Adaptability is proposed as individuals’ capacity to constructively regulate psycho-behavioral functions in response to new, changing, and/or uncertain circumstances, conditions and situations. The present investigation explored the internal and external validity of an hypothesised adaptability scale. The sample comprised 2,731 high school students. In terms of internal validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA) suggested a reliable higher order adaptability factor subsumed by a reliable first order cognitive-behavioural factor and a reliable first order affective factor. Multi-group CFA indicated invariance in factor structure as a function of gender, age, and language background. Further, age (younger adolescents), language background (non-English speaking), and parents’ education (higher levels) predicted higher order adaptability, while gender (males) predicted first order affective adaptability. In terms of external validity, consistent with hypotheses, higher and first order adaptability was differentially associated with cognate/aligned factors (personality, implicit theories of ability, buoyancy) and also with psycho-educational wellbeing ‘outcome’ factors (achievement, enjoyment of school, meaning and purpose, life satisfaction). Findings hold theoretical and empirical implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to better understand the constructive regulation of individuals confronted with situations involving novelty, change, and uncertainty.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AckermanP.L. (1996). A theory of adult intellectual development: Process, personality, interests, and knowledge. Intelligence, 22, 227–257.
2.
AckermanP.L. (1997). Personality, self-concept, interest, and intelligence: Which construct doesn't fit?Journal of Personality, 65, 171–204.
3.
BanduraA. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1–26.
4.
BaumeisterR.F., GailliotM., DeWallC.N., & OatenM. (2006). Self-regulation and personality: How interventions increase regulatory success, and how depletion moderates the effects of traits on behavior. Journal of Personality, 74(6), 1773–1802.
5.
BenightC.C., & BanduraA. (2004). Social cognitive theory of posttraumatic recovery: The role of perceived self-efficacy. Behavior Research and Therapy, 42, 1129–1148.
6.
BowlesT. (2010). Readiness to adaptively change under three conditions: Clinical, careers, and natural change situations. Australian Journal of Psychology, 62, 216–226.
7.
BrandtstädterJ. (2010). Life management in developmental settings of modernity: Challenges to the adaptive self. In SilbereisenR.K. & ChenX. (Eds.), Social change and human development: Concept and results (pp. 50–72). London: Sage.
8.
BronfenbrennerU. (1992). Ecological systems theory. In VastaR. (Ed.), Six theories of child development: Revised reformulations and current issues (pp. 187–249). London: Jessica Kingsley.
9.
BronfenbrennerU. (2001). The bioecological theory of human development. In SmelserN.J. & BaltesP.B. (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (Vol. 10, pp. 6963–6970). New York: Elsevier.
10.
BusatoV.V., PrinsF.J., ElshoutJ.J., & HamakerC. (1999). The relation between learning styles, the Big Five personality traits and achievement motivation in higher education. Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 129–140.
11.
ChenF.F. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indices to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 464–504.
de RaadB., & SchouwenburgH.C. (1996). Personality in learning and education: A review. European Journal of Personality, 10, 303–336.
14.
DienerE., EmmonsR.A., LarsenR.J., & GriffinS. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.
15.
DienerE., KesebirP., & TovW. (2009). Happiness. In LearyM.R. & HoyleR.H., (Eds.), (Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 147–160). New York: The Guilford Press.
16.
EkmanP. (1992). An argument for basic emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 6, 169–200.
17.
EriksonE.H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
18.
FerrerE., & McArdleJ.J. (2004). An experimental analysis of dynamic hypotheses about cognitive abilities and achievement from childhood to early adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 40, 935–952.
19.
FolkmanS., LazarusR.S., Dunkel-SchetterC., DeLongisA., & GruenR.J. (1986). Dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 992–1003.
20.
FrankA.W. (2004). Trajectories of physical aggression from toddlerhood to middle childhood: Predictors, correlates, and outcomes. Monographs of the Society of Research in Child Development, 69, 120–128.
21.
FredricksJ.A., BlumenfeldP.C., & ParisA.H. (2004). School engagement: potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74, 59–109.
22.
FredricksonB.L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226.
23.
FrydenbergE. (2008). Adolescent coping: Advances in theory, research and applications. London: Routledge.
24.
Garcia-CollC., LambertyG., JenkinsR., McAdooH.P., CrnicK., WasikB.H., & Vasquez-GarciaH. (1996). An interactive model for the study of developmental competencies in minority children. Child Development, 67, 1891–1914.
25.
GarmezyN. (1981). Children under stress: Perspectives on antecedents and correlates of vulnerability and resistance to psychopathology. In RabinA.I., AronoffJ., BarclayA., & ZuckerR.A. (Eds.), Further explorations in personality (pp. 196–269). New York: Wiley.
26.
GrahamJ.W., & HofferS.M. (2000). Multiple imputation in multivariate research. In LittleT.D., SchnableK.U., & BaumertJ. (Eds.), Modeling longitudinal and multilevel data: Practical issues, applied approaches, and specific examples (pp. 201–218). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
27.
