Tracking the Process of Resilience: How Emotional Stability and Experience Influence Exhaustion and Commitment Trajectories

Abstract

This study responds to calls to conceptualize resilience as a dynamic process by examining individual trajectories of emotional exhaustion and affective commitment over time in the face of ongoing role demands. In contrast to research conceptualizing resilience as a dispositional trait, we conceptualize resilience in terms of patterns of between-individual variation in response trajectories (dynamic resilience). In a longitudinal study spanning three months and 12 observational periods, we show that individuals high in emotional stability had more static affective commitment trajectories and that organizational newcomers had less pronounced emotional exhaustion trajectories in response to ongoing demands. Both the patterns shown for those with high emotional stability and newcomers are indicative of greater dynamic resilience. Furthermore, we found that affective commitment trajectories were significant predictors of actual retention through the mediating mechanism of intent to remain. We discuss how our approach offers opportunities to study resilience in dynamic settings.