding implies that male students are better adjusted in overall adjustment on the campus as
compared to female students. Rahamtullah (2007) stated that boys are significantly better
adjusted than girls on the emotional adjustment area.

Enochs and Roland (2006) studied 511 male and female university students in the first year,
where he studied the nature of the environment, gender and their relation with level of social
adjustment in the university, the result indicates that males are more adjusted than females.
Demir and Urberg’s (2004) study, examined the relation of friendship with the emotional
adjustment for students, a sample of 618 adolescents’ result showed that a strong social
relationship has a positive impact on the adjustment, but females have more impact than
males in terms of the kind of social relationship. Dutta et.al.(1997) focused on health
adjustment of 200 students drawn randomly from Assam Agricultural University and

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 A Comparative Study of Adjustment between Boys and Girls at Undergraduate Level

Kendriya Vidalaya district of Jorhat, Assam. The total Adjustment inventory for college
students developed by Sinha and Singh (1980) was administered. The results reported that
boys are better adjusted than girls in the areas of health adjustment.

McWhitner (1997) in his study of 625 college students found that female students are more
likely to experience loneliness and social isolation than their male pears. This study found
that female students had a more difficult time fitting into the college environment and were
less likely to be involved in college activities and less likely to have leadership positions in
campus organizations. Cook (1995) calculated that female students are found to demonstrate
more adjustment problems such as establishing social relationship in college compared to the
male students. Singh (1995) observed that adolescent girls are better adjusted in the area of
emotional adjustment whereas adolescent boys were better adjusted in the area of health and
social adjustment.

Anita (1994) provided an insight into the gender differences in adolescents’ self-concept and
adjustment. It was depicted from the results that girls are better adjusted in emotional, social,
educational and total areas of adjustment as compared to boys. Leelavathi (1987) in her study
in Dhanbad City on 450 samples found that males had good social and total adjustment than
females. Mohsin, et.al, (1985) have reported in a study conducted that male subjects have
higher adjustment than female subjects. Pathak (1970) studied adjustment on 400 students
(200 boys & 200 girls) with an age range of 14-16 years. The sample was selected randomly
from six high schools of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. Saxen’s Vyakiya Paraks-Prashnavali
(MA-62) was used to measure the adjustment and reported that girls were facing more
problems than boys in the areas such as social and emotional adjustment. Palsane (1970)
explored the role of health adjustment and parental education on personal adjustment on a
sample of 85 students out of which 47 were boys and 38 were girls. The results revealed that
students with good health were high in overall adjustment. He also reported that students with
good parental education were better adjusted. Sunita (1986) found that girls were better
adjusted at home than boys. Boys were more socially and emotionally adjusted than girls.

Hypotheses Formation
Young adulthood is a period of adjusting to a new pattern of life and new social expectations.
While each person’s problems are unique to their current circumstances, there are a few
problems that almost all students deal with at least once during their time at college. There is
a challenge of separation between the home and college environment. Students face the
challenge of adjusting with the roommates who way have very different boundaries and
individual needs than family and friends from home. They also face the problems related to
health, social, and emotional environment. Because of these problems only half of entering
college students manage to finish their degree within a period and the remaining half drop out
together (Winter and Bowers, 2007). It is all due to environmental changes, social pressure,
role changes, college achievements, parental favouritism, and many more. Thus, this research
was conducted to concentrate on the reasons which are responsible for the weak adjustment
of the students with in college environment in particular and life in general. As a result, it can

© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 34
 A Comparative Study of Adjustment between Boys and Girls at Undergraduate Level

be useful to provide them with some sort of intervention after knowing and understanding
their problems.

Objectives
1. To study the adjustment problems faced by the undergraduate college students.
2. To study the difference between the home, health, social and emotional problems
faced by the male and female students studying in the colleges at undergraduate level.

Hypotheses
1. There is a significant difference between the adjustment level of male and female
college students.
2. The overall adjustment level of female students shall be better than that of the male
students.
3. There is significant difference between the adjustment level of home, health, social
and emotional problems faced by the male and female college students at
undergraduate level.

METHODOLOGY
Design and Sample Size
The present study was carried out on 64 undergraduate students (32 male and 32 female) of
different colleges situated in Ahmedabad city.