GrantA.M. (2001). Coaching for enhanced performance: Comparing cognitive and behavioral approaches to coaching. Paper presented at the 3rd International Spearman seminar: Extending Intelligence: Enhancement and New Constructs, Sydney, Australia.
28.
GrossJ.J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2, 271–299.
29.
GrossJ.J., & JohnO.P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 348–362.
30.
HairJ.F., AndersonR.E., TathamR.L., & BlackW.C. (1995). Multivariate data analysis with readings (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
31.
HeckhausenJ. (1999). Developmental regulation in adulthood: Age-normative and socio-structural constraints as adaptive challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press.
32.
HeckhausenJ., & SchulzR. (1993). Optimization by selection and compensation: Balancing primary and secondary control in life-span development. International Journal of Behavior Development, 16, 287–303.
33.
HeckhausenJ., & SchulzR. (1995). A life-span theory of control. Psychological Review, 102, 284–304.
34.
HeckhausenJ., WroschC., & SchulzR. (2010). A motivational theory of life-span development. Psychological Review, 117, 32–60.
35.
HigginsE.T. (1996). The ‘self digest’: Self-knowledge serving self-regulatory functions. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 71, 1062–1083.
36.
HofäckerD., BuchholzS., & BlossfeldH.-P. (2010). Globalization, institutional filters and changing life course patterns in modern societies. A summary of the results from the GLOBALIFE-project. In SilbereisenR.K. & ChenX. (Eds.), Social change and human development: Concept and results (pp. 101–124). London: Sage Publications.
37.
HowardS., & JohnsonB. (2000). Resilient and non-resilient behavior in adolescents. In GraycarA. (Ed.), Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice series (pp. 1–6). Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute of Criminology.
38.
JacksonC. (2006). Lads and ladettes: Gender and a fear of failure. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press.
LutharS.S., & CicchettiD. (2000). The construct of resilience: Implications for interventions and social policies. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 857–885.
47.
McArdleJ.J. (2009). Latent variable modeling of differences and changes with longitudinal data. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 577–605.
48.
McCraeR.R., & CostaP.T. (1985). Updating Norman's ‘adequate taxonomy’: Intelligence and personality dimensions in natural language and in questionnaires. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 49, 710–721.
49.
McCraeR.R., & CostaP.T. (1997). Conception and correlates of Openness to Experience. In HoganR., JohnsonJ.A. & BriggsS.R. (Eds.), Handbook of personality psychology (pp. 825–847). San Diego: Academic Press.
50.
McDonaldR.P., & MarshH.W. (1990). Choosing a multivariate model: Noncentrality and goodness of fit. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 247–255.
51.
MansourM., & MartinA. (2009). Home, parents, and achievement motivation: A study of key home and parental factors that predict student motivation and engagement. Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 26, 111–126.
52.
MarshH.W. (1993). The multidimensional structure of academic self-concept: Invariance over gender and age. American Educational Research Journal, 30, 841–860.
53.
MarshH.W. (1997). The measurement of physical self-concept: A construct validation approach. In FoxK. (Ed.), The physical self-concept: From motivation to well-being (pp. 27–58). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
54.
MarshH.W. (2002). A multidimensional physical self-concept: A construct validity approach to theory, measurement, and research. Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 9, 459–493.
55.
MarshH.W. (2007). Self-concept theory, measurement and research into practice: The role of self-concept in educational psychology. Leicester, UK: British Psychological Society.
56.
MarshH.W., BallaJ.R., & HauK.T. (1996). An evaluation of incremental fit indices: A clarification of mathematical and empirical processes. In MarcoulidesG.A. & SchumackerR.E. (Eds.), Advanced structural equation modeling techniques (pp. 315–353). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
57.
MartinA.J. (2004). School motivation of boys and girls: Differences of degree, differences of kind, or both? Australian Journal of Psychology, 56, 133–146.
58.
MartinA.J. (2007). Examining a multidimensional model of student motivation and engagement using a construct validation approach. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 413–440.
59.
MartinA.J. (2011). Prescriptive statements and educational practice: What can Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) offer?Educational Psychology Review, 23, 235–244.
60.
MartinA.J. (2012). Adaptability and learning. In SeelN.M. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning (pp. 90–92). Heidelberg: Springer.
61.
MartinA.J., ColmarS., DaveyL., & MarshH. (2010). Longitudinal modeling of academic buoyancy and motivation: Do the ‘5Cs’ hold up over time?British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 473–496.
62.
MartinA.J., & MarshH.W. (2006). Academic resilience and its psychological and educational correlates: A construct validity approach. Psychology in the School, 43, 267–280.
63.
MartinA.J., & MarshH.W. (2008a). Academic buoyancy: Towards an understanding of students’ everyday academic resilience. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 53–83.
64.
MartinA., & MarshH. (2008b). Workplace and academic buoyancy: Psychometric assessment and construct validity amongst school personnel and students. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 26, 168–184.
