Developing and Validating the Communication Resilience Processes Scale

Abstract

Abstract According to the communication theory of resilience (CTR; P. M. Buzzanell, 2010), people reintegrate from disruptive events and construct a new normal through five interrelated processes: (a) crafting normalcy; (b) affirming identity anchors; (c) maintaining/using communication networks; (d) constructing alternative logics; and (e) foregrounding productive action while backgrounding negative emotions. Enacting these processes creates tensions between continuity and change. This article develops a Communication Resilience Processes Scale (CRPS) to assess CTR processes in response to a variety of disruptive events. Items were created and refined via a scale development study with feedback from expert raters. Studies 2 and 3 offer initial support for the 32-item CRPS’ reliability and convergent, divergent, and predictive validity. Models in which the five CTR processes are subsumed by a single, higher-order resilience factor versus two higher-order interrelated factors (continuity and change) are compared. Future directions for exploring continuity/change tensions and identifying CTR boundary conditions are discussed.