The Resilience Scale Homepage

This is the official Web site for the Resilience Scale (RS™), the highly-popular instrument designed to measure psychological resilience, which has received strong reliability and validity support for the past 15 years. Unlike instruments that rely on theoretical definitions, the Resilience Scale is derived from interviews with resilient individuals, and therefore is considered by many to be the most accurate instrument to measure resilience currently available.

We have recently released a shortened, authorized, 14-Item Resilience Scale™ (RS-14™).

You can now measure your own resilience online by completing our online Resilience Scale. Upon completion, you will see a short interpretation of your score, written by Dr. Wagnild.

We strongly recommend that you purchase the Resilience Scale User's Guide™, a "must-have" tool if you want to use the Resilience Scale properly and interpret your results effectively.

Defining Individual Resilience

Resilience is the ability to successfully cope with change or misfortune.
   Resilient individuals regain balance and keep going despite adversity and misfortune and find meaning amidst confusion and tumult. Resilient persons are self-confident and understand their own strengths and abilities. They do not feel a pressure to conform but take pleasure in being unique and will ‘go it alone’ if necessary. Resilient individuals have confidence in their ability to persevere because they have done so before and anticipate rather than fear change and challenges.
   Being resilient does not mean that an individual will ‘bounce back’ and return to the same position after experiencing difficulties, but it does mean that equilibrium will be re-established. Resilient persons experience the same difficulties and stressors as everyone else; they are not immune or hardened to stress, but they have learned how to deal with life’s inevitable difficulties and this ability sets them apart.
   The Resilience Scale User's Guide provides a more complete explanation of Resilience.

Measuring Individual Resilience

The original Resilience Scale (RS™) was created and copyrighted by Gail Wagnild, RN, PhD and Heather Young, PhD, FAAN, GNP to measure Resilience in individuals. The Resilience Scale (RS™) is based on sound scientific research and has been used successfully for over fifteen years by thousands of researchers all over the world.
The Resilience Scale User's Guide, now available for purchase, is a must-have tool for anyone serious about using the Resilience Scale and/or the RS-14. It provides important information about resilience, the development of the instruments, and it gives you considerable statistical detail about research using them. It contains an extensive list of references, and helps you to understand the best way to use the scales and interpret your results. Click here for more information.
You may also refer to a publication on the psychometric properties of the RS in the Journal of Nursing Measurement for further information on the initial reliability and validity of the RS. (Wagnild, GM, & Young, HM. 1993. Development and psychometric evaluation of the Resilience Scale. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 1, 165-178.)

The Resilience Scale and 14-Item Resilience Scale are copyrighted internationally by Gail M. Wagnild and Heather M. Young (1993). "Resilience Scale", "RS", "14-Item Resilience Scale" and "RS-14" are international trademarks of Gail M. Wagnild and Heather M. Young.

The Resilience Scale™

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Defining Individual Resilience

Measuring Individual Resilience