Motivation and emotion/Book/2025/Spirituality and resilience

Psychological Resilience and Spirituality Daniela, a 34-year-old mother of two, was laid off without warning. With bills piling up, her children's needs taking precedence, and the pressure to "stay strong" for her family, she felt as though her entire world had fallen apart. She lies wide awake at night, her mind racing and her sense of control being eaten away by fear. Even so, Daniela resorted to her spirituality, which she hadn't relied on in a long time. The moments of spiritual connection she experienced as she began to pray with hope once more and journaled her goals and thoughts helped her discover that while her problems were not going away, her inner strength was increasing. She began to see opportunities, connections, and peace instead of being overcome by fear. Spirituality it didn't make her problems go away, but instead gave Daniela a fresh outlook and the fortitude to bear her hardships and keep going.

Challenges faced in this adversity:

As we face challenging adversity, triggers of anxiety, hopelessness, and exhaustion can take over. Lack of coping resources and adaptive strategies can lead individuals, like Daniela, to spiral into stress that can harm relationships and decision-making. Moreover, the neglect of being connected to inner meaning misses the opportunity to foster a deeply personal and impactful psychological support system for oneself.

How can science and spirituality help?

Understanding resilience as an adaptive skill and having a recovering nature from hardship, we can understand its main components through science. Highlighting that meaning-making, hope, and positive reframing are key to the foundations of resilience, all of which spirituality can nurture. By integrating spiritual practices into resilience, individuals, such as Daniela, can manage stress more effectively, find purpose, and maintain well-being even in uncertainty.

Focus questions What goes into resilience? What can spirituality mean to you? How can you use spirituality and resilience together to cope? What are some practical applications of spirituality to build resilience?

Resilience in psychology is esteemed as an essential factor in developing the ability to adapt to the adversities of life. However, it has been recognised that throughout researching resilience, it has a rather complex nature with various factors in psychology, including biological , social, cultural and environmental factors that influence the overall development and outcome (Steven M. Southwick et al., 2014). The in-depth perspective of the different dimensions of resilience can explain why some people are more resilient than others. Whether resilience relies more on traits or something that is developed over time, and how various degrees of adversity can play a role in developing the skills, experiences, and expanding the individual's capability to coping with life stressors.

Resilience is often found to occur as a complex phenomenon where internal and external factors influence the individual's ability to cope, adapt, recover, and endure difficult circumstances, including an individual's attribution. Several psychological theories explore and explain possible factors and processes that contribute to the development of resilience and its outcomes.

Resilience is an element that each individual needs to have. It is part of survival through human experiences throughout the lifespan. Throughout the lifespan, all sorts of challenges, stress, losses, and difficulties are faced. However, with a strong basis of evolutionary traits, advantages of free will and growth through positive emotions, resilience can become a persistent, strong characteristic that many can acquire.

Attachment theory suggests that at tachment is a primary source of resilience in human life, developed through interactions with primary caregivers in early years (John Bowlby, 1969). Secure attachment helps infants integrate cognitive and affective experiences into a coherent mental representation, fostering trust in others and confidence in being protected during threats (John Bowlby, 1969). As individuals rely on resilience as an internal psychological resource for support, they develop characteristics of consistent, responsive caregiving, positive self-concept, and higher self-efficacy (Harwood, E., 2024), which develop into behaviours of self-care, regulating emotions, forming healthy relationships, and effectively coping with stressful life events. On the other side, insecure attachment styles cause emotional dyregulation, low self-efficacy, and negative self-concept, which can be charaterised as difficulty in adapting to adversity, increased risk of mental health issues such as attachment disorders, and challenges in maintaining healthy relationships (Egozi Farkash, H., Lahad, M., & Aharonson-Daniel, L., 2023).

Frankl's logotherapy centers on the idea that the primary motivational force in humans is the will to meaning, suggesting that meaning-making or finding purpose in life creates resilience when facing life challenges (Frankl, V., 1930). Three concepts make up Frankl’s logotherapy: freedom of will, will to meaning, and meaning of life (Batthyany, 2019).

Individual possess the freedom to choose how they respond to challenging situations and maintain their inner dignity, despite when circumstances are beyond their control (Bushkin H, et al.,2021). In emphasis their freedom of choice of response, individuals can find inner power to cope and manage adversity while nurturing dignity, authenticity, and inner strengths that leads to using their inherent human attributes of courage, love, humour and capability which forms a healthy foundation of resilience (Bushkin H, et al.,2021).

