What does maladaptation mean?
Maladaptation names a process in which adjustment to changed or unusual circumstances fails, becomes harmful, or produces results that do not fit the situation. The word can describe people, animals, institutions, technologies, and policies, although it is especially common in biology, psychology, and the social sciences. For example, a species may become maladapted to a newly altered habitat, or a community may respond to an economic crisis in a way that creates further instability. Unlike simply being unadapted, which can imply that no adjustment has occurred, maladaptation suggests that some adjustment has taken place but has an undesirable outcome. The prefix mal- combined with adaptation gives the word its meaning: adaptation that is bad, unsuitable, or counterproductive. Understanding the term is useful because apparent efforts to adapt can sometimes deepen a problem rather than solve it.
nounMaladaptation is the process or condition of adapting to new circumstances in a way that is ineffective, harmful, or inappropriate to the circumstances. It can refer to an individual, an organism, a group, or a social or technological system.
- An ineffective, harmful, or inappropriate process of adaptation.
- A condition in which a person, organism, or system is poorly adjusted to its circumstances.
"The species' maladaptation to its changed habitat contributed to its decline."
"The policy was intended to help rural communities, but its maladaptation to local conditions made the situation worse."
"Researchers studied maladaptation among the insects to the new agricultural environment."
The plural is used when referring to separate instances of maladaptation.
"The researchers identified several maladaptations among the newly introduced species."
Sometimes the best way to cope with change is to change the way you are coping—and maladaptation is what happens when adjustment becomes a trap.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does maladaptation come from?
Maladaptation is formed by combining the productive prefix mal-, meaning bad or harmful, with adaptation, which comes from Latin adaptare, “to fit to” or “adapt to.” The prefix mal- was already widely used in English to form negatives such as malformed and malfunction before this word became established. The resulting noun follows the long-established English pattern of forming a contrasting term by prefixing an existing noun, with modern usage especially associating it with biological and social-scientific discussions.
Related word forms
How maladaptation is actually used
The term is relatively uncommon in everyday conversation but is used in academic, biological, psychological, and social-science writing. It is more specific than the general idea of poor adjustment and usually implies a mismatch between an organism, person, or system and its environment or goals.
Easily confused with maladaptation
Adaptation generally describes a successful or useful adjustment to new conditions, whereas maladaptation describes an ineffective, harmful, or inappropriate adjustment.