PhD research into psychological resilience

Since the global financial crisis in 2008, companies are increasingly interested in psychological resilience. This interest has been fuelled by the current COVID-19 crisis. Studies regarding resilience address the question of why some people successfully adapt to these stressful events (stressors) whereas others do not. This thesis, written by Richta IJntema, aims to gain more insight into this phenomenon: how to understand psychological resilience and how to effectively enhance it.

In the occupational context, many people seem to regard resilience as a (developable) personal attribute. IJntema's thesis shows that this view is outdated. Rather, it should be understood as a dynamic process. To explain this process, IJntema has developed a new model: the Psychological Immunity-Psychological Elasticity (PI-PE) model. This model shows how the process of resilience is triggered by a specific stressor, how this stressor can disrupt an existing psychological equilibrium and which pathways people may follow to either maintain, restore, improve or alter their equilibrium. 

The question that companies nowadays struggle with is how to effectively enhance resilience in their employees. IJntema's thesis offers direction. Although she has not found any best practice of a process-based resilience-building programme, she has developed one in collaboration with a consultancy firm and demonstrated its effectiveness in two field studies. In addition, she has set criteria for resilience-building programmes and has identified five approaches to enhance resilience.

Taken together, her thesis sheds new light on psychological resilience and ways to build it.