--- title: The 9 Qualities That Help You Thrive Under Pressure description: Researchers found a number of personality traits and external factors that can predict a person’s ability to thrive under stress. canonical: https://time.com/4935741/thrive-pressure-stress-resilience/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-13T18:03:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:21:46.551Z article:section: Health og:title: The 9 Qualities That Help You Thrive Under Pressure og:description: People with these traits may be more likely to succeed in life og:url: https://time.com/4935741/thrive-pressure-stress-resilience/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte04742d7cf677c08/69887baf8e06016c01464682/clouds-jumping-happiness-success-achievment-mental-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: clouds-jumping-Happiness-success-achievment-mental-health-motto-stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The 9 Qualities That Help You Thrive Under Pressure twitter:description: People with these traits may be more likely to succeed in life twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte04742d7cf677c08/69887baf8e06016c01464682/clouds-jumping-happiness-success-achievment-mental-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 9 Qualities That Help You Thrive Under Pressure > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Amanda MacMillan / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Amanda MacMillan / Health.com Contributor Sep 13, 2017 6:03 PM UTC  Peechaya Burroughs for TIME by [Amanda MacMillan / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Amanda MacMillan / Health.com Contributor Sep 13, 2017 6:03 PM UTC In new and challenging situations, some people fold under pressure and some manage to squeak by. And then there are the people who really thrive—blossoming in the face of uncertainty or adversity. Now, researchers say they’ve pinpointed a number of personality traits and external factors that, when combined, can predict a person’s chances of thriving. For their recent paper, [published in the journal _European Psychologist_](http://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/abs/10.1027/1016-9040/a000294), scientists from the University of Bath in the U.K. reviewed a wide variety of research on what makes people thrive in all types of circumstances—physically, professionally, athletically, artistically and academically, to name a few. From those studies, they came up with two lists of variables—nine personal traits and six outside influences—that are common among people who continuously grow, learn and succeed in life. People don’t have to possess every component on these lists in order to thrive, say the authors, but a combination of a few from each list could certainly help. That formula could include any or all of the following: ### **Qualities** The person should be … * optimistic * spiritual or religious * motivated * proactive * someone who enjoys learning * flexible * adaptable * socially competent * someone with self-confidence and self-esteem ### **External factors** The person should have … * opportunity * support from employers, family, or others * a manageable level of challenges and difficulties * a calm environment * a high degree of autonomy * the trust of others These lists may not be very surprising—but the authors say that until now, there has been no real consensus for exactly what characteristics and circumstances help people thrive, or what we can do to increase our chances of doing so. To sum up their research, lead author Daniel Brown, now a sport and exercise scientist at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K., says that the act of thriving seems to come down to “feeling good about life and yourself and being good at something.” While some people maybe more naturally prone to thriving than others, Brown says there are things we can do to cultivate these important traits within ourselves. For starters, he recommends relying on [internal motivations](http://www.health.com/fitness/its-time-to-bring-happiness-to-your-workout) (things that are truly important to you) rather than external ones (things society _says_ should be important to you), and trying to always look at new situations as opportunities for gain and growth. There may be ways we can encourage thriving in others, as well—like our kids, our partners, or our employees. “It’s likely to be important for individuals to feel they have a choice in what they are doing, that they hold close and supportive relationships with people around them, and that they perceive themselves having some level of competence in the tasks they are completing,” Brown told _Health_ via email. More studies are needed to determine which factors are most important for thriving in specific scenarios, and the differences between thriving under serious adversity versus everyday stress, the authors wrote in their paper. But they hope their research is a good stepping-stone for understanding the psychology behind what it takes to be our best selves, no matter what life throws our way. _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/stress/traits-linked-to-thriving/?xid=time) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://health.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4935741/thrive-pressure-stress-resilience/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4935741/thrive-pressure-stress-resilience/"},"headline":"The 9 Qualities That Help You Thrive Under Pressure","datePublished":"2017-09-13T18:03:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:21:46.551Z","description":"People with these traits may be more likely to succeed in life","url":"https://time.com/4935741/thrive-pressure-stress-resilience/","keywords":["Mental Health","Anxiety","Stress","motivation","resilience","stress relief"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte04742d7cf677c08/69887baf8e06016c01464682/clouds-jumping-happiness-success-achievment-mental-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amanda MacMillan / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte04742d7cf677c08/69887baf8e06016c01464682/clouds-jumping-happiness-success-achievment-mental-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"clouds-jumping-Happiness-success-achievment-mental-health-motto-stock","caption":"clouds jumping Happiness success achievment mental health motto stock","creditText":"Peechaya Burroughs for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-health/","name":"Mental Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4935741/thrive-pressure-stress-resilience/","name":"The 9 Qualities That Help You Thrive Under Pressure"}}]}] ```