Focus on 24 Strengths: How can you become more resilient this year?
Our collective resilience is currently being tested on a global scale.
You could say we are fighting two enemies. The first is the coronavirus itself which we cannot see with the naked eye (this can make it seem scarier to some, but can make it hard for others to take it seriously fast enough).
The second is our own mind – our thoughts and feelings and our subsequent actions. There is the fear and uncertainty, the restrictions on travel, and the inaccessibility of loved ones in hospitals. There is the isolation for long periods of time, which is not necessarily easy as a quarantined family unit or as a single individual.
Finding strategies to help you weather the storm within yourself is important.
Resilience is often pictured as someone who is “strong”, “tough” or generally impervious to insults and obstacles. But does being resilient really mean you remain completely unaffected in difficult or traumatic situations? Or does it mean you’re affected by them, but have the resources to keep going?
I’d argue for the second case. And interestingly enough, it has been shown that some people not only keep going, but growing. Stress is a major trigger for a wide range of conditions, including neuropsychiatric disease and autoimmune disease. “Stress” itself, is not so much the culprit here, as “stress” can be both positive and negative depending on the context. For example, exercise is a stressor, and so is sauna use. Both are known to promote health when used appropriately.
However, some types of stressors are clearly harmful, some levels of stressors are clearly harmful, and some stress responses, while adaptive in the short-term, are not adaptive on a long-term basis. This makes building resilience a very important part of your health journey.
It has even been suggested that protective factors have a greater impact on psychological resilience than risk factors. This is very encouraging in that it gives us something to work on in instances where the risk factors are either hard to control or beyond our control. [1]
There are many ways to promote resilience. Today’s focus is on developing character strengths. These theoretical strengths were outlined by Seligman and Peterson, and research is starting to reveal how important these strengths are for resilience.
They include 24 strengths, and are grouped into the following categories:
Wisdom and knowledge: curiosity, creativity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective
Courage: bravery, persistence, honesty/authenticity, zest
Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence
Justice: teamwork, fairness, leadership
Temperance: forgiveness, modesty, prudence, self-regulation
Transcendence: hope, spirituality, appreciation of beauty, gratitude, humour
Of the 24 strengths, hope, zest, gratitude, curiosity and love are especially associated with psychological well-being. [2]
As you wrap yourself in your safe little quarantine cocoon start thinking about what type of butterfly you want to emerge as when this has all calmed down. What strengths have you excelled in over the past year, and what strengths would you like to focus on this year? Take this time to invest in yourself. And no, that does not mean you have to be perfect or constantly productive. But let’s get through this as best as we can.
Each of the sections below will begin with some examples relevant to our current situation.
Wisdom and knowledge
1. Curiosity
When you think of your current predicament in terms of uncertainty, there is a lot of room for fear to move in. Uncertainty is uncomfortable and stimulates a drive for knowledge. You can experience curiosity in this way, or you can experience curiosity in a more traditional sense of the word - because you take an interest in exploring new information and experiences. While we are learning more every day, many aspects of our current situation remain uncertain. Parts of this situation are not within our control, embrace what is and explore the new experience we have all found ourselves in.
What uncertainties about this situation can you find actual answers to?
Who can provide answers that are trustworthy?
What are you learning about new ways to work remotely?
What are you learning about your family?
How has this impacted your priorities in life?
How are you using your time differently?
What have you developed a new appreciation for?
What are you learning about yourself?
Curious people can be grouped into several categories: those who have a wide range of interests and expertise, those who like to solve problems, and those with high social curiosity [3]. This is simplifying, but gives you a sneak peek into the many ways curiosity can emerge, each with its own potential to contribute solutions to our current experience.
2. Creativity
We are creating solutions to major shortages of PPE (personal protective equipment), including new ways of reprocessing masks.
We are discovering new ways of doing business remotely.
Each country is experimenting with various financial aid and economic stimulus strategies.
We are finding new ways to communicate and socialize with our family and friends.
If you have young kids at home, you may be getting creative in ways to keep them entertained while following appropriate quarantine/distancing rules.
