Sri Lanka, Jan. 5 -- Life demands constant adaptation. Stress is what we experience when we respond to adaptation demands. Therefore, life is stressful. The only way to be truly stress-free is to be dead, because the dead don't respond to demands-adaptation or otherwise.
Life, in other words, is hard. Yet some people appear better suited for the hardship. Psychologists have been trying for years to decipher what makes some people resilient, i.e., able to manage stress, bounce back from failure, endure hardship, and thrive post-trauma.
Of course, individual success, in coping as with everything else, is never about individual qualities alone. In studying, assessing and predicting resilience, researchers must also account for social factors...