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Control Variable

The control score reflects your ability to influence adverse situations and see them as opportunities for change and improvement, as opposed to suffering from the victim mentality.

Participants who rank higher in the Control category exhibit qualities and habits that allow them to manipulate and influence the results of an adverse situation or obstacle to their advantage and rarely allow them to throw them off course or derail them from their current path.

Participants who rank lower in the Control category are prone to become overwhelmed in difficult situations, oftentimes abandoning goals. They are unable to control their emotional response to the situation and are easily thrown off course.

Ownership Variable

Accountability is the backbone of action. It is the quality or state of being accountable; especially  an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions.

Participants who score higher in the Ownership category do not make excuses nor seek to place blame in the event of a mishap, but rather immediately go into problem solving mode to correct the situation. Highly accountable people know that ownership is not limited to projects or tasks, but also to emotional responses. They own up to their feelings and do not allow short-term emotions to wreak havoc on long-term projects or goals.

Participants who score low in the Ownership category routinely feel as if they are the victim in difficult situations. There is an overwhelming feeling of helplessness, as they are unable to see the forest for the trees and often get bogged down by singular, and sometimes insignificant details. They also deflect accountability and seek to place blame rather than expend that energy to be productive in seeking out measures to rectify the situation.

Reach Variable

Being able to control the reach of adverse events and challenges is a key skill in managing daily life stressors and not becoming emotionally exhausted. The fallout from situations can, and often does, negatively impact various areas of your life well beyond the situation itself.

Participants who score higher in the Reach category are less likely to allow outcomes to migrate across other areas of their life, controlling the impact and fallout through self-awareness. In ensuring setbacks do not pollute and diminish the quality of the many aspects of your day-to-day life, you successfully help to control and even reduce stress, allowing for maintained or increased productivity.

Those who score lower in the Reach category are likely to allow events and their outcomes to spread over multiple facets, with negative emotions infiltrating areas that are not directly connected or related to the original incident. These people will often place blame, redirect anger in inappropriate or unfair ways, hold grudges and fall into deep of despair from a single setbacks. They feel out of control and allow adversity to pollute their lives, as opposed to actively controlling the effects of a situation and moving forward.

Endurance Variable

Psychological resilience and endurance are defined as an individual’s ability to successfully adapt to life tasks in the face of social disadvantage or highly adverse conditions. Adversity and stress can come in the shape of family or relationship problems, health problems, or workplace and financial worries, among others.

Participants who score higher in the Endurance category know their boundaries, understanding the separation between who they are at their core and the cause of their temporary suffering. They do not allow the stress/trauma to overtake their permanent identity. In addition, they cultivate self awareness, recognizing that being blissfully unaware is not a wise long-term strategy for mental health and success. In identifying and understanding your psychological and physiological needs, they are able to pick up on subtle cues their body/mind are sending. This is also true in their acceptance that they do not have all the answers, and that is okay. Each obstacle is seen as an opportunity for learning, experience and growth.

Participants who score lower in the Endurance category show signs of mental fatigue, placing additional, unnecessary burdens on themselves to have all the answers, which leads to a breakdown when plans or questions are changed even slightly. Without mental flexibility and adaptability, they are unable to cope with change or adversity. They see temporary difficulties as permanent, allowing shortcomings and flaws to become an aspect of their identity as opposed to being tools to learn from and grow.

Your Response Profile

Your ARP (Adversity Response Profile)  is comprised of the four categories above consisting of the CORE dimensions. Understanding them is the first step to improving your response to adversity, expanding your capacity and, ultimately, increasing your overall AQ.

The average score is 75  –  How did you score?