3. Open-mindedness
If you read the news at all right now, you will be tossed from one argument to the next. Remember that none of us really knows the very best solutions because what we are facing is so new. Instead, we have to use what information we have from the past and the present to make the best decisions we can, and this is no simple task. Keep an open-mind to the possibility of different approaches and to the idea that most people are operating with the best of intentions.
4. Love of learning
Schools may be closed or switching to remote learning platforms, but that isn’t stopping any of us from learning some lessons that are just as (or more) important than reading, writing and ‘rithmetic. These include, but are certainly not limited to, the value of international teamwork and problem solving, the opportunity for communities and neighbours to look out for one another, and how to adapt to widespread disruption in daily routines. If we embrace the lessons we learn from this pandemic, we can better prepare for the future.
With so many people either working remotely or not working, this could be a good time for teachers to bring in a guest speaker to their virtual classroom. This can easily be accomplished via Zoom, and will give students the opportunity to learn from workers in different industries, while also allowing workers the opportunity to provide mentorship and pass on their knowledge.
Some people, after losing their job, have opted to go back to school and pick up new skills.
Some of our frontline healthcare professionals are being trained to take on new roles as the demand for intensive care increases.
5. Perspective
You have been given a chance to evaluate what matters most to you, and to value your life.
You understand that any discomfort you are in due to physical distancing orders is intended for a greater good.
You may be taking time to connect with remote family members through means (like FaceTime) that were available to you before, but you just didn’t think of doing, or prioritizing the time for.
You may have past experience that allows you to provide especially helpful counsel to others during this situation.
There has been a lot of focus on age-related risks for coronavirus outcomes. Let’s discuss age in relation to something more positive: wisdom.
With age you become better at certain aspects of wisdom relative to those younger or older than you. In midlife, you may have better emotional regulation and a greater number of critical life experiences compared to those who are younger. You may also have greater openness, humour and emotional regulation compared to those older than you. [4]
For those who go on to become grandparents, the accumulated life experience and wisdom can be an important resource for the overall family unit, and can provide a renewed sense of purpose for the grandparent. [5] In addition to this, a fairly recent study demonstrated that sharing life experiences and advice has a positive influence on well-being (including a more positive outlook on aging and increased participation in social activities) and decreased inflammation in older women. [6]
The life experiences of those who have been in confined spaces before, such as astronauts and different members of the armed forces, have provided the rest of us with valuable insight into making it through the long days of “stay-at-home”. The wisdom of those who have been through periods of war helps us understand what we might face in terms of switching manufacturing to produce necessary medical equipment and in terms of potential supply chain disruptions and how this could impact supplies of food and medicine.
When faced with a stressor (or stressors plural, as in the current situation), curiosity, creativity, open-mindedness and love of learning can all help you to develop effective problem-solving strategies. Perspective is won in the process, which can help you in future situations. Those who have been through depressions, recessions and previous pandemics and are yet here amongst us give us hope that we too will one day be here to give wise counsel to the next generations.
Let’s also consider another important aspect of wisdom and knowledge: creativity. Creativity is very valuable for creating solutions for complex situations such as the present. However, I wanted to specifically address creativity and mental health, as creative expression may be one way to help you balance your stress, make sense of how you are feeling about the situation around you or even simply be a passion that you all of a sudden have more time for.
The potential link between mental health or illness and creativity has been a (fascinating but controversial!) topic of interest for years. Some suggest mental illness is associated with creativity and that mental illness may actually be a contributing force to creativity. Environment (for example stressful vs supportive) may play an important role in whether an individual’s traits lend themselves to illness or creativity.
There is a therapeutic counterpart to these claims: art therapy. In art therapy, the therapist can examine a client’s creation for elements of art such as structure, variation, balance and adaptability. The focus mainly lies on these rather than specific symptoms or diagnoses. [7]
Art can also be used as a reflection on mental health and illness in other ways. For example, in the past, art created by those with mental illnesses was sometimes used to emphasize negative attitudes towards mental illness. However, today this art is used in an attempt to increase understanding of these conditions and to decrease stigma.
