Resilience

TLDR

Resilience is understood as a coping mechanism that enables individuals to recover from or avoid negative outcomes, yet it requires a clear definition of successful development. The authors aim to show that resilience stems from coping processes shaped by personal and situational factors, to position it as a bridge between coping and development, and to propose an integrative model linking coping, resilience, and successful aging. They develop an integrative theoretical model that conceptualizes resilience as a stabilizing constellation of assimilation and accommodation processes, using the potential for further development as a common denominator. Empirical data demonstrate the developmental conditions that support assimilative and accommodative processes.

Abstract

Traditionally resilience is viewed as an important way of coping: Through resilience, an individual recovers from or avoids negative outcomes from burdensome conditions. In this paper, we argue that individual stability under significant adverse conditions (i.e., resilience) results, to a large degree, from coping processes (e.g., assimilation and accommodation) influenced by personal and situational conditions. Moreover, we propose that resilience, viewed as a stabilizing constellation, should be considered an important part of the conceptual bridge between coping and development. Resilience, however, requires a definition of successful development. Here, we argue that the potential and possibility for further development may be used as a common denominator of current proposals. The aim is to outline an integrative model of coping, resilience, and development as a theoretical access to successful aging. Some empirical results illustrate the developmental conditions for assimilative and accommodative processes.