The Relationship Between Alexithymia and Positive Beliefs to Rumination and Psychological Resilience

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between alexithymia, positive beliefs towards rumination and psychological decisiveness in alexithymic individuals. In addition to determining the relationships between the variables, the mediating role of alexithymia in the relationship between positive beliefs about rumination and resilience was evaluated. The research was carried out on university students. Alexithymic individuals were identified by a two-stage process. First of all, students were asked to evaluate the measurement tools based on the convenient sampling method without any discrimination. Then, the data obtained were analyzed and 144 university students were determined as alexithymic in line with the cut-off score determined. Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Psychological Resilience Scale and Positive Rumination Scale were used as data collection tools. Research findings show that there is a positive and significant relationship between positive beliefs about alexithymia and rumination in alexithymic individuals. However, a significant negative correlation was determined between resilience and alexithymia. According to the mediation analysis findings, the mediating role of alexithymia in the relationship between positive belief in rumination and resilience is significant. As a result, a model to explain resilience was tested in line with the mediation theory and the interaction between two variables that could explain resilience was found. In particular, it is evaluated that research findings may be functional in the therapy phase in clinical studies to be conducted on psychological resilience.