One of the largest collections of art created by those impacted by mental illness or psychological trauma is the Cunningham Dax Collection. Over 90% of 10,000 people who were surveyed after viewing art included in this collection reported that the artwork improved their understanding of mental illness as well as their views on the ability and creativity of people with mental illness. [8]
When you reflect on your own capacity for creativity, note that creative expression takes many forms, and can include the everyday creativity that helps you navigate daily dilemmas. And, if visual arts aren’t your thing, consider the many other forms of creativity that have been a part of our human history for years, such as storytelling, dancing, and music. “Dance like nobody is watching” may be particularly relevant for you right now if you are self-isolating, and can be a great way to take a break from thinking about everything that is going on.
Creativity plays an important part in healing, and in finding an identity with yourself rather than an illness. [9]
Courage
6. Bravery
We see this in healthcare professionals who still show up for work despite inadequate PPE. To all of those currently on the frontlines, thank you for your courage.
We saw this in those who first spoke out about the virus, as they tried to warn us of the problems they anticipated.
7. Zest
Enthusiasm is contagious. We are losing thousands of people every day, but we must keep our spirits up for those of us that remain and for those who have to take care of seriously ill patients every day. Embrace each day and give it all the energy you have.
8. Persistence
You demonstrate this when you carry on despite the obstacles you face whether these be psychological, physical, financial or a combination of all of these.
You look for new ways to accomplish your short-term and long-term goals.
9. Honesty/Authenticity
It is easy to prey on peoples’ fears at a time like this, spreading misinformation or selling false hope. We appreciate those who are working hard to provide accurate and helpful information about this situation, those who present themselves honestly and authentically.
Bravery and zest have especially high correlations with resilience compared to the other character strengths. Bravery does not get much attention in the world of wellbeing, and it shows up as having low relevance to life satisfaction in studies of wellbeing. However, when examining its effect on resilience, it actually is important, and may be particularly so in recovery from physical illness, trauma and other unfavourable circumstances. [10]
Zest helps with both life and work satisfaction. Hope and optimism also play a role in zest, as does social support both at and outside of work. [11] If you find your feet dragging, it may be a good time to check in on your physical health (lots of physicians are offering telemedicine right now, so you can maintain your distancing). Low energy can occur in the context of many conditions, including thyroid disease, and this lack of energy can impact your zest.
Honesty may seem to be a simple, maybe slightly old-fashioned, part of socially acceptable values, but research suggests it may actually be important for health too. Dishonesty appears to take away from cognitive resources, raise heart rate and blood pressure and increase cortisol reactivity [12].
Humanity
10. Love
Valuing loved ones and developing your relationships with others as you push through our odd circumstances.
11. Kindness
Such as checking in on your neighbours and looking for ways to help your community. People are volunteering in a number of ways whether providing medical services, helping with data tracking, donating blood, donating to food banks or fostering animals from local shelters.
12. Social intelligence
Understanding the motives of others can help you sift through the misinformation and understanding your own feelings can help you note where your own vulnerabilities may lie, and where others could take advantage.
Love and kindness towards both yourself and others promotes confidence and wellbeing. They promote a common good by improving wellbeing and relationships. Love is often thought of as involving other people. However, love is not only about loving others, but also about self-compassion. Self-compassion is protective for mental health and physical health, and includes kindness versus judgment, common humanity versus isolation and mindfulness versus over-identification. [13–15]
Justice
13. Teamwork
People all over the world are pitching in in a variety of ways, from helping to update statistics to sewing face masks.
Countries have to work together to ensure distribution of crucial medical supplies as well as food.
14. Fairness
Probably the biggest question here is: Who gets to wear a mask? We are facing difficult decisions about what is and isn’t “fair”. Who gets a mask? Who gets a ventilator? Who gets a medication that is in short supply? Who continues to work? Who stays at home?
15. Leadership
This is not a place to get into politics. However, we can see examples of leadership from around the world, from leaders of countries or healthcare organizations all the way to non-healthcare professionals who are stepping up to do everything they can to help whether it’s retooling a factory or babysitting a nurse’s kids so he can keep working.
