A Study on Factors Influencing the Qiang餾 Post—Disaster Psychological Resilience

Han Li Yuan Jiwei Xu Mingbo

（Mianyang Normal College，Mianyang，621000，Sichuan，China）

JOURNAL OF ETHNOLOGY， VOL.6，NO.5 ， 83-88 ，2015（CN51-1731/C，in Chinese）

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2015.05.11

Abstract：

Psychological resilience is given a lot of attention in studies relating  to handling pressure and individual development.Psychological resilience refers to one being able to maintain a relatively stable and healthy psychological well-being  after experiencing stressful events，such as hurt or loss.This resilience  has a multi-level complicated structure，and results from a dynamic interaction of the individual，social，cultural and other social factors.Although there is yet no a common definition of psychological resilience in academic circles，it seems that the concept of psychological resilience reflects much more the dynamic process of the individuals ability to adjust after experiencing  difficulties/adversity.

The Wenchuan Earthquake that occurred on May 12 not only brought many injuries，death and loss to the Qiang people，but it also created psychological trauma of different degrees for the survivors.This research discovered that differences  in ethnic cultures endow individuals differences in  cognition，responses and coping mechanisms when facing the same disaster.How did the Qiang survivors from the earthquake manage their psychological trauma after the disaster？ What kinds of factors were helpful for the individuals psychological resilience？ This became our focus.This article tries to use a qualitative research methodology and semi-structured interviews to understand the cognition，responses and coping mechanisms of Qiang earthquake survivors; it explores the factors influencing the Qiangs psychological resilience; and provides the basis for the ethnic minorities post-disaster psychological resilience.

We used the methodology of “purposeful sampling” to select a research target in Mao county and Li county of Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture，Sichuan province.These are two places which were severely impacted when the earthquake happened on May 12. Based on the results of former investigations and research on post-disaster psychologically healthy coping mechanisms， we selected 12 victims of the earthquake as our research target，among which five were female; seven were men; and their ages ranged from 30 to 65 years old.

In order to maintain the authenticity and circumstances of the research objectives，this study adopted a qualitative research methodology，followed by a research methodology grounded in theory to do collection，analysis，coding and model construction.Using the qualitative analysis software Nvivo100，firstly，we input all the interview materials into the databank; secondly，we coded all the data in the databank; and thirdly，we made a classification of all contents being coded and tried to explore the relationship between different themes through the original encoding，preliminary encoding，potential theme encoding and high-level theme encoding.Through an analysis of the codes and data，a two-level and four-factor structural model of the Qiangs psychological post-earthquake resilience was finally formed.The model is composed of four parts，which include：  the origins of trauma; coping mechanisms; post-disaster psychological resilience; and subjective well-being.This provided evidence of the influences on the development of post-disaster psychological resilience from a qualitative perspective.

1.The influence of the Wenchuan earthquake on the psychological well-being of the Qiang  might continue for a long time.

All things，including the destruction of the Qiang peoples homes，the victims and

deaths of neighbors，relatives and friends，as well as their poor reaction reflected in their cognition，emotions and behavior，are the origins of the psychological trauma after the disaster.What happened the day of the earthquake remains fresh in the memory of the Qiang who experienced the earthquake.According to this investigation，621% of the population who were interviewed two weeks after the earthquake experienced hopelessness to various degrees; and 311% of victims manifested symptoms of depression to various degrees.One and half years after the earthquake，half of the residents still felt that their psychological and emotional state was much worse than before the earthquake.Moreover，there were still high rates of anxiety and depression.Five years after the earthquake，PTSD among the primary and middle students in the disaster areas was still very obvious.The influence of the earthquake on the individuals psychology might exist for a long time，and the degree of influence it has is the same as the degree of influence as the destruction or loss created by the earthquake.

2.Positive support from the national and local government provided a source of external strength  for

promoting thepsychological resilience of Qiang victims.

Almost all of the interviewees talked about the influence national support and assistance after the earthquake had on their psychological resilience.After the earthquake，the state activated a first-level response to the geological disaster by quickly organizing  search and rescue teams，providing disaster relief materials，building  tents and temporary shelters，and organizing  post-disaster reconstruction.These actions enabled the people in the disaster area to feel the concern of the CCP and the government from the living materials，to psychological support to the reconstruction policy.At the same time，non-profit organizations，volunteer groups，relatives，friends，and neighbors also provided strong support for the peoples psychological resilience.The social support recognized by the individuals as the efficient factor which could predict positive change after the disaster.The social support systems of the victims in the earthquake，except for that of traditional family and marriage relationships，depended more on the support of government and community to release negative emotions.

III.Internal strength developed from ethnic cultural elements promoted the post-disaster psychological resilience of Qiang victims.

Cultural differences lead to different cognition and coping mechanisms when various ethnic groups face  the same disaster.We found from our interviews that all of the 12 Qiang interviewees mentioned the influence of their ethnic culture on their  psychological response.The Qiang believe in “animism”，so when the earthquake happened，many local Qiang knelt down in front of the mountain deity asking for blessing and protection.This reflects  the  deep influence of Qiang religious culture on the Qiang people.Meanwhile，the rich Qiang folk traditions also alleviated the psychological pressure on the Qiang after the earthquake.Ge Yanli interviewed 20 Qiang people with regard to their psychological resilience after the earthquake，and discovered that the degree to which traditional culture was maintained，and the adjustment of various cultures influenced the foundation of psychological resilience，and the social support is helpful for its role playing—this is consistent with this study.

IV.Post-disaster psychological resilience is helpful for promoting subjective well-being.

The capability for individuals to cope with or adapt to pressure and difficult situations efficiently，as well as the results of dynamic mutual relations between “individuals and society”，psychological resilience itself represents a kind of optimistic and positive strength.Research indicates that people with high psychological resilience have a relatively lower threat evaluation to pressure and difficult situations; their positive emotions are higher than those people who have lower psychological resilience，and their self-resilience time is obviously short.This is consistent with the results of our interviews.Those Qiang who exhibited high psychological resilience after the earthquake also manifested a strong，optimistic attitude，and they were good at adopting positive strength from their environment.Hence，ethnic culture exists as a kind of supportive strength.

In the interviews，those Qiang who had relatively low psychological resilience usually manifested some negative emotions such as fear，bring scared，and lack of speech.They also adopted some strategies，such as confrontation，a need to escape，and loss of self-control.This might be related to their perceived recognition  of the threat，i.e.the earthquake.The destruction of the earthquake created trauma for the individuals，and，as the trauma became more serious，their negative emotions increased，and their subjective well-being decreased.Those  Qiang who have high psychological resilience tended to make a more objective，positive evaluation of disasters or difficulties，and it was easy for them to have a more positive emotional experience.This fact will be helpful for relieving the anxiety after the disaster，improving the degree of satisfaction of their life，and experiencing more subjective well-being.

Key Words：   qualitative research; the Qiang; psychological resilience

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