Psychologists explain that people born in the 1950s aren't just resilient
Silicon Canals • • health
Key Points:
- The generation born in the 1950s developed resilience through repeated exposure to manageable challenges without expecting external help, fostering a strong internal locus of control and persistence.
- Psychologist Donald Meichenbaum’s stress inoculation training theory explains how small, solvable problems can build psychological resilience, similar to how vaccines build immunity.
- Research shows a generational shift toward external locus of control in recent decades, where people increasingly attribute outcomes to luck or others, undermining persistence and motivation.
- Resilience is not built by hardship alone but through hardship combined with agency, supportive relationships, and a culture that does not convey problems as insurmountable.
- The article warns against entitlement—the belief that discomfort signals failure or that others should fix problems—and advocates
