The challenge – It’s hard to bounce back when things get tough or go wrong.
The science – It’s possible to become more resilient and greater resilience is related to greater wellbeing.
The solution – Focus on increasing your daily dose of positive emotions, reframing experiences positively, getting physically active, obtaining and utilising social support, use your strengths, and being optimistic – all of these lead to becoming more resilient to stressors.
Confucius mentioned that “our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall”. So let’s face it, everybody falls and life has it downs to go with the ups. It’s unrealistic to suggest or expect otherwise – at some point we will all have to deal with adverse events or experiences, and major ones at that.
Although everyone has downs, how and why do some people survive and grow stronger as a result of misfortune, and even thrive on the challenge, whereas others crumble at the slightest setback? Well their level of psychological resilience may be part of the answer. Resilience is a multidimensional construct that is defined as “the flexibility in response to changing situational demands, and the ability to bounce back from negative emotional experiences”. Thus by resilience I mean our ability to keep going in the face of difficulty, to bounce back from adversity, and to manage our negative emotions more effectively - rather than letting them drag us into a downward spiral of doom and despair.
Now some people think of resilience as being a personality trait or characteristic that you are born with or not. However the scientific evidence suggests otherwise - resilience is a skill which can be learned and increased. In fact perhaps the biggest psychology program and study in the world – the US Army’s ‘Comprehensive Solider and Family Fitness’ program –trained all 1.2 million soldiers in the skills of resilience, at a whopping cost of $125 million dollars. The rationale here is that greater resilience will prevent major psychological problems downstream, like Acute Stress Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which are both individually debilitating and socially costly.
However the benefits of becoming more resilience are applicable to everyone; not just soldiers and not just in remediating negative experiences. Resilient people are more likely to perceive challenges and setbacks as manageable, have greater emotional stability, greater energy and curiosity, and demonstrate greater ability to cope with both major stressors and daily hassles.
In short, greater resilience is related to greater flourishing, and more specifically related to greater life satisfaction, happiness, physical activity, optimism, strength use, social relationships, and less depressed mood to name just a few. Therefore it is unsurprising that validated ways to increase resilience include increasing your daily dose of positive emotions, reframing experiences positively (an optimistic explanatory style), getting physically active, obtaining and utilising social support, use your strengths, and being optimistic.
So in times of psychological plenty, now might be a good time to inoculate and increase your resilience.
For more information:
Reivich, K., & Shatté, A. (2002). The resilience factor: 7 keys to finding your inner strength and overcoming life's hurdles. New York: Broadway Books.
The science – It’s possible to become more resilient and greater resilience is related to greater wellbeing.
The solution – Focus on increasing your daily dose of positive emotions, reframing experiences positively, getting physically active, obtaining and utilising social support, use your strengths, and being optimistic – all of these lead to becoming more resilient to stressors.
Confucius mentioned that “our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall”. So let’s face it, everybody falls and life has it downs to go with the ups. It’s unrealistic to suggest or expect otherwise – at some point we will all have to deal with adverse events or experiences, and major ones at that.
Although everyone has downs, how and why do some people survive and grow stronger as a result of misfortune, and even thrive on the challenge, whereas others crumble at the slightest setback? Well their level of psychological resilience may be part of the answer. Resilience is a multidimensional construct that is defined as “the flexibility in response to changing situational demands, and the ability to bounce back from negative emotional experiences”. Thus by resilience I mean our ability to keep going in the face of difficulty, to bounce back from adversity, and to manage our negative emotions more effectively - rather than letting them drag us into a downward spiral of doom and despair.
Now some people think of resilience as being a personality trait or characteristic that you are born with or not. However the scientific evidence suggests otherwise - resilience is a skill which can be learned and increased. In fact perhaps the biggest psychology program and study in the world – the US Army’s ‘Comprehensive Solider and Family Fitness’ program –trained all 1.2 million soldiers in the skills of resilience, at a whopping cost of $125 million dollars. The rationale here is that greater resilience will prevent major psychological problems downstream, like Acute Stress Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which are both individually debilitating and socially costly.
However the benefits of becoming more resilience are applicable to everyone; not just soldiers and not just in remediating negative experiences. Resilient people are more likely to perceive challenges and setbacks as manageable, have greater emotional stability, greater energy and curiosity, and demonstrate greater ability to cope with both major stressors and daily hassles.
In short, greater resilience is related to greater flourishing, and more specifically related to greater life satisfaction, happiness, physical activity, optimism, strength use, social relationships, and less depressed mood to name just a few. Therefore it is unsurprising that validated ways to increase resilience include increasing your daily dose of positive emotions, reframing experiences positively (an optimistic explanatory style), getting physically active, obtaining and utilising social support, use your strengths, and being optimistic.
So in times of psychological plenty, now might be a good time to inoculate and increase your resilience.
For more information:
Reivich, K., & Shatté, A. (2002). The resilience factor: 7 keys to finding your inner strength and overcoming life's hurdles. New York: Broadway Books.
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