ABSTRACT
In endeavoring to define individual psychological health in terms that would distill its essence, Jack and Jeanne Block (Block & Block, 1980; Block & Kremen, 1996) focused on the ideal of flexibility. In their view, no fixed constellation of desirable traits could in itself be taken as an index of psychological robustness; indeed, if an individual manifested an unvarying approach to challenges posed by the environment, she would be able to remain free of stress and symptoms only if she found a compatible and equally unvarying “niche in which to abide” (Block & Kremen, 1996, p. 350). Because static niches of this kind are in short supply, and because the rewards they offer are necessarily limited, the Blocks concluded that true psychological well-being must entail a propensity for ongoing growth—an ability to alter one’s behavior and modes of interpreting the world so as to keep pace with changing environmental demands while still maintaining a sense of affective equilibrium and personal integrity. According to the Blocks, this capacity for smooth, continual adaptation would facilitate optimal functioning across many domains of human endeavor.
