Psychologists view well-adjusted behaviour as conformity�the ability to navigate relationships and events within a framework of societal rules and regulations. George Serban argues that a better test is how well an individual is able to navigate adverse situations by handling conformity's ambiguities and incongruities. He uses clinical findings and content analysis to explore the interface between social conformity and nonconformist behaviours.

The definition of the normal is itself problematic, since society's expectations are sometimes controversial, arbitrary, or equivocal. As a...