ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the developmental perspective of resilience. It provides an approach in which it has been argued that it is useful to define resilience as a relational construct rather than a personality characteristic, that is, a constellation of risk factors, on the one hand, and available protective factors, on the other. Similar to the problem of effective coping or problem solving, the chapter considers the question of what it means to speak about growth in the context of positive development. It presents criteria for well-being that are pursued by many people and discusses as outcomes in developmental theories. Generic terms such as successful ageing, positive development, positive psychology, or the meaning of life denote research approaches or are used as book or chapter titles to comprise and order a multitude of concepts. Positive psychology is a contemporary branch of psychology that focuses on human strengths and virtues and the factors that contribute to a full and meaningful life.
