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Psychology vocabulary · Emotion and Motivation

Resilience

Meaning in psychology, with examples

/rɪˈzɪliəns/nounCommon term

In psychology, resilience means: The ability to adapt well and recover after adversity, trauma or serious stress, drawing on personal strengths and support from others.

In Turkish: psikolojik sağlamlık, yılmazlık, dayanıklılık

How it is used

Used in developmental, health and positive psychology, and in programmes for schools and workplaces. Researchers see it as a process shaped by relationships and context, not only as a fixed trait.

Example sentences

  1. Supportive relationships were the strongest predictor of resilience in the children we followed.

  2. Most people show resilience after a single traumatic event and do not develop PTSD.

Common collocations

  • build resilience
  • psychological resilience
  • resilience factors
  • show resilience
  • cope withTo deal with a difficult situation, feeling or problem in a way that lets you keep functioning, for example by solving the problem or managing your emotions.
  • stressThe body's and mind's response to demands or threats that seem to exceed a person's resources, involving physical arousal, tension and worry.
  • traumaA deeply distressing experience, such as violence, a serious accident or a disaster, or the lasting psychological harm that such an event can cause.
  • mental healthA person's emotional, psychological and social well-being, which affects how they think, feel, handle stress and relate to others.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Emotion and Motivation

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.