Eranda Jayawickreme

  • Professor of Psychology & Senior Research Fellow, Program for Leadership and Character, Wake Forest University
Traditional dancers perform in front of the Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, celebrating the Buddhist festival of Esala Perahera, in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on Aug. 8, 2025. Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images

Growing up during Sri Lanka’s civil war taught me that getting along with people across divides is a virtue we can learn

A scholar who studies the virtues that help people sustain relationships across faiths and cultures describes what being a child during the war taught him about practicing pluralism in action.
We like to narrate our lives in terms of the challenges we’ve confronted and the setbacks we’ve overcome. frankie's/shutterstock.com

Do we actually grow from adversity?

We like to think there’s a silver lining to tragedy – and this may be influencing both how studies on post-traumatic growth are constructed and how subjects are responding.

Contact Eranda for

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