Psychological Resilience: 7 Practical Ways To Build It

Introduction To Psychological Resilience

Psychological resilience refers to a person's ability to cope, adapt, and recover from challenging, stressful, or traumatic life experiences. The word resilience comes from the Latin resiliens, meaning “to rebound or recoil”. Psychological resilience, therefore, is our ability to “bounce back” psychologically and emotionally from adversity to a healthy functioning state. This concept is integral to understanding how people navigate life's inevitable challenges without succumbing to their long-term negative effects. Resilience is not a trait that individuals either have or do not have; rather, it involves behaviours, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and developed by anyone (Southwick et al., 2014)¹.

Resilience extends across the lifespan, offering insights into how humans of all ages cope with stress and major life events. Studies show that resilient people are better equipped to manage stress, maintain a positive outlook, and rebound from setbacks more effectively than their less resilient counterparts (Masten et al., 1990)².

In this article, I will explore some popular theories and perspectives on psychological resilience. I will examine various frameworks and models that help explain how resilience develops and can be fostered in individuals and communities. Finally, I will offer several practical ways you may build personal resilience.

Worksheet: Building Personal Resilience

Developing personal resilience can help us better manage challenging situations. Use this worksheet developed from established research and practice, to help you develop a more personally effective means of coping with critical feedback.

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Theories of Resilience

Early research into resilience focused on children who thrived despite being raised in high-risk environments. These foundational studies laid the groundwork for understanding the complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and personal factors. For example, Werner and Smith's longitudinal study of children in Kauai provided critical insights into how positive relationships, personal competencies, and social support contribute to resilience (Werner & Smith, 1982)³.

Understanding psychological resilience requires delving into the various perspectives that attempt to explain its development and manifestation. Associated theories span across different disciplines, including biology, psychology, sociology, and ecology. Each of them offers unique insights into the factors that contribute to resilience.

Biological Perspectives of Resilience

Biological theories of resilience focus on the genetic and physiological mechanisms that enable individuals to cope with stress and adversity. Research in this area often looks at the role of the stress response system. This includes the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and its regulation of cortisol, a stress hormone. One of the foundational works in this area is by Feder et al. (2009)⁴, who reviewed the biological bases of human resilience and highlighted the importance of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and neurochemical systems in resilience.

The HPA axis, a central component of the body's stress response system, regulates cortisol levels, affecting various brain functions, including mood and cognition. Feder and colleagues posited that alterations in the functioning of the HPA axis, possibly influenced by genetic variations, could modulate an individual's resilience to stress. They also discussed the role of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and neuropeptides like neuropeptide Y in resilience, suggesting that genetic variations affecting these neurochemical systems could predict resilience levels.

Other Findings

Other studies have identified specific genetic markers associated with resilience. For instance, gene variants influencing the sensitivity of the HPA axis to cortisol have been linked to differential stress responses and resilience outcomes (Binder et al., 2008) ⁵. Additionally, research into brain plasticity and neurogenesis, particularly in the hippocampus, has underscored the brain's adaptability in response to stress and its role in resilience (McEwen, 2001) ⁶.

The interplay between genes, brain function, and environmental factors is central to biological resilience theories. Epigenetic mechanisms, which involve changes in gene expression without altering the DNA sequence, have emerged as a key area of interest, illustrating how environmental influences can modulate genetic predispositions towards resilience (Meaney, 2010) ⁷.

Psychological Perspectives of Resilience

Psychological theories of resilience emphasise the role of cognitive processes, emotional regulation, and personal beliefs in navigating adversity. Key concepts include self-efficacy, the belief in one's ability to influence events that affect one's life (Bandura, 1977) ⁸, and locus of control, which refers to individuals' belief about the extent to which they can control events that affect them (Rotter, 1966) ⁹. These theories suggest that a positive outlook, adaptive coping strategies, and a strong sense of self can significantly contribute to resilience.

A central concept in psychological resilience is the idea of “positive adaptation” in the face of stress or trauma. According to Masten (2001)¹⁰, resilience emerges from “ordinary magic”. That is to say, common attributes and processes such as optimism, cognitive flexibility, and social support that are accessible to most people. This perspective suggests that resilience is not a rare trait but rather a set of skills and attitudes that can be developed and enhanced over time.

Other Contributions

Luthar et al. (2000) ¹¹ highlights the importance of protective factors in resilience, differentiating between individual characteristics like self-efficacy and external support systems such as family cohesion and community resources. These protective factors act as buffers against adverse experiences, enabling individuals to adapt more effectively.

Another significant contribution comes from the work of Rutter (1987) ¹², who introduced the concept of “steeling effects,” where exposure to manageable stressors can strengthen resilience, akin to inoculation. This theory suggests that facing and overcoming challenges can build resilience by teaching coping mechanisms and enhancing self-esteem.

