Educational psychology attaches great importance to the influence of the external environment on the individual, but this view appears to ignore that the individual does not passively accept everything in the external environment and has internal power to respond to the external environment. Resilience theory (Garmezy, 1991; Werner, 1982), however, suggests that an individual’s adaptability does not fluctuate with the external environment and emphasizes the inherent resilience of the individual. Because of this theory’s advantages, this study focused on resilience.

Resilient qualities, resilience programs, and the resilience process are three major topics within resilience research (Bolton et al., 2017; Richardson, 2002). Studies have comprehensively analyzed resilient qualities (Chan et al., 2009; Gillespie et al., 2007) and resilience programs (Chen et al., 2014; Knight et al., 2019; Torsney & Symonds, 2019). Many scholars (Flach, 1988, 1997; Richardson, 2002) believe that resilience is a process and requires further investigation. However, insufficient data are available on the resilience process.

Previous literature (Flach, 1988, 1997; Richardson, 2002; Wang et al., 2017) have provided few specific details about important protective factors for resilience and how they are related in the resilience process; this makes it challenging to determine which protective factors help initiate the resilience process and what type of resilience individuals achieve. In other words, studies have found it difficult to concretize the resilience process. Furthermore, studies (Shih & Wu, 2017; Chao et al., 2018) have stated that students’ learning path is full of frustration; thus, resilience is essential to them. However, few studies have focused on learning frustration in relation to the resilience process. Therefore, this study sought to fill the research gap and become a basis for teaching guidance. Accordingly, this study analyzed the process through which junior high school students develop resilience to learning frustration.

According to the resilience process model (Richardson, 2002), Flach’s ideas (1988, 1997), constructive failure theory (Clifford, 1988), and Mencius’s views (Fu, 2004), resilience may be related to pre-existing protective factors, additional protective factors, wisdom and ability, and adaptation results, and the relationships among them may be that existing protective factors predict adaptation results through additional protective factors and improved wisdom and ability. According to conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989), Luthans et al. (2004), and other studies (Baluku et al., 2016; Jung & Yoon, 2015), psychological capital and social capital may serve as pre-existing and additional protective factors, respectively, in the process of junior high school students developing resilience to learning frustration. Frustration tolerance can be regarded as improved wisdom and ability in the process of junior high school students developing resilience to learning frustration (Clifford, 1988; Huang & Lin, 2013). According to coping strategy theory (Folkman & Lazarus, 1998), positive emotions and adaptive motivational engagement can serve as adaptation results in the resiliency process of learning frustration for junior high school students. This study analyzed the process of junior high school students developing resilience to learning frustration by exploring the relationships among psychological capital, social capital, frustration tolerance, positive emotions, and adaptive motivational engagement.

Although studies have provided interpretations of psychological capital, frustration tolerance, positive emotions, and adaptive motivational engagement, the connotation of social capital remains unclear. On the bases of the social support model (House, 1981), emotional regulation theory (Chiang, 2015; Gross, 2002), the viewpoints of scholars on seeking help (Newman, 1991, 1994), and self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2002), a second-order confirmatory factor analysis of social capital was conducted to analyze social capital among junior high school students, and a social capital scale for junior high school students containing subscales on emotional regulation and problem-solving resources was created.

Based on related literature, a model of the process of resilience to learning frustration was constructed to analyze the relationships among psychological capital, social capital, frustration tolerance, positive emotions, and adaptive motivational engagement among junior high school students. According to self-worth theory (Covington, 1992), the viewpoints of scholars on seeking help (Newman, 1991, 1994), and past research (Lin et al., 2013; Luthans & Youssef, 2004; Newman, 1990; Ryan & Pintrich, 1997), psychological capital may positively predict social capital. According to conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989), the control–value theory of achievement emotions (Pekrun, 2000), expectancy–value theory (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000), and related research (Carmona-Halty et al., 2019; Chang, 2019; Chen, 2017; Cheng et al., 2018; Lai & Wu, 2018; Naveira, 2015; Tsaur et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2017), psychological capital may positively predict frustration tolerance, positive emotions, and  adaptive motivational engagement.

According to the social support model (House, 1981), emotional regulation theory (Chiang, 2015; Gross, 2002), the viewpoints of scholars on seeking help (Newman, 1991, 1994), self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2002), and previous research (Jang et al., 2009; Joe et al., 2017; Lin, 2016; Liu et al., 2016), social capital may positively predict frustration tolerance, positive emotions, and adaptive motivational engagement. Frustration tolerance may positively predict positive emotions and adaptive motivational engagement (Clifford, 1988). According to the model proposed by Lazarus (1991), the cognitive–motivation model of achievement emotions (Pekrun, 1992), broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 2004), and previous research (Chien & Cherng, 2013; Huang, 2010; Pekrun et al., 2002), positive emotions may predict adaptive motivational engagement.

The current study recruited 1867 junior high school students and employed structural equation modeling. The following results were obtained: (a) The second-order confirmatory factor analysis model of social capital and resilience to learning frustration fitted the observed data well. (b) Psychological capital positively predicted social capital and frustration tolerance. (c) Social capital positively predicted frustration tolerance and positive emotions. (d) Frustration tolerance positively predicted positive emotions and adaptive motivational engagement, (e) Positive emotions positively predicted adaptive motivational engagement.

In summary, the results of this study indicate that junior high school students’ resilience to learning frustration starts with psychological capital (a pre-existing protective factor), which enables students to obtain social capital (an additional protective factor) by motivating them seek help, and these two factors help students to ultimately recover their positive emotions and achieve adaptive motivational engagement (adaptation results) by improving their frustration tolerance (wisdom and ability). These results concretize the process through which junior high school students develop resilience to learning frustration and fill the research gap.

Although psychological capital, social capital, frustration tolerance, positive emotions, and adaptive motivational engagement are all critical factors in positive psychology, few studies have investigated them simultaneously, especially as they relate to process of developing resilience. This study, based on resilience and many related theories, explored the relationships among these variables in response to the contemporary prominence of positive psychology and exemplifies the integration of resilience research with other issues. The study results can be used as a reference for teaching and guidance. The findings imply that parents and teachers can encourage students to increase their tolerance of learning frustration to allow them to handle greater challenges in the future. Counselors can also use the study results to develop resilience programs focusing on learning frustration.