Are value priorities related to dispositional optimism and resilience? A correlational study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between value priorities and two dispositional dimensions, optimism and resilience, in a sample of 307 healthy Sicilian adolescents (145 boys and 162 girls) aged from 14 to 18 years. We used the Portrait Values Questionnaire (Schwartz, 1992), the Resiliency Attitudes and Skills Profile (De Caroli & Sagone, 2014), and the Life Orientation Test-Revised (Scheier & Carver, 1992). Results indicate that the value priorities of self-enhancement and openness to change are positively related to optimism; self-transcendence is positively related to all dimensions of resilience; conservation is positively related to adaptability, control, and engagement; the value priorities of self-enhancement and openness to change are positively related to sense of humor, competence, and adaptability. Additionally, boys perceive themselves as more optimist, humoristic, competent, and adapted than girls, while girls are more engaged than boys; furthermore, boys judge as mainly important the values of self-enhancement and openness to change, while girls judge as mostly important the self-transcendence. Future researches will deep the relationships among these three constructs in young adults and the elderly. Keywords: resilience; value orientations; optimism; adolescence.