Would the Conservative Aspect of Asian Culture Help People Bounce Back?: An Investigation into the Correlation Between Defensive Pessimism and Resilience

Abstract

The rising interest in resilience as a desired mental health counselling outcome has prompted increased research into its predictors. In addition to genetic factors and excellent social ties, previous researchers argued that people's coping approach toward environmental dangers might be a significant element. Defensive pessimism, a prominent cognitive strategy among conservative civilizations such as Asian culture and persons with a propensity for mental illness, functions as a strategy that protects individuals from failure and misery by decreasing their expectations and anxiety. The author did qualitative research on Asian volunteers to examine the relationship between defensive pessimism and resilience. The results of this paper contradict the authors' hypothesis that adopting defensive pessimism would increase individuals' resilience. And the findings reveal a significant negative correlation between the two. Additionally, the significant linear regression indicated that defensive pessimism might be a weak negative predictor of resilience. The results may contribute to the early identification of harmful coping strategies in psychological assessment and help with treatment plan development in mental health counselling.