What is resilience and what characterizes the resilient

More recently, the term resilience It has been adapted for use in psychology and the social sciences and, in these areas, refers to the integrity or the ability of the human being to face adversity.

How resilience manifests

Resilience is shown in people who, despite having suffered stressful situations, are not proportionally affected psychologically by them. Broadly speaking, this term is used to refer to people who maintain a good development, even if they are exposed to high social risk, that they retain their skills and competences despite continuous stress, or that they recover satisfactorily after a traumatic experience. In short, they adapt positively and despite adversity and emotional pain that they may suffer at certain times, they overcome them, even being strengthened. Resilience is a concept that has been widely studied and defined by different authors in the field of psychology and psychiatry in its broadest aspects and, currently, it is addressed specifically from the field of positive psychology, which focuses on the abilities, values ​​and positive attributes of people.

What characterizes resilient people

Some of the situations in which resilience can be tested are: experiences of abuse or mistreatment, processes of serious illness or loss of significant others, natural disasters or situations of deprivation and extreme poverty, among others. You have to talk about resilience, not so much as a capacity at a given time, but as a process in which many factors, both risk and resilient, intervene, for example, biochemical, physiological, cognitive, affective, biographical, socioeconomic, social and cultural factors. This means that, when a person is exposed to an extreme situation, their satisfactory recovery is influenced by the characteristics of the person, those of their family, their socioeconomic situation and the social support available, among others. And it is thanks to the interrelation of this set of factors that a person manages to emerge stronger from an extreme situation, learning from it in turn or having made significant personal growth.

Some characteristics commonly present in resilient people

• Adequate knowledge of oneself, of one's own abilities and limitations.
• High level of self-esteem and self-confidence.
• High degree of personal autonomy. They are people who can deal satisfactorily with their own life, but at the same time they know how to accept help from others when necessary.
• Have vital goals and meaningful projects to carry out.
• Good emotional balance and knowing how to identify and channel emotions properly.
• Cognitive and intellectual development.
• Ability to withstand pressure and a high degree of flexibility in any situation.
• Greater sense of control. They are people who accept situations, differentiating the immovable from what can be modified and improved.

   

• Ability to face challenges in a positive way and to create suitable alternatives for each context.
• Perseverance.
• Learn to tolerate frustration and deal with uncertainty.
• Resilient people have the belief that all experience, positive or negative, leads to learning and growth.
• Know how to extract the positive from each situation.
• Optimism and ease for the sense of humor.
• Ability to live in the present moment, to perceive and enjoy small details and to feel interest and motivation for the environment.
• Good development of sociability. They are people who have a good social support network with whom to contrast things and broaden or relativize the focus of vision.
• A high level of empathy.

Resilience is a subject of degree and can be learned or cultivated, but requires training. Although some factors that influence resilience capacity come from birth or refer to very early experiences, other factors can be influenced in order to strengthen this ability to cope with daily life. For this, it is necessary to assess the base state or starting point of each person; that is, what is the way in which a certain person tends to cope with traumatic or painful situations. In addition to being able to reinforce the necessary skills in each specific case, broadly speaking it is important to be able to make an interpretation or reading of reality, in which a meaning can be given to the experience and which, in turn, allows the person keep moving forward.

• The word resilience is attributed to people who adapt positively and despite adversity and emotional pain that they may suffer at certain times, they overcome them, even being strengthened.
• Resilience can be learned or cultivated, but it requires training. Some factors can be influenced in order to strengthen this ability to cope with daily life.
• Broadly speaking, it is important to be able to make an interpretation or reading of reality, in which a meaning can be given to the experience and which, in turn, allows further progress.

Elena Killed

Psychology Specialist