Influence of temperament and character on resilience

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of temperament and character on resilience. Methods: A total of 4355 participants completed two questionnaires: the Conner-Davison Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised Short (TCI-RS). We used Pearson's correlations to evaluate the correlation between the dimensions of the TO and the CD-RISC. To determine the most influential TCI dimension with respect to the CD-RISC, a backward multiple regression analysis was performed. Results: The resilience of both men and women was positively correlated with persistence, self-directedness, and cooperativeness. Conversely, harm avoidance was negatively correlated with resilience. In addition, reward dependence in men and self-transcendence in women were positively correlated with resilience. In the multiple regression analysis, persistence, self-directedness, and harm avoidance significantly predicted resilience after adjusting for age and gender. Conclusion: This results show that social support is affected by personality, which consists of both temperament and character. High persistence and self-directedness as well as low harm avoidance are found to contribute to a better stress response. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.