Psychological resilience refers to an individual's ability to adapt successfully to adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress. It is often understood as a personality trait that allows individuals to bounce back from challenging experiences and continue to function effectively in their lives.
This conception of resilience fails to consider how systems of oppression impact people's capacity for resilience.
Systemic racism can lead Black individuals to experience chronic stress and trauma due to discrimination, which may impede their psychological resilience. Similarly, gender norms can limit women's ability to seek help for mental health concerns and undermine their sense of self-efficacy. In light of these limitations, it is crucial to reconsider how psychological resilience evolves when faced with ongoing systemic oppression.
Cultivating Generative Resilience
When confronted with ongoing systemic oppression, individuals may develop strategies for survival rather than growth or transformation. These survival strategies may involve ignoring or downplaying the impact of oppressive forces, denying one's own vulnerability, or seeking escape through addiction or other coping mechanisms. While these strategies may help individuals navigate difficult circumstances, they do not provide the foundation for cultivating generative resilience. Generative resilience involves the conscious choice to use adversity as an opportunity for personal growth and social change. This requires recognizing and accepting the impact of oppressive forces while also refusing to be defined by them.
Reframing Adversity
To cultivate generative resilience, individuals must shift their mindset towards adversity. Instead of viewing challenges as something to overcome or endure, they can see them as opportunities for learning, reflection, and transformation. This approach allows individuals to identify new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that promote wellbeing and empowerment.
A woman who experiences sexual harassment at work can reflect on her experience and consider how she might challenge sexist norms in her community. A Black individual who faces discrimination can explore how his identity shapes his interactions with others and how he can advocate for himself and others. By reframing adversity in this way, individuals can cultivate psychological resilience and make meaningful changes in their lives.
Cultivating Community Resilience
Cultivating generative resilience is also about building supportive communities that affirm the value of all individuals. Individuals can develop mutual aid networks, engage in collective action, and create spaces where everyone's contributions are valued. This approach helps individuals recognize their strengths and abilities, fosters a sense of belonging, and promotes shared responsibility for overcoming systemic oppression.
A group of queer individuals can organize to fight homophobia and transphobia in their neighborhood or school. Or an interracial community can build solidarity around racial justice issues while recognizing each person's unique perspective and lived experience. These practices not only help individuals thrive but also contribute to positive social change.
Psychological resilience evolves differently when faced with ongoing systemic oppression because it involves more than just personal traits or coping mechanisms. It requires conscious efforts to cultivate generative resilience through reflection, reframing adversity, and building supportive communities. By doing so, individuals can use challenges as opportunities for growth and transformation, promote wellbeing for themselves and others, and work towards a more just society.
How does the concept of psychological resilience evolve when faced with ongoing systemic oppression, and how can it be cultivated as a generative force rather than mere endurance?
Psychological resilience is an individual's ability to maintain mental stability and well-being despite adversity. It involves developing adaptability and flexibility to overcome stressful situations and challenges. When faced with ongoing systemic oppression, such as racism, sexism, ableism, or homophobia, individuals may experience chronic stress that affects their mental health.