The Prediction of Psychological Resilience by Fear of Happiness and Ruminative Thoughts

In this study, it was investigated whether fear of happiness and ruminative thinking predict psychological resilience in university students. In addition, the predictive level of fear of happiness and ruminative thinking of psychological resilience subscales was investigated. Finally, it examines whether there is a significant difference between students' fear of happiness, ruminative thought and psychological resilience levels according to gender. The population of the study is the students studying at the faculty of education of a university located in the Mediterranean region of Turkey in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The sample group consisted of 296 students, 212 (71.6%) girls and 84 (28.4%) boys, aged between 17 and 34 (x̄=21.81), selected by the easily accessible sampling method. For data collection, a personal information form created by the researchers, Fear of Happiness Scale, Ruminative Thought Style Scale and Psychological Resilience Scale for Adults were used. Findings obtained in the study: It was found that fear of happiness and ruminative thinking together negatively predicted resilience at a significant level. Fear of happiness and ruminative thought explain approximately 12% of the variance in students' resilience scores. Regarding the predictive level of fear of happiness and ruminative thinking of the sub-dimensions of psychological resilience; self-perception (19.9% of variance), future perception (10% of variance), social competence (5% of variance), family adjustment (3% of variance), and social resources (3% of variance) are negative significant predictors. Finally, there is a significant difference between students' psychological resilience and self-perception sub-dimensions of psychological resilience according to gender.