Tools used
Bell's Adjustment Inventory developed by Dr. R.K. Ojha (1968) was used for the purpose of
data collection. This inventory includes four dimensions viz. home, health, social and
emotional adjustment. The scoring of the inventory is totally negative. Each dimension has
35 questions, which are to be answered either in ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. For each ‘Yes’ responses 1
score is to be given and are not concerned to the ‘No’ responses. When an individual answer
in ‘Yes’ it indicates his/her difficulties, if he/she answers as ‘No’ it indicates that the
individual has no difficulty in that particular area.

Procedure
The data was collected by using quota sampling, which is a non-probability sampling
technique, from various colleges. Students were selected on the basis of their gender,
educational level and the college to which they belong haphazardly. Consent was then taken
from the respondents after explaining to them the purpose of the research as well as the
academic use of the data, later on. After rapport formation, the questionnaires were given
individually to the subjects. Before administering the test, the respondents were briefed about
the test. They were assured that their responses would be kept confidential and that the
research is for educational purpose. Instructions were read clearly by the investigator and
simple classifications of word meanings were given on request without influencing responses.

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 A Comparative Study of Adjustment between Boys and Girls at Undergraduate Level

After completing data collection; responses of each participant on the scale were scored using
the scoring key given in the manual.

RESULTS
The data collected in the present study is represented in the tabulated form in the table given
below:
Table 1. Showing the Mean, Variance, S.D and T-test value of female and male students
for overall adjustment:
Gender N Mean Variance S.D. ‘t’-Value Level Of
Significance
Female 32 59.1875 258.3508 16.07329 0.042675 Significant
Male 32 51.53125 179.0313 13.38026

Table 2. Showing the Mean, Variance, S.D., and T-test value of female and male students
in dimension of home adjustment:
Gender Mean Variance S.D. ‘t’-Value Level Of
Significance
Female 13.46875 28.4506 5.33391 0.856981089 Insignificant
Male 13.6875 18.28629 4.276247

Table 3. Showing the Mean, Variance, S.D., and T-test value of female and male students
in dimension of health adjustment:
Gender Mean Variance S.D. ‘t’-Value Level Of
Significance
Female 10.34375 33.26512 5.767592 0.79206 Insignificant
Male 10 20.64516 4.543695

Table 4. Showing the Mean, Variance, S.D., and T-test value of female and male students
in dimension of social adjustment:
Gender Mean Variance S.D. ‘t’-Value Level Of
Significance
Female 18.90625 9.894153 3.145497 0.00802 Significant
Male 16.40625 16.63609 4.078736

Table 5. Showing the Mean, Variance, S.D., and T-test value of female and male students
in dimension of emotional adjustment:
Gender Mean Variance S.D. ‘t’-Value Level Of
Significance
Female 16.46875 50.90222 7.134579 0.003029 Significant
Male 11.4375 33.86694 5.819531

INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION

Table no.1 shows the mean scores, variance, standard deviation, T-test value and level of
significance between female (N=32) and male (N=32) students in overall adjustment. Here,
the T-test value indicates that the level of significance in overall adjustment in female and

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 A Comparative Study of Adjustment between Boys and Girls at Undergraduate Level

male students is moderately significant, (T-test value=0.042675). It was found that the female
college going students were unsatisfactorily adjusted as compared to the male students. The
given result could be due to the reason that girls are sometimes given less importance in
family and society than boys. McWhitner (1997) found that the female students faced more
problems in health and emotional dimensions of adjustment. Pathak (1970) also reported that
girls were facing problems in the areas such as social and emotional adjustment.

Table no.2 shows the mean scores, variance, standard deviation, T-test value and level of
significance between female and male students in dimension of HOME ADJUSTMENT.
Since, the T-test value is 0.86, which is more than the critical t-value i.e. 0.1, the result
reveals that there is no significant difference present between female and male college
students in their level of home adjustment. This can also be observed by the Mean values of
both the groups (i.e. female=13.47, male=13.69).

Table no.3 shows the mean scores, variance, standard deviation, T-test value and level of
significance between female and male students in dimension of HEALTH ADJUSTMENT.
Since, the T-test value is0.79, which is more than the critical t-value i.e. 0.1, the result reveals
that there is no significant difference present between female and male college students in
their level of health adjustment too. This can also be observed by the Mean values of both the
groups (i.e. female=10.34, male=10). Yet there are some studies which contradict with this
finding. Dutta et.al (1997) found that there is a significant difference between health
adjustment of male and female students. It was found that boys were better adjusted as
compared to girls in the areas of health adjustment. Singh (1995) also observed that boys are
better adjusted in the area of health adjustment as compared to girls.

