Resilience isn’t enough: An investigation into the relationship between resilience and thriving at work — ASN Events
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Resilience isn’t enough: An investigation into the relationship between resilience and thriving at work (#156)

Rosie Hancock 1 , Colleen Addicott 1 , Roberto Gutierrez 1 , Belinda Board 2
  1. University of Herts, Harpenden, HERTS, United Kingdom
  2. PeopleWise, London, UK

Background

Resilience is often thought of as ‘bouncing back’ to a previous level of functioning when faced with adversity (Luthans, 2002). But what does it take to do better than that: to thrive? How does resilience relate to thriving at work, particularly for general office workers? How can organizations support employees not just to survive, but to thrive? 

Aims

This convergent sequential analysis research program explores the relationship between resilience and thriving at work for general office/knowledge workers. The ultimate goal is to identify evidence-based interventions that support thriving at work. 

Method

1: Identification of common antecedents and outcomes for resilience and thriving at work through analysis of recent structured reviews and meta-analyses into resilience at work (e.g., Hartmann et al., 2020) and thriving at work (e.g., Goh et al., 2022).

2: Interviews with participants in multiple countries (UK, US, Australia and NZ) to discuss their experiences of both resilience and thriving at work, using a Critical Incident approach plus Reflective Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

3: Correlational studies using validated scales of Wellbeing (ONS4, VanderWeele et al., 2020), Resilience (Brief Resilience Scale, Smith et al., 2008) and Thriving at work (Porath et al., 2012) alongside validated scales for identified common outcomes (Work Engagement, Career Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, Task performance, Psychological/Physical health). Mostly UK samples, N=243 and N=298; Correlation/Regression analysis to explore relationships. 

Results

Results show a moderate correlation (r=0.36, p<0.001) between resilience and thriving at work. 16 common antecedents, 8 common outcomes and 4 factors that are both have been identified. Analysis of relationships between resilience, thriving and outcomes/antecedents is ongoing. Reflective Thematic Analysis suggests that resilience – striving against adversity –  results in skills and attributes that can support thriving at work, and may result in multiple pathways to thriving. 

Conclusion

Better understanding the relationship between resilience and thriving at work will help identify/develop evidence-based interventions to help employees thrive, not just survive. 

  1. Luthans, F. (2002). The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(6), 695–706. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.165
  2. Hartmann, S., Weiss, M., Newman, A., & Hoegl, M. (2020). Resilience in the Workplace: A Multilevel Review and Synthesis. Applied Psychology, 69(3), 913–959. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12191
  3. Goh, Z., Eva, N., Kiazad, K., Jack, G. A., De Cieri, H., & Spreitzer, G. M. (2022). An integrative multilevel review of thriving at work: Assessing progress and promise. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(2), 197–213. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2571
  4. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  5. VanderWeele, T. J., Trudel-Fitzgerald, C., Allin, P., Farrelly, C., Fletcher, G., Frederick, D. E., Hall, J., Helliwell, J. F., Kim, E. S., Lauinger, W. A., Lee, M. T., Lyubomirsky, S., Margolis, S., McNeely, E., Messer, N., Tay, L., Viswanath, V., Węziak-Białowolska, D., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2020). Current recommendations on the selection of measures for well-being. Preventive Medicine, 133(December 2019), 0–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106004
  6. Smith, B. W., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K., Tooley, E., Christopher, P., & Bernard, J. (2008). The brief resilience scale: Assessing the ability to bounce back. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15(3), 194–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705500802222972
  7. Porath, C. L., Spreitzer, G. M., Gibson, C., & Garnett, F. G. (2012). Thriving at work: Toward its measurement, construct validation, and theoretical refinement. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(2), 250–275. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.756
  • Please select up to 3 keywords from the following list to best describe your submission content: Business and Organizations, Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth
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