Perspectives on resilience: Personality Trait or Skill?

In this paper, we will discuss various issues related to the concept of resilience, which we conventionally defined as a dynamic process allowing for positive adaptation in a context of significant adversity. First, we will try to draw the reader's attention to the importance of the concept of resilience in terms of public health. Second, we will address the difficulties of measuring resilience in a relevant and operational manner. Third, we will then address the question of whether resilience can be conceived only in the context of confronting trauma, or whether its application can be relevant to everyday non-traumatic adversity. In this regard, we will introduce and define another coping strategy, the Sense of Coherence. Fourth, we will discuss the nature of resilience, that is to say, whether it should be considered as a personality trait or as a skill. We will try to show that this problem arises from the difficulty of specifying the emotional processes involved in resilience. Finally, we will propose future research perspectives that could allow us to better understand the concept of resilience.