Is There Always Value to Adversity?: Looking Beyond "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger"

Clear and compelling, Is There Always Value to Adversity? presents an interdisciplinary exploration of the age-old idea that adversity can lead to personal growth.Can adversity have an upside? Is there a purpose to suffering? Can difficult experiences involving trauma and hardship make us stronger?These age-old questions, both intuitively compelling yet scientifically problematic, have fascinated philosophers and researchers for centuries. In Is There Always Value to Adversity?, Eranda Jayawickreme examines whether post-traumatic growth--the positive changes people report after adversity--reflects real transformation or is simply a coping mechanism.As Jayawickreme explains, the idea that struggle, trauma, and adversity can be a catalyst for positive outcomes has a long intellectual history.He outlines the history of this thinking, tracking its development in different cultural, religious, and philosophical traditions.He then discusses its recent emergence as a popular topic and evaluat