Psychological resilience is thus conceptualised as a dynamic process involving interactions between personal strengths, coping strategies, and the environment. It underscores the potential for growth and adaptation in adversity, guided by innate dispositions and learned behaviours.

Ecological and Socio-Cultural Perspectives on Resilience

Ecological theories, such as Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, highlight the importance of the interaction between individuals and their environments in developing resilience (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) ¹³. This perspective considers the impact of family, community, and cultural factors on resilience. It suggests that supportive social networks and positive community environments foster resilience.

Bronfenbrenner's model places individual development within a series of nested environmental systems ranging from the immediate microsystem (e.g., family, school) to the broader macrosystem (e.g., societal values, cultural norms). This model suggests that resilience is not solely an innate characteristic but is also profoundly influenced by the interactions between individuals and their environments. It underscores the importance of supportive relationships and positive interactions within one's community as fundamental to fostering resilience.

Socio-cultural perspectives add another layer of complexity by highlighting how cultural beliefs, practices, and traditions can either bolster resilience or pose additional challenges. Ungar (2008) argues that resilience is contextually and culturally specific, with different communities valuing different qualities and coping mechanisms. For instance, communal societies might emphasise collective support and interdependence as key to overcoming adversity, whereas individualistic societies might prioritise personal achievement and self-reliance.

These perspectives collectively underscore that resilience is a dynamic process influenced by multiple levels of one's environment, from immediate social interactions to broader socio-cultural contexts. They advocate for a more holistic approach to understanding and nurturing resilience, considering the diverse and rich environmental and cultural landscapes in which people live.

Integrative Theories of Resilience

Integrative resilience theories synthesise insights from biological, psychological, and environmental frameworks to comprehensively understand how individuals navigate adversity. These theories suggest an interplay between individual characteristics, family dynamics, community support, and broader societal influences in shaping resilience. A key figure in this area, Ann S. Masten, refers to resilience as “ordinary magic,” suggesting that the capacity to thrive in the face of adversity stems from common processes and resources that can be fostered and strengthened across different contexts.

Masten's work underscores the role of protective factors at various levels, from individual coping skills and familial support to community resources and societal structures, in facilitating resilience. She argues for a systems approach, where resilience is considered a product of interactions within and between these levels. This perspective highlights the importance of adaptive systems, including the family unit, schools, and communities, in providing the scaffolding that supports individual resilience.

Moreover, integrative theories often incorporate the concept of developmental cascades, which refers to various factors' cumulative and interactive effects over time. These cascades can lead to pathways of resilience or vulnerability, depending on the balance of risk and protective factors throughout an individual's life.

Integrative theories, therefore, offer a nuanced view of resilience, recognising it as a multifaceted and dynamic process influenced by a constellation of factors across the lifespan. Masten's contributions, in particular, have been pivotal in advancing our understanding of resilience as a common phenomenon that can be enhanced through targeted interventions at multiple levels.

Resilience & Positive Psychology

The field of positive psychology, founded on factors that make life most worth living, encompasses the concept of resilience. Founded by Martin Seligman, Positive Psychology focuses on strengths, virtues, and factors that contribute to human flourishing. Its perspective offers a rich framework for understanding and enhancing resilience.

Positive Psychology's Core Concepts Related to Resilience

Grit

Grit is a concept popularised by Angela Duckworth (2007) ¹⁴. It refers to the passion and perseverance involved in pursuing long-term goals. Duckworth's research suggests that grit significantly predicts success beyond what talent and intelligence can explain. Grit embodies a steadfast determination to overcome obstacles, maintain effort, and stay committed to goals despite failures or setbacks. This relentless pursuit of achievement is closely related to resilience, which involves “bouncing back” from adversity and moving forward despite challenges.

The relationship between grit and resilience is intertwined; resilience provides the foundation for grit by enabling individuals to recover from challenges, while grit contributes to resilience by fostering a long-term commitment to overcoming those challenges. In her studies, Duckworth demonstrates that individuals with high levels of grit are more likely to exhibit resilience. They possess the ability to recover from difficulties and the sustained effort and passion required to achieve their long-term objectives.

Growth Mindset

Carol Dweck's concept of growth and fixed mindsets provides a framework for understanding how individuals perceive their abilities and the impact of this perception on their behaviour. According to Dweck ¹⁵, people with a fixed mindset believe their abilities, intelligence, and talents are static traits. As such, they tend to avoid challenges that might expose their limitations. In contrast, those with a growth-oriented mindset perceive abilities as malleable and capable of development through effort, feedback, and perseverance. This belief motivates them to embrace challenges, learn from criticism, and persist despite setbacks.