You may or may not think of yourself as a leader. But we are all leaders in one way or another. You may not run a company or a country, but you do make choices for yourself. In some ways you are your own leader. Being a leader has advantages. When you are in control of a situation, it can help you respond better to stress. [16] You can’t control how far the coronavirus has spread or the floundering of the economy. But you can control how you practise physical distancing and basic hygiene and you can control how carefully you spend or save your money, the effort you make to seek financial aid if necessary, and how you spend your time (for example to develop new skills). You also control how much you prioritize your sleep, and other factors that affect your overall health. Focus on what you can control.
Temperance
16. Forgiveness
You may be in some pretty close quarters with others right now, and putting effort into improving relationships could make the next few months smoother.
17. Modesty
It is a time for collective efforts and success as a team, rather than a focus on rising or falling as individuals.
18. Prudence
You might experience this in an economic sense, being careful about how you choose to spend your money right now or you might experience this as being careful about the words you use on social media, taking care not to elicit panic, spread misinformation or pass judgment at a time when people are under a lot of stress and emotions are running high.
19. Self-regulation
Self-regulation could include writing down your thoughts and feelings about the current situation, and then developing coping strategies. Mindfulness in daily life can help with your response to stress. If you are feeling overwhelmed, your mental health has been affected by what is going on or you need help coming up with a good coping plan, it may be time to talk to a health professional.
Forgiveness predicts both mental and physical health, even when taking into account the severity of stress in a person’s life. [17,18] While it has been suggested that learning a forgiving coping style early in life may be preventative against some of the detrimental effects of stressors in adulthood, this idea should be tempered with caution.
Forgiving is not the same thing as letting someone hurt you again and it does not excuse or deny a wrong. In addition, forgiveness has relevance to some stressors, but may not have much relevance to others, such as final exam week or financial problems. [17] It has also been shown that race and neighbourhood have potential to impact the relationship between forgiveness and health. [19]
You might be wondering if people are simply more willing to forgive when they have good health, rather than the other way around, with forgiveness affecting good health. This has also been studied and it was found that this was not the case. The relationship is stronger for forgiveness impacting stress and in turn impacting health than it is for health impacting forgiveness. [20]
You likely won’t hear your doctor discuss forgiveness alongside nutrition and movement as part of preventative medicine and yet here it is, another important piece of your health. And, just like we discussed in terms of love and kindness, forgiveness is not only forgiving others, but also being able to forgive yourself. In those with a history of self-harm, both self-forgiveness and self-compassion are associated with a decreased risk for suicidality. [21,22]
Does forgiveness therapy work? Well, if the goal is a reduction in depression, anger, hostility, stress, and distress and an improvement in positive emotions then the answer appears to be yes. [23]
How is it that forgiveness provides this buffer against stress? It is possible that those who have a higher level of forgivingness also use more problem-focused coping styles and less rumination. It is also possible that it encourages healthier responses to stressors, such as focusing on pieces of the stressor that are controllable. [17] Control is a major factor in how you perceive a stress. Those that appear completely beyond your control cause more distress. Finding aspects of the stressor that are within your reach make the stressor less daunting.
For those who enjoy delving into the implications of SNPS: It is also interesting to note that dispositional gratitude and forgiveness affect the relationship between polymorphisms in the COMT gene and its effect on wellbeing and depressive symptoms. [24]
Transcendence
20. Hope
If we did not have hope, why would be going to such extremes to keep everyone safe and healthy? Hope pushes us forward into the future and helps us cope with uncertainty. Hang on to it. I like to think of us as being in our own little cocoons, start thinking about what kind of butterfly you will emerge as.
21. Spirituality
Religious gatherings may be affected by distancing guidelines, but spirituality goes beyond religious gatherings to encompass a search for meaning, purpose, peace and connection. This is a good time to contemplate these topics, but also to find new methods of connection. In addition, activities such as prayer and meditation can help with stress management.
