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Psychologists’ definitions of resilience
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provided definitions that extended beyond this
narrow view. Some considered resilience as:
. . . a term of coping whereby a
person accommodates the impact of
a stressor by accepting the reality of
the situation rather than resisting or
avoiding, and stretches his or her
resources beyond the previous norm.
. . . the ability a person has to deal
with positively with stress and/or
trauma. It is the degree to which one
can assimilate (negative) events in
our lives and “bounce back” in the
face of adversity.
. . . an ability to survive, often in the
face of multiple (or longstanding)
stressors, or the ability to withstand
difficult life circumstances. I think
resilience can be seen when people
adapt to extraordinary
circumstances, perhaps by
developing coping strategies (which
need not be adaptive to later
circumstances).
Ability to accept life’s challenges and
work with them in a positive way.
Resilience recognises a strength of
mind and body, and can be built in
any life stage.
THRIVING – Resilience is the ability
to ‘bounce back’ after a trauma,
loss, major stress. It is the ability to
feel the pain constructively, deal with
it effectively, while growing from the
challenge. Surpassing previous
levels of functioning post the crisis/
trauma and thrive (not just survive).
The ability to meet obstacles in life,
learn from them, take action to cope
with them, and derive a sense of
meaning from them.
The propensity of the individual or
group of individuals (including a
whole community) to maintain a
stable mental set and competently
manage both adversities and
successes well. Self belief and
values underpin the concept as so
self management and appropriate
skill sets.
Adversity and successful
adaptation/ competence have been
identified as two necessary aspects of
resilience (Luthar et al., 2000; Masten,
2001; Schilling, 2008). The above
definitions were chosen by the
researchers as the most definitive
amongst those provided by the
psychologists. They account for
accepting the challenge and stretching of
resources that the individual normally
accesses to allow them to survive and
thrive. Some of the definitions include
different life stages, the concepts of
growth (thriving), learning, and a sense
of meaning.
Components and Constructs of Resilience as
Identified by the Psychologists
The mean number of components within
the definitions provided was two. Using SPSS
Version 18, two ANOVAs, one for
specialisation and the other for year of
qualification, revealed no specific differences
in the scores applied to the definitions
provided. The responses of the psychologists
providing information on the construction of
resilience suggested 14 major themes and 24
subthemes. The number of themes may appear
large; however, the intention of this research
was to encourage a breadth of factors that
underpin resilience. These major and
subthemes are shown in Tables 4 and 5. As the
literature review indicated three aspects to
resilience (personal resources, family
connections, and social resources; Tedeschi &
Kilmer, 2005), each of the themes was
categorised into one of these three themes). In
The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 2 August 2011
© The Australian Psychological Society Ltd