Virtues as Predictors of Resilience among Single Women

Pages:288-298
Kumar Deepak and Narayanan Annalakshmi (Department of Psychology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)

Single women face many challenges that increase their vulnerability in a patriarchal society. Yet, some of them are able to overcome their daily life challenges and lead successful and flourishing lives. Despite the drastic increase in the number of single women in India, little is understood about the factors that promote positive adaptations in single women. While exploring these factors, it is essential to consider the role and influence of virtues in the daily lives of single women. The present study examines whether the character strength virtues predict psychological distress, happiness, life satisfaction, and psychological resilience among single women. A sample of 300 single women (divorced, widows, & separated women) in the age group of 25 to 60 years (M = 39.82 years, SD = 7.83) were administered self-report measures of character strengths virtue, psychological distress, subjective happiness, life satisfaction, and psychological resilience. Multiple regressions were carried out to analyze the data. Wisdom and knowledge positively predicted psychological distress but negatively predicted life satisfaction. Justice negatively predicted psychological distress, subjective happiness, and life satisfaction but positively predicted psychological resilience. Courage positively predicted life satisfaction and psychological resilience. Humanity positively predicted subjective happiness and life satisfaction. Temperance negatively predicted subjective happiness, life satisfaction, and psychological resilience. Transcendence negatively predicted psychological distress but positively predicted psychological resilience. These findings highlight the role of character strength virtues as individual resources that promote the positive adaptation of single women to the challenges of everyday life. The implications of the findings for policy, practice, and research are also discussed.