22. Appreciation of beauty and excellence
Little things are suddenly more noticeable. There is time to lean over the patio railing and watch the sunset. There is a greater appreciation for the wildflowers on a short (physically distant) walk that was maybe never taken before but is now your main outing from your house. What have you started appreciating that you never really noticed before?
23. Gratitude
Gratitude journaling (for example list three things you’re grateful for) tends to be an enjoyable practise for people. If you’re looking for new things to try while self-isolating this could be a nice addition to a bedtime routine.
24. Humour
People are doing their best to cheer each other up. There are a lot of jokes about toilet paper and cartoons about physical distancing circulating around. Canadians are talking about physical distancing in measurements of hockey sticks. My sister sent me a picture of the garbage collector who was dressed up as Spiderman last week. I’m not sure if it was meant as an attempt at PPE or humour or both but it certainly made us laugh!
Hope is one of the most important character strengths in relation to psychological wellbeing. [2] Your health is more than what your lab results come back with - it also encompasses hopes, aspirations, and meaning. And these in turn provide motivation for the lifestyle choices and consistency with therapies that will keep those lab values and your overall wellbeing as optimal as possible.
Hope may also be important for developing new relationships and staving off loneliness. [25] When we are physically distant from each other we have to make an even greater effort to stay socially connected and it is possible our level of hope could affect the effort we make. Hope also affects how we handle financial strain, something that many people are currently experiencing. [26]
This is not to say you should develop an unrealistic level of hope, but let us all have enough hope to reach out to those around us, to persevere in times of economic challenge and to look forward to when (not if) this passes.
Both spirituality and religion are tied to health as well. [27] Spirituality includes religion, but goes beyond that in that it encompasses a connection to others or to nature as well as connection with God or a higher power. It may also relate to a sense of purpose in life, which is associated with resilience to daily stressors. [28] Tying back to the strength of forgiveness, when people are asked about the qualitative experience of forgiveness, many will mention that forgiveness led to spiritual growth and insight, while unforgiveness felt like an obstacle to spiritual growth and wellbeing. [29]
Going beyond optimism and spirituality, gratitude and appreciation have positive effects on wellbeing and life satisfaction all of its own. Appreciation of beauty and excellence specifically is noted as a character strength, but take a moment to consider these eight aspects of appreciation or gratitude in general [30,31]:
Appreciation for what you have
Example: Appreciating your current state of health.
Awe
Example: A newborn child that thrives amidst everything else that is going on and sparks a sudden sense of wonder.
Rituals expressing appreciation
Example: Keeping a daily gratitude journal, or regular prayer or meditation practise.
Appreciation for the present moment
Example: Slowly savouring the first sip of coffee in the morning while listening to the birds address the sunrise.
Appreciation derived from self/social comparison
Example: You may compare yourself and your situation to those less fortunate than you.
Gratitude
Example: Feeling thankful for the doctors and nurses who are putting themselves at increased risk to help your loved one(s).
If you want to leave a message of appreciation for our frontline workers, call the Health Hero Hotline. You can also listen to messages that other people have left.
Loss/adversity
Example: Facing the difficult situation we are in and using it as a reminder to appreciate positive aspects of life as it unfolds.
Interpersonal appreciation
Example: Feeling thankful for a friend who texted recently to check-in on how you are doing.
Now returning to the concept of appreciation of beauty, you might wonder why this was chosen as a character strength. This can include physical/visual/auditory beauty, virtue or talent. Individuals scoring high in appreciation of beauty and excellence seem to feel a greater sense of connection with nature, the universe and/or others. [32] They also demonstrate greater wellbeing and life satisfaction. [32] Even now, when we face difficult times, glimpses of beauty or excellence can provide stark contrast to the rest of the experience and remind us that all is not lost.