Suffering is interpreted as part of the human experience, therefore unavoidable; however, it's emphasised that the attitude towards the suffering can help to find meaning (ref). Reframing the focus on the meaning allows individuals to manage distress in a more positive outlook and strengthen resilience in facing hardships by changing the face of difficulties to lead to improved life satisfaction (Lichtenthal WG, et al., 2020).

A way to find meaning in life in logotherapy is the acting in self-transcendence (Frankl, V., 1930). Actions may include individuals connecting their daily actions with long-term goals that align with core values, which fosters a more profound sense of purpose that strengthens their ability to cope with life challenges (Haugan G, et al., 2021). Moreover, allows individuals to navigate confrontational existential feelings in a way that reinforces resilience (Bull, D. A., 2025).

Broaden-and-build theory suggests that the process of positive emotions decreases autonomic arousal and broadens attention, fostering creativity, exploration, and flexible thinking, which expands and improves stress-related coping mechanisms which ultimately builds enduring physical, psychological, intellectual, and social resources (Fredrickson, 2001).

Actions that engage to promote positive feelings that cultivate love and kindness to oneself help individuals overcome stress as their perspective expands by the effects of positive emotions, which promotes the capacity to cope with stress as the emotional state supports flexibility and adaptability (Fredrickson, 2001).

Through cultivating positive meaning, resilience becomes a key psychological resource to turn to during stressful events in supportive environments that provide favourable conditions and other resources needed to develop skills to cope, including using internal and external tools available to recover and adapt effectively in challenging circumstances (Fredrickson, 2001).

The theory also describes how positive emotions can create a self-sustaining cycle (see Figure 4) that leads to resources and wellbeing building over time as it increases the likelihood of positive experiences of emotions, further enhancing resilience (Fredrickson, 2001). The focus on growth is amplified in the 'upward spirl' as through the cycles it recognises the transformation from positive emotions promotes opportunities for growth, social intergration and greater sense of purpose and overall wellbeing which is key to sustaitning resileince in the long term (Cohn, M. A., Fredrickson, B. L., Brown, S. L., Mikels, J. A., & Conway, A. M., 2009).

Some people are more naturally tolerant or resilient to life stresses than others; certain personality traits allow individuals to quickly learn and embed adaptation, flexibility, and positivity as part of who they are. However, resilience is a skill that each individual can learn to build as part of their character. The following theories show how resilience can be formed over time, regardless of whether it is a trait or not, as it showcases the importance of adversity, key factors, and contextual environment roles in developing resilience.

Bronfenbrenner's (1979) Ecological systems theory provides a framework that explains how human development can result from bidirectional and reciprocal relationships between the individual and the systemic environments, which contribute to the development of resilience. In the social-ecological context of systems, it examines how an individual's or a community's resilience is shaped by the nested environments and capacity in responding to changes of circumstances (Folke, C., 2006).

Key factors of resilience shown in the framework (see Table 1) explain the relationship between the development of resilience and the social ecological systems (Folke, C., 2006).

Luthar (2000) and Ungar (2016) explain that resilience is not a static trait but is an ongoing developmental process of constant change in adaptation and activity while facing adversity. Main components in the dynamic process include the role of adversity, protective factors, and positive adaptation, which change over time from the effects of interactive factors (Luthar, S.S., 2000; Ungar, M., 2016). Context is also a central component, as an individual's resilience can vary depending on what factors arise in certain situations (Gerring, J. P., & Wade, S., 2012).

Interactive factors between multiple sources can cause all kinds of fluactions over a lifespan, which requires great adaptation to overcome. However, by fostering positive attitudes in adaptation, it achieves resilience in facing challenges and during this process, new opportunities from vulnerabilities and strengths are found, which continue to build up resilience (Gerring, J. P., & Wade, S., 2012).

While resilience depends on positive factors as its foundation, it is nothing without adversity. Adversity has a unique role that fits into the overall development of resilience; a 'yin and yang' relationship. Its relationship is explored through research that examines how using adversity can result in strengthening resilience in various contexts and factors.

What traditionally might be labeled as a 'risk' can become a resilience-enhancing experience. The risk and protective model suggests that a "steering effect" with specific risky experiences encountered at a moderate level can bolster resilience by preparing the individual for future challenges (Rutter, M., 1987). To have successful outcomes of building greater resilience, it requires moderate risk factors of vulnerability to adverse outcomes and protective factors to promote positive development and well-being, as it buffers the effect of risk factors (Rutter, M., 1987).

