Hardiness

HArdiness As existential courage

Hardiness is a personality construct that manifests existential courage to cope positively with stress through the hardy attitudes of commitment, control, and challenge (Maddi, 2006;  Maddi, Khoshaba, Harvey, Fazel, & Resurreccion, 2009). The development of Hardiness Theory began in 1979 when researcher Suzanne Kobasa conducted a fascinating study on stress and health. Kobasa (1979) measured the effects of stressful life events in a group of corporate executives going through the deregulation of the telecommunication industry during the late 1970s and 1980s. Kobasa studies 837 executives who were sent questionnaires in order to develop two groups of participants: (a) high stress/low illness group and (b) a high stress/high illness group.

The study included three hypotheses regarding the three attitudes of hardiness: (a) control, (b) commitment, and (c) challenge. Hardiness is a cumulative score measuring these three attitudes, and it was proposed that individuals high in hardiness cope better with stress and have lower rates of illness.  This initial research sought to determine if the positive personality disposition of hardiness buffers the negative effects of stress on health. Kobasa concluded based on this study that executives high in hardiness coped better with stress and had less illness. 

How does hardiness work?  Individuals high in the commitment attitude are willing to seek social support and use resources to deal with stress. Individuals high in control have the attitude that they can positively influence their circumstances to affect favorable outcomes. Individuals high in the challenge attitude view change as good, and are willing to learn from their circumstance whether it is positive or negative.

Hardiness can be measured

Hardiness can be measured using the Hardiness Survey III (HS-III) or Personal Views Survey III (PVS-IIIR). According to the Hardiness Institute, the HardiSurvey® measures stress management and coping resilience evaluates individual and organizational resources for effectively managing stressful changes.  According to the Hardiness Institute the "HardiSurvey estimates how well your coping resources help you to resist and protect you against the negative effects of the stressful changes in your life. You learn through its composite Performance Effectiveness Index how much of a tight-rope you are walking because of your stress, and how much of a net your coping skills provide to buffer you against stress’ negative effects." The PVS-IIIR measures the three Hardi attitudes: commitment, control, and challenge that provide the existential courage and motivation to "turn adversity into opportunity."  You can take these two psychological assessments online at the Hardiness Institute for a small fee.  The profiles you receive are insightful.   Also, Army psychologist David Bartone has extensive research and resources related to hardiness and resiliency. Check out Dr. Bartone's website.

Hardiness Can Be Learned

Hardiness can be learned and developed through HardiTraining.  Hardy individuals, families, and institutions are more resilient.  Deborah Khoshaba and Salvatore Maddi at the Hardiness Institute developed HardiTraining: Managing Stress (Turn Adversity into Opportunity).  HardiTraining is a holistic and "comprehensive approach to mastering stressful circumstance." Below is the hardiness model (used by permission from Dr. Khoshaba).

References

Kobasa, S. C. (1979). Stressful life events, personality, and health: An inquiry into Hardiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(1), 1-11.

Maddi, S. R. (2006). Hardiness: The Courage to grow from stress. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1(3), 160-168.

Maddi, S. R., Khoshaba, D. M., Harvey, R. H., Fazel, M., & Resurreccion, N. (2009). The personality construct of Hardiness, V: Relationships with the construction of existential meaning in life. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 49(3), 292-305.