Gratitude more generally, like many of these other character strengths, can improve social functioning. And at what time do we need social connection more than present? By improving social support, gratitude also protects against stress and depression. [33] Oddly enough, gratitude also improves sleep quality and duration, another key aspect of health. [31,34]
Humour can also be helpful for wellbeing, but this is contingent on the type of humour. Health-promoting humour (such as self-enhancing or affiliative/social humour) is beneficial, whereas self-defeating humour is detrimental for mental health. [35] Appropriate use of humour can improve coping, stress hormones [as in 36] and may actually play a role in how persistent you are. [37]
What else affects resilience?
Stress plays a huge role in both health and disease states. You can’t go back and change the prenatal or childhood stressors you may have experienced, but you can improve how you respond to current and future stressors. Character strengths play a role, but so does your physical health. For example, there are interactions between your hormones and how resilient you are to stress. There are also situations in which stress can impact your physical health, even when you feel like you are handling your stressors well from a psychological perspective. This is where having a doctor on your team can be quite helpful.
In addition, it is valuable to have a good sleep routine and to incorporate movement, outdoor light, nature exposure, and stress management practises into your day. Having adequate sleep is not only important for your physical health, but also improves your mood, which can in turn help you to respond to a situation in more innovative ways. [38]
Consider the balance of positive and negative stressors in your daily routine. Did you know that having a strong sense of purpose has been associated with decreased negative affect in response to daily stressors? [28]
Social connection also plays a role, and this ties back to some of the character strengths listed above, as they too can relate to how you interact with those around you.
One of the most amazing discoveries in the realm of resilience research is the existence of posttraumatic growth. [39] This clearly does not mean you should seek out trauma, or that you need trauma to experience growth, or even that you are expected to respond in this way. But what it does demonstrate is the remarkable, and sometimes underestimated, power people have to rise from a crushing situation. How is it that any growth is at all possible? And yet supposedly it can happen: improved relationships, spiritual development, deepened character strengths. [As mentioned in 39]
If indeed this is possible, then understanding differences between those who experience posttraumatic growth and those who experience posttraumatic stress disorder can help us to better understand resilience, and to better help people. For example, one study demonstrated differences in the way neurons communicate in those who do not have PTSD compared to those who do. [40]
There is a slight hiccup in this idea however. And that is that it is possible for posttraumatic growth to be associated with symptoms of PTSD. [41] This brings up several interesting points. The most important of these is the realization that even if you are doing your best and noting some of these signs of “growth”, you might still need professional help for symptoms of PTSD. And that’s okay.
Final Thoughts
We are facing some severe stressors on several fronts right now and it is possible that you are feeling overwhelmed. If you are experiencing a struggle with mental health right now please reach out to your support system as well as a professional for help.
(US) The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255
(US) The Crisis Text Line provides trained crisis counsellors if you text TALK to 741741
(Canada) The Crisis Text Line provides trained crisis counsellors if you text HOME to 686868
Remember all that we have already been through as a collective group: previous pandemics, wars, the Great Depression, recessions, natural disasters…
And this is a very small sampling of events. They happened, we recovered and then we thrived.
We have made it through scary things before, we can make it through scary things again.
We are still curious, creative, open-minded, learning, seeking perspective, brave, full of zest, persistent, honest/authentic, loving, kind, social, team players, fair, leaders, forgiving, modest, careful, hopeful, spiritual, appreciative, grateful, and have a sense of humour. We still dream and because we dream, we have a future. The future is what we create in our minds and as such you decide its possibility.
Look around you for all the good that exists in the world. Because it is still there.
May you and your family remain in good health and good spirits.
References
1. Lee, J. H. et al. Resilience: A Meta-Analytic Approach. J. Couns. Dev. 91, 269–279 (2013).
2. Hausler, M. et al. Distinguishing Relational Aspects of Character Strengths with Subjective and Psychological Well-being. Front. Psychol. 8, 1159 (2017).
3. Kashdan, T. B. et al. The five-dimensional curiosity scale: Capturing the bandwidth of curiosity and identifying four unique subgroups of curious people. J. Res. Pers. 73, 130–149 (2018).
4. Webster, J. D., Westerhof, G. J. & Bohlmeijer, E. T. Wisdom and mental health across the lifespan. Journals Gerontol. - Ser. B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci. (2014) doi:10.1093/geronb/gbs121.
