Individual Differences - Hardiness

Question 1

What are the four areas of evaluation for hardiness?

Answer 1

Gender differences

Importance of all 3 elements

Neuroticism

Issues with measuring hardiness

Question 2

What is Neuroticism?

Answer 2

The tendency to have a negative outlook on life , usually causes people to be easily upset and be over-reactive to a ‘threat’

Question 3

What is the evaluation for gender differences in Hardiness?

Answer 3

The orginal 1997 study was conducted on an all male sample , meaning that it may not relate to females

Question 4

Explain the evaluation point of ‘the importance of all 3 elements’?

Answer 4

Research suggests that all parts of a hardy personality (control, commitment and challenge), he suggests that those high in control but low in commitment and challenge would be more like a type A - low in challenge may make them vulnerable to stress

Question 5

What is the evaluation point of neuroticism? (Hardiness)

Answer 5

Research noted the overlap between items on the hardiness scale and the questionnaires to measure the personality trait of neuroticism

Therefore those who are ‘low in hardiness’ may be ‘more ill’ when really they are overexaggerating their symptomps

Question 6

What is the evaluation point of issues with measuring hardiness?

Answer 6

Measuring hardiness relies on self-report techniques, which may cause social desirability bias as ppts are trying to seem hardy when they are

Question 7

What does research suggest people with a hardy personality react to stress? (Description)

Answer 7

Its suggested that they react far better to stressful situations

Question 8

What are the 3 main elements of a hardy personality? (Three C’s) (Description)

Answer 8

Control
Commitment
Challenge

Question 9

How do the characteristics of a hardy personality buffer the effects of stress? (Description)

Answer 9

Together, the characteristics mean that when hardy personalities are faced with stress, they are more likely to, actively aim to resolve stressful situations, get social support and have a healthy diet, which causes a damped physical response to stress

Question 10

What research was used to support the hardy personality? (Description)

Answer 10

Research compared a group who had high stress in the past 3 years without falling ill and a group who had fallen ill

Those who hadn’t fallen ill had higher rates of hardy personality

other research compared Bell telephone employes after redudencies, a 1/3 had hardy personalties and were far less likely to have stress relatedillness