DeVivo, Louise

English

Ithaca College

Louise DeVivo Extended Abstract  Whalen Symposium 2019   Resilience from Self-Efficacy for Positive Living Background: Positive psychology is an emerging branch of psychology that focuses on cultivating happiness rather than focusing on debilitating factors of an individual’s life. Resilience is a fundamental component of positive psychology. Resilience is the ability to overcome traumatic events by maintaining a normal level of functioning.  It provides a buffer against depressive symptoms and maladaptive behaviors. Being resilient is essential because it is of paramount importance for members of society to find happiness and strength after a loss or trauma. People must be able to adapt during times of stress in order to have the hope, optimism, and gratitude necessary to continue with their lives rather than staying in prolonged grief. This topic is especially relevant on college campuses because students need to learn to balance their lives outside of the classroom in order to succeed academically. Factors of a life outside of the classroom include relationships, religious or spiritual commitment, hobbies and jobs. Resilience has played a major role in my life for the past two years. I faced unforeseen adversity including my father being diagnosed with cancer and my mother passing away. In my daily life, my resilience manifests through my prayers, developing closer relationships with family and friends, and running. My practice of resilient behaviors and pursuit of happiness is important to share with other students.   Methods: I conducted an archival research project on resilience and self-efficacy. This research was done for my final project in my positive psychology class.   Results:  The current theory prevails that an individual with resilience will obtain behaviors including having self-efficacy, having control over their environment, utilizing mental toughness, and being able to maintain optimism when faced with adversity. My research reversed the relationship of resilience and self-efficacy. I hypothesized that a person must first have self-efficacy in order to develop resilience for happiness.        Effects  of  Adversity   Happiness  Self-­‐efficacy  Present   Resilient  Behaviors   Positive  Living  Self-­‐efficacy  Absent   Prolonged  Grief   Learned  Helplessness   Self-efficacy can be defined as a person’s belief in their capacity of carrying out a behavior. This belief can lead to resilient behaviors, perseverance, and self-promoting behaviors leading to positive living.  Adversity includes stressful situations that individuals do not have control over like suffering a traumatic spinal cord injury or losing a loved one. From an Louise DeVivo Extended Abstract  Whalen Symposium 2019   adversity, if a person utilizes her/his self-efficacy in order to achieve resilience, she/he will achieve positive living. Positive living refers to maintaining an overall good state of mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Therefore, having the ability to create meaning and experience pleasure in life can result in happiness. In contrast, prolonged grief is experienced in response to adversity when self-efficacy is not present to help build resilience, and might also result in learned helplessness. Learned helplessness may result in a person having difficulty accepting life changes and experiencing lower levels of functioning. Thus, a person who does not have self-efficacy and resilience to overcome their adversity may find it difficult to engage in positive living and is more likely to have less happiness in life.  Conclusions:  It is crucial for a person to acquire self-efficacy in order to develop resilience. Students who face adversity and utilize their self-efficacy and build resilient behaviors can find success and happiness during their college years and beyond.  This research contributes to the practice of positive psychology because it provides a path to obtaining happiness.   Works Citied: Kelly, J. F., & Greene, M. C. (2014). Where there’s a will there’s a way: A longitudinal  investigation of the interplay between recovery motivation and self-efficacy in predicting  treatment outcome. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 28(3), 928-934.  Lee, H., Aldwin, C.M., & Choun, S. (2017). Does combat exposure affect well-being in later  life? The VA normative aging study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice,  and Policy, 9 (6), 672- 678. Locatelli, S. M., Etingen, B., Miskevics, S., & LaVela, S.L. (2017). Effect of the environment on  participation in spinal cord injuries/disorders: the mediating impact of resilience, grief,  and self-efficacy. Rehabilitation Psychology, 62 (3), 334-344  Roth, M. & Herzberg, P. Y. (2017). The resilient personality prototype. Journal of Individual  Differences, 38 (1), 1-11. Rubin, K. H., Fredstrom, B., & Bowker, J. (2008). Future directions in friendship in childhood  and early adolescence. Social Development, 17, 1085–1096. Silverman, A. M., Molton, I. R., Smith, A. E., Jensen, M. P., & Cohen, G. L. (2017). Solace in  solidarity: Disability friendship networks buffer well-being. Rehabilitation  Psychology, 62(4), 525-533.  Wagstaff, C.R.D., & Leach, J. (2015). The value of strength-based approaches in SERE and  sport psychology. Military Psychology, 27 (2), 65-84.    

Resilience from Self-Efficacy for Positive Living

https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1657&amp;context=whalen

Resilience from Self-Efficacy for Positive Living

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