The model further highlights that there is interaction and accumulation between risk and protective factors (ref). These interactions occur in contextual factors of multiple levels (Rutter, M., 1987), which allows possible interventions to be designed in focusing on strengthening various protective factors and addressing risk factors in a controlled manner to promote healthy development of resilience (Rutter, M., 1987).

Reflection Consider the following questions: Where could Danelia's resilience fit into these theories? Which of these theories do you think best relates to your resilience?

The concept and meaning of spirituality has such diverse perceptions that have expanded over the centuries and research. Spiritualism has evolved and expanded from its roots of religious core to include more personal meaningful-making that is individualised with moral values, beliefs, cultural, and universal structures.

Spirituality can be seen now as how an individual finds connection to a higher conciousness or being that relates to the 'soul' of the body in aspects of physical, mental, emotional, and sense of self. Ultimately, the goal of spirituality is having a purposeful sense in life that is aligned with an individual's values, beliefs, and faith through spiritual connection that creates desirable outcomes.

In psychology, there are models and theories integrated to understand the psychological process, the development of psychological mechanisms in spirituality, and its contribution to well-being.

There are several spirituality theories that attempt to provide a framework that emphasises the interconnectedness of the individual with themselves, others, and the world to recognise that spirituality can be a source of meaning, purpose, and wellbeing. They highlight key psychological components and possible integration into spirituality as a whole.

Maslow's (1995, 1968) theory of self-actualisation emerges from distinctions between deficiency-motivated and growth-motivated needs. Maslow (1995, 1968) emphasises that the lower needs are to be satisfied before an individual begins self-actualisation, suggesting an interplay between wellbeing and higher self-desires.

By integrating self-actualisation to self-transcendence as a spiritual lens, it can suggest the individual's state for growth, purpose, and having a connection beyond the self (Sargeant, S., Yoxall, J., 2023).

Rosmarin (2011) proposed a model that integrates spirituality and cognitive theory in explaining how the outcome of divine beliefs affects psychological symptoms through intolerance of uncertainty (IU). Beliefs of needing to worry to avoid future adverse outcomes can continue the cycle of worry, through IU involving negative beliefs, such as Generalised Anxiety Disorder, leading to the interpretation of more open situations negatively (Fialko, L., 2012). The model suggests that trusting in God or a higher being can serve as a buffer in reducing the evaluation of threats with a general psychological resource during adversaries (Rosmarin, D. H., 2011). However, there can be a backfire effect in cases of mistrusting a higher being, which could lead to heightened threat perceptions during ambiguity, thus increasing IU and worry (Rosmarin, D. H., 2011).

In the psychological process of spirituality, some psychological mechanisms have been identified that integrate spirituality as explored in an individual's lifespan. These models emphasise the importance of integrating spiritual perspectives with psychological, social, and physical dimensions of the human experience.

Reed's (1992) Interfrated Spirituality Model (ISM) provides a framework that aims to explain the workings of nursing self-transcendence theory that combines lifespan developmental psychology and unitary human beings (Fukuyama, M. A., and Sevig, T. D., 1999). It includes three main relationships (see Figure 6) that showcase transcending challenges, indicating that self-transcendence is essential in promoting health and well-being during difficult circumstances (Fukuyama, M. A., and Sevig, T. D., 1999). ISM suggests that achieving well-being in life-stressful situations without self-transcendence would be challenging, highlighting self-transcendence as a crucial mechanism in understanding how well-being is attained as a resource for health promotion (Fukuyama, M. A., and Sevig, T. D., 1999). Health promotions include self-boundaries, natural resources for healing, connectedness of holistic approach, and nursing's role (Fukuyama, M. A., and Sevig, T. D., 1999).

Fowler (1981) explains how spirituality develops in a person's lifespan regarding faith. The theory includes six stages an individual goes through in developing faith, starting from the primal and reaching enlightenment (Friedmann, H., 2010). Each stage includes psychological elements of social and environmental factors that shape the individual's reality from their foundational faith to progress into self-organised being and occasionally reaching a universal compassionate faith in embodying principles of selfless love (Friedmann, H., 2010).

