ABSTRACT

This chapter seeks to clarify what resilience is. It also clarifies the link between resilience and related terms such as mental toughness, hardiness, and grit. The chapter explores the concepts of optimism and pessimism and considers the implications for performance. The concept of resilience is often seen as being inextricably linked to the concept of adversity. In seeking to enhance resilience a range of training programmes have been designed and implemented across a range of performance domains including: educational settings; the military; and in sport. Mental toughness is a term that has been used to describe the ability of performers to continue to strive toward and achieve their goals in psychological circumstances where others fail. Hardiness has been described as a personality style that can help an individual to cope, withstand, and actively engage in transformational coping when faced with stressful events. Another related personality trait that has been of interest in recent times is the psychological construct of grit.