Control, Self-Efficacy, and Resilience
A few weeks ago I shared my thoughts about the importance of having a clear sense of meaning and purpose when it comes to our resilience in the face of the natural disasters we have faced as a community over the past year. A few people asked if I could say more about this.
A second major contributor to resilience is a sense of control or self-efficacy. The unexpected and overwhelming nature of disasters or trauma creates uncertainty about the future. Can I achieve my purpose-oriented goals? Disasters can leave us feeling powerlessness, frustrated, and unable to make any meaningful progress towards realizing our goals. The result is distress. The alternative, feeling in control or confident in our ability to achieve our goals, minimises uncertainty and relieves distress.
Another word to describe this is ‘hope.’ Hope is future-oriented. Hope is not rigid but recognizes that there are many possible pathways to goal satisfaction. Hope motivates assertive and decisive action, higher aspirations, striving for achievement, persistence with difficult tasks, and the ability to find positive value in negative events.
From a Christian perspective one of the most important things to know is that we don’t have to carry the burden of bringing about a good outcome alone. The bible says…
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
We can conclude four things from these words. First, a good and loving God is present and active within every situation to achieve his desired outcome. Second, the knowledge that the limitless resources of God are directed towards achieving his purposes relieves us of the burden of having to gain control over every situation using only our own limited resources. Third, even though we may not know what God’s desired outcome is, we do know his character and that gives us certainty about the goodness of the outcome. Finally, by appropriating God’s outcome as our own, we are able to gain a sense of control, albeit indirectly, over even the worst of situations, minimize our uncertainty, and moderate our distress.
Neil Percival
A second major contributor to resilience is a sense of control or self-efficacy. The unexpected and overwhelming nature of disasters or trauma creates uncertainty about the future. Can I achieve my purpose-oriented goals? Disasters can leave us feeling powerlessness, frustrated, and unable to make any meaningful progress towards realizing our goals. The result is distress. The alternative, feeling in control or confident in our ability to achieve our goals, minimises uncertainty and relieves distress.
Another word to describe this is ‘hope.’ Hope is future-oriented. Hope is not rigid but recognizes that there are many possible pathways to goal satisfaction. Hope motivates assertive and decisive action, higher aspirations, striving for achievement, persistence with difficult tasks, and the ability to find positive value in negative events.
From a Christian perspective one of the most important things to know is that we don’t have to carry the burden of bringing about a good outcome alone. The bible says…
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
We can conclude four things from these words. First, a good and loving God is present and active within every situation to achieve his desired outcome. Second, the knowledge that the limitless resources of God are directed towards achieving his purposes relieves us of the burden of having to gain control over every situation using only our own limited resources. Third, even though we may not know what God’s desired outcome is, we do know his character and that gives us certainty about the goodness of the outcome. Finally, by appropriating God’s outcome as our own, we are able to gain a sense of control, albeit indirectly, over even the worst of situations, minimize our uncertainty, and moderate our distress.
Neil Percival