The Resilient Personality: Are You A Strong Person?
“We are what we do with what they made of us”
—Jean Paul Sartre
We cannot choose our life circumstances, but Yes we can modulate our thoughts and attitudes to what surrounds us. In this way, indirectly, we can shape our circumstances.
Once upon a time there was a peasant who took care of some horses to help him with agricultural work on his small farm. One day, the foreman gave him bad news: the best of his horses had fallen into a well. The farmer couldn’t believe it and he quickly went to the place, where he could see the horse at the bottom of the well. With all his strength, he tried to pull the horse out. Seeing that it was impossible and unable to find a solution to get the horse out of the hole, he had no choice but to ask the foreman to pour dirt into the well so that the horse would be buried right there.
The foreman began to pour sand. The horse, eager to continue living, He did not allow himself to be buried by the falling earth and used it to climb, with great effort, until he finally managed to get out
What is your attitude in life? Do you let the earth swallow you or use it to climb?
A person resistant is one that, despite suffering problems and even disorders that could become destabilized, is able to maintain strength, resist and stay afloat
These types of subjects are not immune to the life events that we all experience, such as the death of a loved one, a romantic breakup, a bad work situation… but they differ from others in that they are capable of stoically accepting these events. setbacks in life and draw strength from weakness to move forward.
What traits define a resilient personality
Suzanne C. Kobasa psychologist University of Chicago conducted several investigations in which he detected that individuals with resistant personalities have a series of characteristics in common. They tend to be people of great commitment, control and oriented to the challenge (Kobasa, 1979).
These conditions allow them to be better able to cope with what life throws at them and overcome these adversities more quickly and lastingly than other people.
Components of the resilient personality
The ability to compromise It indicates that the person believes in what they do and is committed to what matters to them. Commitment encompasses various aspects of life, such as the workplace, interpersonal relationships, responsibility with daily obligations, etc. These people not only face stressful situations more calmly, but they are also usually skilled at helping other people deal with these types of experiences.
The control It refers to the subject’s ability to find their intrinsic motivations. That is, they are capable of feeling motivated by something without needing to be compensated directly by a third person. They are passionate about what they do. This attitude helps them feel like themselves, and enjoy their time. They tend to experience greater control over their lives and, therefore, know that they can face their problems, because they depend on themselves.
The challenge: People who like challenges consider change as something inherent to life. They understand changes not as failures but as beneficial challenges for their individual development, as an opportunity to improve and continue progressing in any area of ​​life.
Resilience: the essence of the resilient personality
Maddi and Kobasa They also found that resilient personality type is an important factor in predicting psychological resilience. Resilience is often defined as the ability of individuals to overcome periods of emotional pain and adversity.
Recommended text: “The 10 habits of resilient people”
The way in which resilient personality confers resilience appears to be a combination of cognitive elements, behavioral mechanisms, and certain biophysical behaviors. Briefly, it can be stated that as stressful circumstances increase, so does the person’s physical and mental tension, and if this situation is sufficiently intense and prolonged, imbalances in health and performance are to be expected (Maddi, 2004).
In summary, Maddi (2006) argues that the resistant personality style has a moderating effect on this process encouraging effective mental and behavioral coping, building and utilizing social support, and engaging in effective health and self-care practices.
