Volume 6, Article 3
Resilience over Grit in the Prediction of Stress Perception
Silas L. Klatt and Roman Osinsky
Citation: Klatt, S. L., & Osinsky, R. (2022). Resilience over Grit in the Prediction of Stress Perception. International Journal of Stress Prevention and Wellbeing, 6, 3, 1-14.
https://www.stressprevention.net/volume/volume-6-2022/volume-6-article-3/
Processing dates: Submitted: 19 August 2021; Re-submitted: 27 January 2022; Accepted: 8 February 2022; Published: 20 June 2022
Abstract
Background/Aims/Objectives: There is plenty of evidence that stress perception is closely associated with mental health issues and is also influenced by personality traits. In particular, the personal characteristics of grit and resilience may affect the individual’s perception of challenging situations. Moreover, these personal characteristics seem to share some of their protective qualities regarding stress. This study aims to investigate the role of grit and resilience as potentially important personal characteristics in the process of stress perception.
Methods/Methodology: We conducted an online survey to examine the relationship of self-reported stress perception with grit and resilience in a large German sample of N = 602 (76.9% female) individuals.
Results: Analyses revealed small to moderate negative correlations of stress perception with grit and resilience which explained 25% of variability in stress perception. However, only resilience had a significant stand-alone influence on the prediction of stress perception, with grit accounting for no incremental validity beyond resilience.
Discussion: Our results indicate that individuals with low levels of resilience are more likely to experience higher levels of stress perception. However, the influence of grit on the prediction of stress perception can be entirely explained by resilience. Even though grit and resilience share substantive amounts of their variance, the amount of unexplained variability points to unshared qualities characterizing them as separate personal characteristics.
Conclusion: This study supports the crucial role of resilience beyond grit in the screening and the support of vulnerable individuals regarding stress in both the vocational and the university contexts.
Keywords: stress perception, resilience, grit, university students, employees
Biographies
Silas Klatt is with the Department for Differential Psychology & Personality Research, Institute of Psychology, University of Osnabrück, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5318-0031
Roman Osinsky is with the Department for Differential Psychology & Personality Research, Institute of Psychology, University of Osnabrück, Germany
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4282-4281