Resilience mechanisms at work: The psychological immunity-psychological elasticity (PI-PE) model of psychological resilience

Abstract

Recently, scientists have shifted their focus from studying psychological resilience as a single, isolated construct (e.g. attribute or outcome) to studying it as a dynamic process encompassing a number of temporally related elements. Models depicting this process explain why some people adapt to stressor exposure, whereas others do not. To date, these process models did not sufficiently explain how people adapt differently to a stressor. To address this issue, we developed a new model of psychological resilience, called the Psychological Immunity-Psychological Elasticity (PI-PE) model. The aim of this article is to clarify this model and to discuss its added value. First, we explain how we derived the PI-PE model from the literature regarding both the crucial elements in any resilience process model and the (mal)adaptive outcomes following stressful events. Secondly, we describe the different elements that make up the model. Characteristic of the PI-PE model is that it distinguishes between two pathways of psychological resilience – psychological immunity and psychological elasticity – with four adaptive outcomes, namely sustainability, recovery, transformation and thriving. To explain how people arrive at these different outcomes, we argue that two consecutive mechanisms are critical in these pathways: tolerance and narrative construction. Taken as a whole, the PI-PE model presents a comprehensive framework to inspire both research and practice. It explains how the process of psychological resilience works differently for different people and how to support individuals in their process towards successfully and differently adapting to stressors.

A Study on the Relationship between Mental Resilience, Work-Family Conflict, and Anxiety of Nurses in Shandong, China

“…The working environment of the hospital leads to long-term pressure of nurses. Long-term chronic stimulation will lead to the decline of psychological adjustment ability, and it is difficult for nurses to maintain optimistic psychology due to job burnout [ 34 ].…”

Overseas Chinese Returnees’ Swindler Syndrome and Their Entrepreneurial Education Under Psychological Resilience

“…EE1-EE7 are as follows: systematically take entrepreneurship courses and participate in entrepreneurship practice, Entrepreneurship education encourages me to create entrepreneurial ideas; Entrepreneurship education helps me form entrepreneurial preferences; Entrepreneurship curriculum provides necessary entrepreneurial knowledge; Entrepreneurship education enriches students' cognition of the role of entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship education deepens students' understanding of the entrepreneurial process; and Entrepreneurial practice cultivates students' entrepreneurial ability (Cara et al, 2019;IJntema et al, 2021).…”

Kiltz et al. (under review) Caught Between Relief and Unease: How University Students’ Well-Being Relates to Their Learning Environment During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Netherlands

“…When bouncing back from adversity, individuals mobilise personal and environmental resilience resources to deal with stressors (IJntema et al, 2021). Several studies aim to categorise such resources, such as Mansfield et al (2016) who classify resilience factors in four overarching categories: personal and contextual resources, strategies, and outcomes.…”