Resiliency and Character Strengths Among College Students

Abstract

This dissertation contributes to the literature on resiliency and character strengths. College students (N = 223) were administered questionnaires to determine the hassles they experienced in the last month, as well as their levels of life satisfaction, resiliency, and the four character strengths of Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, Gratitude, Humility/Modesty, and Love. Reponses to the Ego Resiliency Scale were used to divide students into the following three groups: resilient, moderate-resilient, and low-resilient. Self-reported levels of life satisfaction, Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, Gratitude, Humility/Modesty, and Love were compared across the three groups to determine whether they were significantly related to resiliency. The results indicate that Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, Gratitude, and Humility/Modesty had a significant relationship with resiliency, but that Love did not. Resilient students' levels of Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence as well as Gratitude were significantly higher than those of low-resilient students. However, resilient students' levels of Humility/Modesty were significantly lower than those of low-resilient students. Although Love was not significantly related to resiliency, the levels of Love for resilient students were relatively higher than those of low-resilient students. Life satisfaction also was significantly related to resiliency. Resilient students' levels of life satisfaction were significantly higher than those of low-resilient students. Gratitude and Love predicted students' levels of life satisfaction. Therefore, Gratitude seems to be the essential character strength related to both resiliency and life satisfaction among college students.