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Behavioral Flexibility

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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

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Synonyms

Adaptability; Behavioral plasticity; Cognitive flexibility

Definition

Behavioral flexibility refers to the ability to adapt effectively to the changing external or internal environment.

Behavioral flexibility is the ability to adapt effectively to the changing external or internal environment (Ragozzino et al. 1999). The term is used interchangeably with cognitive flexibility and behavioral plasticity. It involves the ability to inhibit behaviors that are inappropriate in the social milieu while promoting adaptive behavior corresponding to the current environment. It refers to behavior reflecting a conscious, cognitive change, thereby excluding reflexive, automatic behaviors.

Flexible behavior is often controlled by basic cognitive systems. For example, shivering due to a drop in temperature may elicit a behavioral response such as putting on a coat or lighting a fire which is an example of behavioral flexibility. In this respect, the ongoing (maybe inactive) behavior is...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Counselling and Guidance, Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Bilge Uzun

  2. Bahcesehir University, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ahmet Aydemir

Authors
  1. Bilge Uzun
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  2. Ahmet Aydemir
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bilge Uzun .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

    Glenn Scheyd

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Uzun, B., Aydemir, A. (2019). Behavioral Flexibility. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1611-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1611-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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