What is Resilience?
As defined by American Psychological Association, resilience is the ability to adapt well in the face of hard times, especially "through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility". Resilience is what makes some people seem like they've "got bounce".
Resilience Can be Learned
While some of us are more resilient than others, resilience isn’t something you’re born with or not. It can be learned and strengthened! In other words, we can all become more resilient. The skills of resilience we learn during hard times will be useful even after the hard times end, and they are good skills to have for everyday life.
Benefits of Resilience
Education
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Resilient students tend to perform better academically (Chen et al., 2025).
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College students with strong resilience skills are more capable of overcoming academic stress and staying motivated (Blanco et al., 2025; Nordstokke & Hindes, 2025).
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Resilience protects and supports students experiencing adversity (e.g., low income), helping them succeed despite of tough life situations (Agasisti et al., 2018; Schleicher, 2023).
Work
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Resilient people tend to be satisfied employees and perform better at work (Hu et al., 2025; Kašpárková, Vaculík, Procházka, & Schaufeli, 2018; Ibrahim et al., 2024).
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Resilience skills help employees with problem-solving in challenging work situations. (Liang & Cao, 2021; Carmeli, Levi, & Peccei, 2021).
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Resilient employees are less likely to experience burnout at work (Castillo-González et al., 2024).
Life Satisfaction
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People with higher resilience report higher life satisfaction (Górska et al., 2021).
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Resilient people are less likely to be lonely (Górska et al., 2021).
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People with higher resilience report more social support and larger friend/family networks (Górska et al., 2021).
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Among people living with mental disorders, the more resilient ones have better quality of life (Chuang et al., 2023).
Health
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Resilience lowers risks of anxiety and depression and helps people recover from stress or trauma (Jeamjitvibool et al., 2022; Imran et al., 2024; Ong et al., 2006).
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People with higher resilience often enjoy better physical health - a stronger immune system, faster healing, and lower risk of chronic diseases (Dantzer et al., 2018; Shields et al., 2020; Hahad et al., 2025).
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Resilience may even contribute to a longer life (Zhang et al., 2024; Wang et al., 2024).
