How to Measure Resilience with the Care Advantage Personality Assessment

Resilience can be defined as ‘an ability to rebound from adversity and overcome difficult circumstances in one’s life’. People working in the care sector often function in an environment that is highly stressful and demanding physically, emotionally as well as mentally.

Resilience can increase through life experience, one’s social network and training, however some people seem to naturally be more equipped to overcome difficult situations.

Which traits are linked with resilience?
There is robust evidence indicating a link between resilience and the Big5 personality traits, the framework on which the Care Advantage assessments are built.

While all 5 traits have been linked to resilience, the three most significant linkages are: Stable (Neuroticism), Extroversion and Conscientiousness.
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Across all 5 traits, these links appear logical, for example:

• Higher on the Stability Scale: Less inclination to feel anxious, insecure, impulsive, overwhelmed by stress.
• Higher on the Extroversion Scale: Associated with positive emotions and seeking out /maintaining interpersonal relationships (the latter being an important tool for building/ maintaining resilience).
• Higher on the Conscientious Scale:  Associated with being planned, organised, and action oriented.  People scoring high may be inclined to address challenges in a managed, structured and pragmatic way.
• Lower on the Conventional Scale: Associated with thinking flexibly, being open and adaptive to change/new situations, and willing to try new things in the face of challenges.
• Lower on the Tough-Minded Scale: Associated with individuals who are helpful, cooperative, and supportive.  These individuals may be less inclined to become involved in conflict and may attract reciprocal help/support from others when they are going through difficult times themselves. 

Being able to identify job applicants who are naturally better able to cope when times get tough is a great first step in ensuring your workforce has the required resilience for the job. Add to that specific training and an organisation-wide support network and you're setting your staff up for success in stressful times. 

Contact us if you like to learn more about our assessments.