The English term “Resilience” corresponds to concepts such as psychological resilience, psychological robustness, unwaveringness, and the ability to recover in Turkish. Psychological resilience, an important topic in positive psychology, which conducts many studies on happiness, well-being, and subjective well-being, generally involves:

Psychological Resilience:

1. The ability to cope with difficulties, negative, or traumatic events encountered,
2. The ability to adapt quickly to life in stressful situations and develop a positive perspective,
3. The ability to recover in the face of challenging experiences.

Psychological resilience is considered as a process encompassing the interaction between individuals and environmental conditions. The ability of individuals to demonstrate psychological resilience is influenced by their surroundings, and it is defined as a concept that varies in meaning from person to person. Because each individual may attribute different meanings to psychological resilience based on their own conditions and the difficulties they face. Psychological resilience, which shows a feature that can change in different periods of life, has been revealed as both a process, a skill, and a personality trait that can be innate or learned through various research.

Challenges in Life and Adaptation Various

stress factors that can be encountered in life are always present. Traumatic events, health problems, relationship difficulties, and economic challenges are stress factors that exist in every moment of life. Psychological resilience is the ability to adapt to these stress factors. Psychological resilience is the ability to adapt to stress factors, find the strength to recover, and achieve positive results from this process.

Empowerment in the face of different challenge psychological resilience.

Therefore, psychological resilience, the ability to adapt to difficulties, represents a process of adapting to stress factors, and there are some character traits that help individuals in the process of adapting to difficulties.

Innate Qualities Affecting Psychological Resilience

It is believed that individuals who have high psychological resilience have some innate qualities. Having an easy temperament from birth allows individuals to have a gentle and more flexible structure, positively affecting psychological resilience. Other qualities believed to be innate in individuals with high psychological resilience include being sociable and affectionate, as well as possessing leadership qualities.

Self-Awareness and Psychological Resilience

Individuals with high psychological resilience are thought to know themselves well. Those who know themselves well are seen to have higher self-esteem and self-confidence, and they are internally focused. Individuals who are internally focused can implement effective coping strategies in the face of various problems. Self-aware and highly conscious individuals can improve themselves in terms of the qualities that can increase their psychological resilience.

Characteristics Supporting Psychological Resilience Psychological resilience is considered a structure that can be developed and learned by everyone later on. Individuals can increase their psychological resilience through the various qualities they acquire and develop later in life. These qualities can be listed as follows:

1. Fostering empathy towards others, understanding people.
2. Having communication skills, expressing emotions well.
3. Being able to see the humor behind painful and negative events.
4. Managing negative emotions and thoughts, staying optimistic and hopeful in the face of painful and negative events.
5. Having the ability to act independently, self-management.
6. Having a purpose in life.

Psychological Resilience and Challenge

There are elements that enable individuals to turn stressful situations into opportunities, gaining courage and motivation. Individuals with high psychological resilience, in the face of difficulties they encounter in certain periods of their lives, act with the courage to make various decisions rather than feeling helpless. Individuals with high psychological resilience actively participate in their lives by challenging all negativity and difficulties, maintaining an optimistic perspective in the face of challenges. Individuals with high psychological resilience tend to see changes not as a threat but as a part of development, an opportunity for growth. In this way, individuals can actively participate in their lives and experience different lifestyles by challenging difficulties.

References:

Topçu, F. (2017). The examination of the predictive effect of five-factor personality traits on the level of psychological resilience of university students. (Unpublished master’s thesis) Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation University Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology Clinical Psychology Program, Istanbul.

Güler, O. (2021). The examination of the relationship between psychological resilience and emotional autonomy in adolescents. (Unpublished master’s thesis) Maltepe University Institute of Educational Sciences, Department of Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Istanbul.