maladaptive

1. (psychology) Of behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive mental and behavioral adaptation to a new situation.Examples: "It seemed likely that in the apparently maladaptive responses of workers to computer-based technology (what many called “resistance to change”), it would be possible to trace a lineage of ordinary assumptions that referred back to the realities of the past and their points of disjuncture with the future."; "The learned helplessness explanation of sex differences in depression would be supported if it was shown that a greater degree of uncontrollability and a more maladaptive explanatory style in women account for any sex differences observed in depression in the sample."; "An individual's functioning can be conceptualized on a continuum, with one end being more adaptive and healthy and the other end being more maladaptive and less healthy."

2. (evolutionary theory) Of anatomy, physiology, or behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive evolutionary adaptation to an environment or its changes.Examples: "The mismatch is the result of an adaptive lag that occurs when the environment that produced an evolved mechanism changes more rapidly than the time it takes for the mechanism to adapt to the change. This theory posits that many of the physical and psychological traits that were originally selected for because they were at the time advantageous for survival and reproduction may not only no longer be useful but can even be maladaptive."