5. Cleary, M., Handley, C. & Kornhaber, R. Grandparent Power: Wisdom, Experience and Perspective–An Intergenerational Mental Health Resource. Issues Ment. Health Nurs. (2017) doi:10.1080/01612840.2016.1266886.
6. Moieni, M. et al. Feeling needed: Effects of a randomized generativity intervention on well-being and inflammation in older women. Brain. Behav. Immun. (2019) doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2019.11.014.
7. Pénzes, I., van Hooren, S., Dokter, D. & Hutschemaekers, G. How art therapists observe mental health using formal elements in art products: Structure and variation as indicators for balance and adaptability. Front. Psychol. (2018) doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01611.
8. Koh, E. & Shrimpton, B. Art promoting mental health literacy and a positive attitude towards people with experience of mental illness. Int. J. Soc. Psychiatry (2014) doi:10.1177/0020764013476655.
9. Stuckey, H. L. & Nobel, J. The connection between art, healing, and public health: A review of current literature. Am. J. Public Health (2010) doi:10.2105/AJPH.2008.156497.
10. Martínez-Martí, M. L. & Ruch, W. Character strengths predict resilience over and above positive affect, self-efficacy, optimism, social support, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. J. Posit. Psychol. 12, 110–119 (2017).
11. Peterson, C., Park, N., Hall, N. & Seligman, M. E. P. Zest and work. J. Organ. Behav. 30, 161–172 (2009).
12. ten Brinke, L., Lee, J. J. & Carney, D. R. The physiology of (dis)honesty: does it impact health? Curr. Opin. Psychol. 6, 177–182 (2015).
13. Muris, P. & Petrocchi, N. Protection or Vulnerability? A Meta-Analysis of the Relations Between the Positive and Negative Components of Self-Compassion and Psychopathology. Clin. Psychol. Psychother. (2017) doi:10.1002/cpp.2005.
14. Trompetter, H. R., de Kleine, E. & Bohlmeijer, E. T. Why Does Positive Mental Health Buffer Against Psychopathology? An Exploratory Study on Self-Compassion as a Resilience Mechanism and Adaptive Emotion Regulation Strategy. Cognit. Ther. Res. (2017) doi:10.1007/s10608-016-9774-0.
15. Friis, A. M., Johnson, M. H., Cutfield, R. G. & Consedine, N. S. Kindness Matters: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Mindful Self-Compassion Intervention Improves Depression, Distress, and HbA1c Among Patients With Diabetes. Diabetes Care 39, 1963–1971 (2016).
16. Sherman, G. D. et al. Leadership is associated with lower levels of stress. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 109, 17903–7 (2012).
17. Toussaint, L., Shields, G. S., Dorn, G. & Slavich, G. M. Effects of lifetime stress exposure on mental and physical health in young adulthood: How stress degrades and forgiveness protects health. J. Health Psychol. (2016) doi:10.1177/1359105314544132.
18. Lee, Y. R. & Enright, R. D. A meta-analysis of the association between forgiveness of others and physical health. Psychol. Heal. (2019) doi:10.1080/08870446.2018.1554185.
19. McFarland, M. J., Smith, C. A., Toussaint, L. & Thomas, P. A. Forgiveness of others and health: Do race and neighborhood matter? Journals Gerontol. - Ser. B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci. (2012) doi:10.1093/geronb/gbr121.
20. Toussaint, L. L., Shields, G. S. & Slavich, G. M. Forgiveness, Stress, and Health: a 5-Week Dynamic Parallel Process Study. Ann. Behav. Med. (2016) doi:10.1007/s12160-016-9796-6.
21. Nagra, G. S., Lin, A. & Upthegrove, R. What bridges the gap between self-harm and suicidality? The role of forgiveness, resilience and attachment. Psychiatry Res. (2016) doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2016.04.103.
22. Cleare, S., Gumley, A. & O’Connor, R. C. Self-compassion, self-forgiveness, suicidal ideation, and self-harm: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy (2019) doi:10.1002/cpp.2372.