The link between a growth mindset and resilience is profound. Individuals with a growth mindset are more likely to exhibit resilience because they view obstacles and failures not as insurmountable barriers but as opportunities for learning. This perspective fosters a resilience that enables them to bounce back from difficulties and continue striving towards their goals. Dweck's research suggests that fostering a growth mindset can enhance resilience. Interventions to shift individuals from a fixed to a growth mindset can significantly impact their ability to cope with adversity and pursue long-term achievements.

Worksheet: Building Personal Resilience

Developing personal resilience can help us better manage challenging situations. Use this worksheet developed from established research and practice, to help you develop a more personally effective means of coping with critical feedback.

Download it Free

The PERMA Model

The PERMA model, proposed by positive psychologist Martin Seligman (2011) ¹⁶, outlines five essential elements contributing to well-being and happiness: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. This framework is pivotal in understanding how individuals can thrive and lead fulfilling lives.

The relationship between the PERMA model and resilience is significant. Positive emotions, a core component of PERMA, play a crucial role in building resilience by enabling individuals to recover more swiftly from stress and adversity. Engagement, or flow, involves deep immersion in activities, which can help individuals overcome challenges by focusing on strengths and tasks.

Relationships are vital for support and encouragement during difficult times and enhancing our capacity to bounce back. Meaning, or the pursuit of something greater than oneself, fosters resilience by giving individuals a reason to persevere through hardships. Lastly, accomplishment or mastery encourages resilience by promoting a sense of efficacy and confidence in facing future obstacles.

Collectively, the PERMA model facilitates resilience by equipping individuals with the psychological resources to navigate life's ups and downs, enhancing their ability to recover from setbacks and maintain well-being amidst challenges.

7 Practical Ways to Build Psychological Resilience

Building resilience is a dynamic process that involves developing positive attitudes, skills, and behaviours to help individuals navigate adversity. Drawing from resilience theory and positive psychology, here are practical strategies and interventions that can enhance resilience in individuals across different contexts.

1. Develop Your Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand one's emotions and those of others and react appropriately. It is a foundational component of resilience. However, we should avoid using what we learn about emotional intelligence to mask our emotional state or manipulate others. Strategies to enhance emotional intelligence include:

• Self-awareness practices, such as journaling, self-reflection, mindfulness, and meditation, can help one better understand one’s emotional responses.
• With practice, emotion regulation techniques, like deep breathing or cognitive reappraisal, can be used to manage and respond to emotions constructively.

2. Build Your Social Connections

Social support is a critical resilience factor. We gain by giving–it is a reciprocal process. Building and maintaining strong, positive relationships with others can develop strong bonds, meaning, purpose, and a sense of belonging. Practical steps include:

• Give of yourself without expectation of praise or reward.
• Engaging in community activities to broaden social networks.
• Cultivating empathy and active listening skills to strengthen personal relationships.

3. Adopt a Growth Oriented Mindset

A growth mindset fosters resilience by framing challenges as opportunities for learning and growth. To cultivate a growth mindset:

• See challenges as chances to develop new skills rather than potential for failure.
• Learn from feedback and view setbacks as informative rather than defining. In other words, results are temporary–you have the opportunity to try again and do better

4. Practice Self-Compassion

Not to be confused with giving yourself an easy way out of doing something difficult, self-compassion involves treating oneself with kindness and understanding during difficult times. Following through on complex tasks you set yourself is an important part of building resilience. There is merit in the challenge of doing difficult things; recognising when to give up versus push through is an important distinction. With that said, self-compassion can be developed through the following;

• Use mindfulness exercises to acknowledge and accept the emotions you experience without judgment.
• Practice self-kindness, such as speaking to oneself with encouragement and understanding, similar to how you would support a friend in a similar situation.

5. Build Physical Resilience

Physical activity is not solely physical. In all cases, a psychological component accompanies the physical action and, therefore, can impact psychological resilience. Putting yourself out there, feeling the fear and doing it anyway, accepting that this thing will be physically demanding but still going for it. Key practices include:

• Regular physical activity can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression and improve mood. Push yourself beyond your comfort zone and get out of breath regularly to help train your body and mind to cope with difficulty.
• Adequate sleep and nutrition are essential for cognitive function and overall well-being, so be sure eat and sleep well. Processed foods and staying up late will eventually take their toll on your body and mind.

6. Practice Healthy Coping Strategies

Abrasive and toxic workplaces are unhealthy for most people, so finding effective coping strategies in these situations is essential for building psychological resilience. However, waiting for the situation to arise before taking action is often too late, and we may be likely to choose a coping strategy that causes us more harm in the long run. Healthy coping strategies include:

• Develop your problem-solving skills with specific courses and workshops that help you upskill and address challenges directly.
• Stress management techniques, such as relaxation exercises or engaging in hobbies.
• And, of course, leaving the situation altogether is often the healthiest strategy.