Marcia, J. E. (2010). A framework based on Erikson's (1950) psychosocial development theory focuses on the development of the maturity of the self based on life crises and commitment elements in the four identity statuses through conscious thinking (Wooten, R., 2011), with each status evolving on a spectrum in progressive exploration and commitment. Kasprow, M. C (1999) highlighted how the later stages play a key role in explaining how these periods occur in spirituality (Figure). Involving active questioning, exploration, and experiments of different spiritual ideas and beliefs that eventually lead to making a personal commitment to a chosen path with a clarified spiritual self.

As research develops across both domains, there is a rise of awareness that psychological resilience and spirituality share integrated ideas, concepts, and models, with overlapping connections. With their complex and diverse conceptual dimensions, the relationship between spirituality and resilience displays a multi-dimensional understanding of an individual's capability to cope, endure, and persevere whilst facing adversity.

Frankl's (1930) logotherapy emphasised empowerment of agency, with choices of responding in adverse situations fostering resilience. Along with acceptance of suffering and focus on purpose that promotes endurance and emotional regulation (Frankl, V., 1930). Combining spiritual concepts and practices with logotherapy allows the promotion of connection, hope, and acceptance. Individuals with aligned beliefs and practicing faiths fortify resilience in hardships and existential issues with positivity (Frankl, V., 1930).

Case study 1. Spirituality in mental health, youth and LGBT+ Problems with internalised conflict, shame, discrimination, supporting spiritual resources, and external influences were the main findings of a comprehensive literature search on spirituality, mental health, and LGBT+ youth by Mcann, E. (2020). Despite its challenges, the attitude of compassion and acceptance, as well as connections with strong essences, nature, and living things, often correspond to positive qualities that connect to a higher being (Mcann, E., 2020). Spiritual beliefs, through faith and coping mechanisms, built resilience and serve as protective barriers against harmful stimuli (Mcann, E., 2020).

Resilience's adaptive and enduring nature enables individuals to foster inner strength during adversity. The roles of protective factors and flexible responses allows positive outcomes across contexts (Luthar, S. S., 2000; Ungar, M., 2016). Fatih is rooted in perserverance when circumstances seem uncertain, Fowler’s (1981) faith development theory links strong developed resilience of hope from the early stages of faith. Rutter (1987) moderation of adversity and protective factors strengthens coping, and spirituality can promote uplifting attitudes with divine connection, integration with cultural socioecological networks.

Going through adverse life events can enable individuals to learn to pursue growth and be positively transformed by them. Spirituality can be a resource that supports adaptation and resilience to achieve an improved quality of life. As individuals pursue the meaning of life (Frankl's date) through positive emotions of contribution to communities (Fredrickson, 2001) and utilise their ecological culture (name, date), it can result in a transition of transcendence and affirming beliefs.

Case study 2. Spirituality connects resilience in Latinos with cancer Hernández M., Muñíz R., and Gany F. (2015) literature review found that in Latino culture, spirituality is an integral cultural value. It plays a crucial role in the cultural values interactions in health-related problems, as seen in caring for Latino cancer patients who adjust and cope (Hernández M., Muñíz R., and Gany F., 2015). Understanding the application of resilience during active treatment can impact the effectiveness og managment and coping with consequences during survivorship (Hernández M., Muñíz R., and Gany F., 2015).

Resilience's multifaceted design by biological, social, cultural, and environmental factors influences adpatation in adversity (Southwick et al., 2014). Some aspects of resilience is innnate, it also develops through experiences that pushes to strengthen in coping and growth. Spirituality has evolved from core religiousity to include personal meaning, morality, and universal concepts. Spirituality and resilience intersect through overlapping psychological concepts of purpose, endurance and self-transcendence. And together, it offers a multidimensional understanding of how strength, meaning and wellbeing is found in the face of life's challenges.

• Growth through adversity: Why meaning matters (Book chapter, 2011)
• Spirituality and mental health: How does spirituality contribute to mental health and emotional well-being? (Book chpater, 2025)
• Death and meaning in life: How does confronting mortality influence the sense of meaning in life? (Book chapter, 2023)

• Building resilience in the face of adversity, with George Bonanno, PhD | Speaking of Psychology (youtube.com)
• Building Resiliency Through Spirituality | Madison Jaye | TEDxNJIT (youtube.com)
• The Father of Resilience Theory – Buzz Holling (youtube.com)
• Attachment and resilience -- the power of one: Dr. Erica Liu Wollin at TEDxHongKong 2013 (youtube.com)