65.
MartinA.J., & MarshH.W. (2009). Academic resilience and academic buoyancy: Multidimensional and hierarchical conceptual framing of causes, correlates and cognate constructs. Oxford Review of Education, 35, 353–370.
66.
MartinJ. (2006). The meaning of the 21st century. London: Transworld.
67.
MastenA.S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56, 227–238.
68.
MiddletonC., MarshH.W., MartinA.J., RichardsG., SavisJ., PerryC., & BrownR. (2004). The Psychological Performance Inventory: Is the mental toughness test tough enough?International Journal of Sport Psychology, 35, 91–108.
69.
MoffittT.E., CaspiA., RutterM., & SilvaP.A. (2001). Sex differences in antisocial behavior: Conduct disorder, delinquency, and violence in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
70.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2006). Where immigrant students succeed. Paris: Author.
71.
ParkerP.D., MartinA.J., MartinezC., MarshH.W., & JacksonS. (2010a). Longitudinal approaches to Stages of Change measurement: Effects on cognitive and behavioral physical activity factors. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 43, 108–120.
72.
ParkerP.D., MartinA.J., MartinezC., MarshH.W., & JacksonS.A. (2010b). Stages of change in physical activity: A validation study in late adolescence. Health Education and Behavior, 37, 318–329.
73.
PavotW., & DienerE. (1993). Review of the Satisfaction With Life Scale. Psychological Assessment, 5, 164–172.
74.
PavotW., & DienerE. (2008). The Satisfaction with Life Scale and the emerging construct of life satisfaction. Journal of Positive Psychology, 3, 137–152.
75.
PinquartM., & SilbereisenR.K. (2004). Human development in times of social change: Theoretical considerations and research needs. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 289–298.
76.
PortesA., & MacLeodD. (1996). Educational progress of children of immigrants: The roles of class, ethnicity, and school context. Sociology of Education, 69, 255–275.
77.
ProchaskaJ.O., & VelicerW.F. (1997). The Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change. American Journal of Health Promotion, 12, 38–48.
78.
RaffaelliM., CrockettL.J., & ShenY-L. (2005). Developmental stability and change in self-regulation from childhood to adolescence. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 166, 54–75.
79.
RyffC.D., & KeyesC.L.M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719–727.
80.
SchulzR., & HeckhausenJ. (1996). A life span model of successful aging. American Psychologist, 51, 702–714.
81.
SchumackerR.E., & LomaxR G. (1996). A beginner's guide to structural equation modeling. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
82.
SeligmanM.E.P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfilment. New York: The Free Press.
83.
SmithB.P. (2005). Goal orientation, implicit theory of ability, and collegiate instrumental music practice. Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research, 33, 36–57.
84.
StegerM.F., KashdanT.B., SullivanB.A., & LorentzD. (2008). Understanding the search for meaning in life: Personality, cognitive style, and the dynamic between seeking and experiencing meaning. Journal of Personality, 76, 199–228.
85.
StipekD., & GralinskiH.J. (1996). Children's beliefs about intelligence and school performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 397–407.
86.
TabachnickB.G., & FidellL.S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
87.
ThompsonE.R. (2008). Development and validation of an international English Big-Five Mini-Markers. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 542–548.
88.
TomasikM.J., & SilbereisenR.K. (2009). Demands of social change as a function of the political context, institutional filters, and psychosocial resources. Social Indicators Research, 94, 13–28.
89.
TomasikM.J., SilbereisenR.K., & HeckhausenJ. (2010). Is it adaptive to disengage from demands of social change? Adjustment to developmental barriers in opportunity-deprived regions. Motivation and Emotion, 34, 384–398.
90.
WernerE. (2000). Protective factors and individual resilience. In ShonkoffJ.P. & MeiselsS.J. (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (2nd ed., pp. 115–132). New York: Cambridge University Press.
91.
WHOQOL Group. (1998). The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL): Development and general psychometric properties. Social Science and Medicine, 46, 1569–1585.
92.
WroschC., & ScheierM.F. (2003). Personality and quality of life: The importance of optimism and goal adjustment. Quality of Life Research, 12, 59–72.
93.
WroschC., ScheierM.F., CarverC.S., & SchulzR. (2003). The importance of goal disengagement in adaptive self-regulation: When giving up is beneficial. Self and Identity, 2, 1–20.
94.
WroschC., ScheierM.F., MillerG.E., SchulzR., & CarverC.S. (2003). Adaptive self-regulation of unattainable goals: Goal disengagement, goal reengagement, and subjective well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1494–1508.
95.
WroschC., SchulzR., & HeckhausenJ. (2002). Health stresses and depressive symptomatology in the elderly: The importance of health engagement control strategies. Health Psychology, 21, 340–349.
96.
ZimmermanB.J. (2002). Achieving self-regulation: The trial and triumph of adolescence. In PajaresF. & UrdanT. (Eds.), Academic motivation of adolescents. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