Table no.4 shows the mean scores, variance, standard deviation, T-test value and level of
significance between female and male students in dimension of SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT.
Since, the T-test value is0.00802, which is less than the critical t-value range i.e. 0.1, the
result reveals that there is significant difference present between female and male college
students. This can also be observed by the Mean values of both the groups (i.e. female=18.91,
male=16.41). This also reveals that female students are unsatisfactorily adjusted to their
Social environment. Some studies also show the same, for instance, Cook (1995) found that
girls face more adjustment problems in social relationships as compared to boys. And, a
contradictory study by Muni & Pavigrahi (1997) found that girls are better adjusted in social
adjustment as compared to boys.

Table no.5 shows the mean scores, variance, standard deviation, T-test value and level of
significance between female and male students in dimension of EMOTIONAL
ADJUSTMENT. Since, the T-test value is0.003, which is less than the critical t-value range
i.e. 0.01, the result reveals that there is a high significant difference present between female
and male college students. This can also be observed by the Mean values of both the groups
(i.e. female=16.47, male=11.44). This study shows that female college students are
unsatisfactorily adjusted emotionally than male students. Yet there are some studies

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 A Comparative Study of Adjustment between Boys and Girls at Undergraduate Level

conducted on this dimension which contradict this finding. Muni & Pavigrahi (1997) found
that girls were better adjusted than boys in emotional adjustment area. Another study by
Rahamtullah (2007) stated that boys are significantly better adjusted than girls on the
emotional adjustment area.

CONCLUSION AND ITS APPLICATION

On the basis of this study it can be concluded that there is a significant difference between the
level of adjustment in female and male undergraduate college students. Female students are
observed to be more unsatisfactorily adjusted when compared to male college going students.
Girls and boys also differ in each domain of adjustment. There was not much difference
found in Home and Health domain, but a high level of difference in adjustment of girls and
boys was found in Social and Emotional Conditions.

Adjustment is very important as it is a process by which an individual learns certain ways of

behaviour to cope with situation. So, college authorities and parents should pay attention to
minimize the adjustment problems of college going students. Appropriate interventions
programs can be planned to assist college students who have problems in coping with the
demands and challenges which can create stress and tension to their life in campus. General
information on perceived academic, social and cultural issues in campus environment should
be provided in order to make students transition smooth. The college authorities should give
specific attention towards student’s financial needs as serious financial problems could leave
a negative impact towards their adjustment in college. College administration should organize
health awareness programs. They should be made too aware about the available resources and
services so that the students can easily take benefit from them.

Limitations
The present study had its own limitations, some of which are as follows:
• The small sample size of only 64 students was selected which is too small to
generalize the findings.
• The study was confined to only few colleges of Ahmedabad city.
• The study was confined to only college students of undergraduate level.

Suggestions
Some suggestions for future research are as follows:
• Same study can be conducted on large sample.
• It can be expanded to more colleges for broader generalization.
• Similar study can be conducted on postgraduate college students also and the
adjustment level can be then studied with respect to their level of education along
with the gender.

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 A Comparative Study of Adjustment between Boys and Girls at Undergraduate Level

Acknowledgments
Present research in the form of paper submitted here with, we are very glad to acknowledge
our indebted to all those who have helped us directly or indirectly and rendered active co-
operation during our research work.

First and foremost, we would like to express our special appreciation and thanks to our
mentor Professor Dr. Nidhi Gandhi, Department of Psychology, L.D. Arts College,
Ahmedabad, for her valuable guidance and help to complete our research work. This research
has been possible because of her deep knowledge on the subject. We are also thankful to our
Prof. Sharon Writer for her guidance, encouragement and motivation throughout our research
work.

Secondly, we would like to acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial role of all the
principals and professors from different departments and institutions where we approached to
collect data for our research work. Thank you for your support and co-operation in
successfully collecting information and data for our research work.

And finally, a special thanks to our friends. We express our gratitude to Himakshi Shukla,
Pranoti Kulkarni, Vaishali Trivedi, and Vidhi Davewho have always been a source of great
support for us.

Conflict of Interests: The author declared no conflict of interests.

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How to cite this article: Agarwal A, Kaul N & Gandhi N (2017). A Comparative Study of
Adjustment between Boys and Girls at Undergraduate Level. International Journal of Indian
Psychology, Vol. 4, (4), DIP:18.01.124/20170404, DOI:10.25215/0404.124

© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 40