Resilience is a dynamic concept that has taken the psychological world by storm. I focused on resilience for my dissertation and became more invested in the topic the longer I studied it. It's intrigue truly multiplied instead of dwindled as I pursued understanding of the mystery that surrounds why some people rise through adversity and thrive while others are decimated by it. I wondered, what makes one person emerge with newly developed virtues and skills on the other side of hardship while others become oppressed and fail to regain their footing? Is it due to inborn personality traits or is resilience something that can be learned? If it can be learned, then how does one go about developing it for themselves, as well a learning how to cultivate a desire and pursuit of it in others who are also struggling under life’s heavy burdens? These questions dominated my thinking and drew me deeper into the mystery surrounding resilience. For my research, I created two categories because most research identified ways people thought or actions they took as representing some aspect of resilience. Therefore, I identified resilience-promoting mindsets and resilience-promoting behaviors as my two areas of focus in order to better identify all the tenets involved in this multi-faceted construct. This post focuses on the general construct of resilience. (Please look for two separate posts to dive into the specifics on resilience-promoting mindsets or resilience-promoting behaviors if you have further interest in this topic.)
Resilience is a dynamic concept dating back to the 1620s. The etymology of the word "resilience" is the Latin root resiliens and a Latin verb resilire, which means, "to rebound, recoil." The term first appeared in a scholarly discussion by in 1818 when an environmental researcher used it to explain why some trees survived adverse weather conditions while others succumbed to the severe conditions. Resilience first emerged as a viable construct in the field of psychology in the 1960s when Norman Garmezy, who worked with patients with schizophrenia and their families, observed how certain patients fared better than others despite the presence of precarious risk factors. Although he initially studied the risk factors that were precursors for the onset of schizophrenia, as well as the deficits in functioning that were evident both individually and within the family unit, he quickly became intrigued with those who excelled despite the presence of risk factors. Contemplating the positive mental and behavioral adaptations that some individuals demonstrated that helped them bounce back from adversities, he identified the presence of certain psychosocial resources. His work increasingly became centered on identifying competencies instead of psychopathology. He found that biological predispositions and psychosocial elements both played a role in resilience. The stress-resistant factors that led to adaptive coping behaviors in high-risk populations led him to pioneer empirical studies on resilience, establishing valuable precedents that became foundational for subsequent resilience research.
When applied to humans, resilience is most commonly referred to as the ability to bounce back from adversity. It takes into account the presence of various elements in someone’s life which might increase the likelihood of negative reactions to adversity. These are called ‘risk factors,’ and include things that impede an individual’s ability to effectively manage stressors and often result in maladaptive coping mechanisms. They include childhood emotional, physical, or sexual abuse; childhood neglect; poverty; neighborhood or domestic violence; personal or parental substance abuse; personal or family illnesses; being a victim of a crime; discrimination; or other chronic personal or family stressors. Research indicates the more factors someone experiences tends to equate with a greater potential for negative life outcomes. But obviously, that is not the end of the story, as we have all seen and heard incredible stories of overcoming that defy these odds. The other grouping that must be held in balance with ‘risk factors’ is called ‘protective factors.’ ‘Protective factors’ enhance someone’s ability to resist the negative effects of adversity, and tend to transcend ethnic, geographic, and socio-economic boundaries. Acting as a buffer against the negative pulls of adversity in someone’s life, these protective factors include things like warm and consistent parenting or other positive care-takers, meaningful support from others, strong faith variables that anchor someone in stable beliefs, a sense of belonging to larger school, church or social communities that provides meaning and connection. Even if someone listed out on a scoreboard the risk factors and protective factors present in someone’s life, that alone would still make it impossible to predict whether that person would rise or fall through adversity because resilience has a transcendent quality that supersedes the limits of these identifiable factors. There is more to resilience than a predictable equation. The mystery of resilience… it still continues.
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