Results and Comments
Block and Kremen (1996) noted that the development of the ER89 over the years was empirically driven, but
that conceptual decisions were not fully systematic and changes to the scale have not been recorded properly.
The ER89 is to be distinguished from the Ego-Resiliency Scale developed independently by Klohnen (1996) also
based on the observer rater scale developed by Block, but was different from the ER89 in item content and con-
structs covered. Other scales have been developed building on the ER89 for specific purposes but none have
achieved the prominence of the ER89.
Note: Copyright for the ER89 is owned by the American Psychological Association. Permission to copy should
be obtained from the APA ( www.apa.org ) and the estate of Jack Block.
Resilience Scale (RS)
(Wagnild, 1987).
Variable
The five characteristics of resilience identified by Wagnild were: Purpose, Equanimity, Self-Reliance,
Perseverance, and Existential Aloneness. Wagnild has labeled these five characteristics as the ‘Resilience Core’
and suggests that strengthening the core will enable a person to exhibit a very healthy resilience response to
adversity ( Wagnild, 2009 ). Much like a fitness coach will encourage athletes to strengthen their physical core; the
resilience core can be strengthened and practiced, too. The stronger the core, the healthier is one’s response to
adversity and setbacks.
Description
The 25-item RS is an instrument designed to measure resilience directly ( Wagnild & Young, 1993 ). There are
five items per core characteristic labeled: Purpose, Equanimity, Self-Reliance, Perseverance, and Existential alone-
ness. All items are worded in a positive direction. No items are reverse-worded or otherwise modified prior to
calculating scores. RS scores range from 25 to 175. Responses are made using a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging
from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Total scores are used rather than scores for each of the five sepa-
rate components.
Sample
The samples used in the development of the instrument consisted of 782 seniors between the ages of 53 and
95; 62% were female and 38% males, 79% were retired at the time of testing ( Wagnild & Young, 1993 ).
Reliability
Internal Consistency
The Cronbach alpha coefficient of the RS using the initial sample was 0.91. Additional studies have reported
alpha coefficients ranging from 0.73 to 0.95 ( Wagnild & Young, 1993; Wagnild, 2009 ).
Test/C0Retest
Stability coefficients of .78 for a Swedish sample ( N5422) and .83 for a Thai sample ( N5200) have been
reported ( Choowattanapakorn, Ale ´x, Lundman, Norberg, & Nygren, 2010 ).
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Wagnild (2012) has reported that the RS positively related to measures of successful aging including morale,
life satisfaction, optimism, and self-esteem. The RS is also positively related to behaviors associated with healthy
aging such as health promoting behaviors, self-care, and chronic disease management. Correlations showing the
association between the RS and various validity measures appear to range from .25 to .59 (see Wagnild, 2013 ).
Concurrent validity was assessed by correlating the RS score with measures of life satisfaction using the Life
Satisfaction Index A (.37); (Neugarten et al., 1961), morale (.32) using the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale
Scale (Lawton, 1975), and self-reported health status ( /C0.30). The RS was significantly correlated to these
measures.296 11. MEASURES OF RESILIENCY
III. EMOTION REGULATION