7. Set Realistic Goals and Take Action

Setting and pursuing achievable, values-based SMART goals can enhance a sense of purpose and personal control, which are important for resilience. Strategies include:

• Identify your values first so that your goals may align with your core self.
• Break goals into manageable steps in line with the SMART acronym and celebrate small achievements.
• Being proactive in taking steps towards these goals, rather than avoiding problems.
• Work with someone who can hold you accountable – accountability is a strong motivator.

Building resilience is a proactive and ongoing process. By integrating these practical strategies into daily life, individuals can enhance their ability to adapt to and recover from adversity, leading to improved well-being and success in various aspects of life.

Measures of Psychological Resilience

The Brief Resilience Coping Scale (BRCS)

The Brief Resilient Coping Scale ¹⁷ captures people's tendencies to cope with stress adaptively. The scale focuses on the tendency to effectively use coping strategies in flexible, committed ways to actively solve problems despite stressful circumstances. The BRCS uses 5-point scale response, ranging from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 5 (describes me very well).

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The Brief Resilience Scale (BRS)

The Brief Resilience Scale¹⁸ was created to assess the perceived ability to bounce back or recover from stress. The scale contains six items measured on a 5-point scale response from 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (neutral), 4 (agree), 5 (strongly agree). Higher average scores indicate higher levels of perceived resilience.

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Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)

The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale ¹⁹ is a self-rated assessment of stress coping ability. The scale was developed based on concepts of hardiness, adaptation, and stress endurance and validated in diverse samples. Initial factor analyses identified five factors: (1) notion of personal competence, high standards and tenacity, (2) trust in one’s instincts, tolerance of negative affect, and strengthening effects of stress, (3) positive acceptance of change, and secure relationships, (4) control, and (5) spiritual influences.

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The Psychological Resilience Scale

The Psychological Resilience Scale ²⁰ was developed based on the theory that an overarching construct unites personality traits indicating psychological resilience. Individual scales for self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), interpersonal and socio-political control (Spheres of Control Scales), and personal competence (Resilience Scale – Wagnild and Young) were combined to yield a broader measure of psychological resilience; statistical analyses were used to determine a single underlying factor and the 19 items that best fit the single factor model were retained for the final measure.

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More resilience measures at The Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness.

Further Resources on Psychological Resilience (Open Access Papers)

Assessing Psychological Resilience

Psychological resilience State of knowledge and future research

Psychological resilience: an update on definitions, a critical appraisal, and research recommendations

The Resilience Institute

Final Thoughts on Psychological Resilience

Resilience is an essential quality that enables individuals to navigate life's challenges with strength and grace. Throughout this essay, we have explored the multifaceted nature of resilience, from some of its theoretical underpinnings to practical ways to cultivate it in our lives. The journey through understanding what resilience is, the theories that explain its existence and development, its relationship with positive psychology, and the practical steps for building resilience provide a comprehensive blueprint for fostering this invaluable psychological function.

The Ongoing Journey of Resilience Research

The study of resilience is an evolving field, with ongoing research continually shedding light on new aspects and applications of resilience. As we uncover more about the biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors contributing to resilience, our strategies for enhancing it become more nuanced and effective. This body of work underscores the importance of a holistic approach to resilience, recognising the interplay between individual characteristics and environmental contexts.

The practical strategies discussed here are applicable to personal development and have significant implications for educational, organizational, and clinical settings. By integrating resilience-building practices into curricula, workplace training, and therapeutic interventions, we can create environments that foster resilience at a broader societal level. This proactive approach to resilience can lead to healthier, more adaptive communities equipped to face challenges collectively.

Conclusion

On a personal level, building resilience is a dynamic and ongoing process. It requires personal reflection, commitment, and the willingness to adapt and grow. Each individual's journey to resilience is unique and shaped by their experiences, strengths, and challenges. By applying the principles and strategies outlined in this essay, individuals can embark on a path of personal development that leads to increased resilience and, ultimately, a more fulfilling life.

In conclusion, resilience is much more than merely bouncing back from adversity. It's about thriving in the face of challenges and using adversity experiences to foster personal growth and development. As we continue to explore and understand resilience, we equip ourselves with the tools necessary to lead more resilient lives and support others in doing the same.

As this essay illustrates, resilience is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon that is critical to human well-being. By embracing resilience concepts and practices, we can confidently navigate life's ups and downs, contributing to our own well-being and that of our communities.

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