Quote and Overview
"Although nearly everyone suffers negative life events, people respond to them differently."
In her 2015 article “Why Some People Are More Resilient Than Others,” Denise Cummins looks at resilience from a psychological perspective. Introduced by Professor Erin Smith, this article illustrates the different ways people respond to negative life events. According to Cummins, factors like mastery (the degree to which individuals perceive themselves as having control over their lives) and social support determine the various levels of resilience people experience after trauma or hardship.
Denise Cummins
Denise Cummins is a cognitive scientist, author, and elected Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. She has worked with Yale University, the University of California, the University of Illinois, and the Center for Adaptive Behavior at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin for faculty and research positions. She has written about what she and other cognitive scientists are discovering about about the way people think, solve problems, and make decisions in her Psychology Today blog, Scientific American, and PBS NewsHour articles.
Discussion Questions
1. It is stated in this piece that while 92% of Americans report suffering from at least one significant negative event in their lifetime, people respond to suffering differently. Why do you think that is?
2. Cummins mentioned that "mastery" leads to a higher quality of life. Mastery refers to the degree that individuals feel as if they have control and influence over life circumstances. What are some life situations that would be made easier to handle through "mastery"?
3. What advice would Cummins give to some of the other authors in this anthology who have dealt with different types of trauma?
In-Class Activities
1. Split students up in groups of 3-4. Have the students discuss how they respond when they get a bad test grade to show how people react to situations differently.
2. Divide students up into four groups and have each group research one of the four psychological disorders some people develop after going through a traumatic event: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), general anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and substance abuse or dependence. Have groups share their findings with the class.
