Apply For Funding
Home Hero

Examining the possibility of

Growth through adversity

Can we grow through adversity?

The theme of “strength from adversity” is appealing to many, and central to a number of cultural narratives. However, claims that adversity can in fact build character lacks robust empirical evidence, with many unanswered questions remaining. Do character strengths and virtues in fact grow following adversity and what are the rigorous methodological approaches for prospectively assessing potential growth? The Pathways to Character project aims to promote research that rigorously examines whether adversity, challenge, or failure can strengthen character, with a focus on the virtues of altruism, humility, gratitude, relatedness/empathy, spirituality and open-mindedness.

Learn More

Featured Projects

Wisdom-Self-Distance

Wisdom, Self-Distance, and Adversity: Multimethod Prospective Evaluation of Posttraumatic Character Growth of Open-Mindedness, Humility and Empathy

Focusing on one’s adversity can be a source of strength, facilitating meaning-making and growth. However, adversity can also lead to depression, anxiety, and trauma-related stress. We propose that the self-perspective one takes while reflecting on adversity – i.e., self-distanced (third-person perspective on one’s experiences) vs. self-immersed (first-person perspective) – modulates the effects of adversity for […]

Learn more about this project
View all research projects

New-Directions

New Directions in Measuring Character Growth Following Challenge and Failure

The empirical research at WFU will be led by Eranda Jayawickreme and other collaborators. This project aims to address the causality, accuracy, stability, and mechanisms of short-term adversity-driven change with 360 participants drawn from two different populations each highly likely to be exposed to different forms of challenge and failure; a student sample experiencing a year of significant academic challenges (following Blackie et al., 2016) and a low socio-economic community sample (following Blackie, Jayawickreme, Helzer, Forgeard, & Roepke, 2015).

Learn more about this project
View all research projects

Partnered Research

asu-logo

Research at ASU

Research at ASU will examine the nature of character growth following adversity, its concordance with informant reports, the processes through which growth manifests following adversity and individuals’ characteristics that may increase or decrease one’s likelihood of experiencing character growth following adversity.

Learn more about this project
View all research projects

wfu-logo

Research at WFU

Research at WFU will combine experience sampling methodology, self- and informant-ratings and qualitative interviews to examine the relationship between retrospective self-perceived growth, growth-relevant behaviors, identity and reputation to accurately access character change following challenge and failure.

Learn more about this project
View all research projects

Meet the Team

Our Project Team is an interdisciplinary group of scholars, each of them well-respected in their field, who will be a part of the grant review process and serve as a board of advisors for the Pathways to Character Project.

Learn more