23. Akhtar, S. & Barlow, J. Forgiveness Therapy for the Promotion of Mental Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse (2018) doi:10.1177/1524838016637079.
24. Liu, J., Gong, P., Gao, X. & Zhou, X. The association between well-being and the COMT gene: Dispositional gratitude and forgiveness as mediators. J. Affect. Disord. (2017) doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.03.005.
25. Koehn, C. V. & Cutcliffe, J. R. Hope and interpersonal psychiatric/mental health nursing: A systematic review of the literature - Part one. J. Psychiatr. Ment. Health Nurs. (2007) doi:10.1111/j.1365-2850.2007.01054.x.
26. Frankham, C., Richardson, T. & Maguire, N. Do Locus of Control, Self-esteem, Hope and Shame Mediate the Relationship Between Financial Hardship and Mental Health? Community Ment. Health J. (2019) doi:10.1007/s10597-019-00467-9.
27. Vitorino, L. M., Lucchetti, G., Leão, F. C., Vallada, H. & Peres, M. F. P. The association between spirituality and religiousness and mental health. Sci. Rep. (2018) doi:10.1038/s41598-018-35380-w.
28. Hill, P. L., Sin, N. L., Turiano, N. A., Burrow, A. L. & Almeida, D. M. Sense of Purpose Moderates the Associations Between Daily Stressors and Daily Well-being. Ann. Behav. Med. 52, 724–729 (2018).
29. Akhtar, S., Dolan, A. & Barlow, J. Understanding the Relationship Between State Forgiveness and Psychological Wellbeing: A Qualitative Study. J. Relig. Health (2017) doi:10.1007/s10943-016-0188-9.
30. Adler, M. G. & Fagley, N. S. Appreciation: Individual Differences in Finding Value and Meaning as a Unique Predictor of Subjective Well-Being. J. Pers. 73, 79–114 (2005).
31. Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J. & Geraghty, A. W. A. Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 30, 890–905 (2010).
32. Martínez-Martí, M. L., Hernández-Lloreda, M. J. & Avia, M. D. Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence: Relationship with Personality, Prosociality and Well-Being. J. Happiness Stud. 17, 2613–2634 (2016).
33. Wood, A. M., Maltby, J., Gillett, R., Linley, P. A. & Joseph, S. The role of gratitude in the development of social support, stress, and depression: Two longitudinal studies. J. Res. Pers. 42, 854–871 (2008).
34. Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., Lloyd, J. & Atkins, S. Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions. J. Psychosom. Res. (2009) doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.09.002.
35. Schneider, M., Voracek, M. & Tran, U. S. “A joke a day keeps the doctor away?” Meta-analytical evidence of differential associations of habitual humor styles with mental health. Scand. J. Psychol. (2018) doi:10.1111/sjop.12432.
36. Savage, B. M., Lujan, H. L., Thipparthi, R. R. & DiCarlo, S. E. Humor, laughter, learning, and health! A brief review. Adv. Physiol. Educ. 41, 341–347 (2017).
37. Cheng, D. & Wang, L. Examining the Energizing Effects of Humor: The Influence of Humor on Persistence Behavior. J. Bus. Psychol. 30, 759–772 (2015).
38. Williamson, A. J., Battisti, M., Leatherbee, M. & Gish, J. J. Rest, Zest, and My Innovative Best: Sleep and Mood as Drivers of Entrepreneurs’ Innovative Behavior. Entrep. Theory Pract. 43, 582–610 (2019).
39. Peterson, C., Park, N., Pole, N., D’Andrea, W. & Seligman, M. E. P. Strengths of character and posttraumatic growth. J. Trauma. Stress 21, 214–217 (2008).
40. Anders, S. L. et al. Neural communication in posttraumatic growth. Exp. Brain Res. 233, 2013–2020 (2015).
41. Liu, A. N., Wang, L. L., Li, H. P., Gong, J. & Liu, X. H. Correlation between posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms based on Pearson correlation coefficient: A meta-analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (2016) doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000000605.