individual differences: hardiness

Question 1

true or false?
hardiness is an aspect of personality

Answer 1

true

Question 2

what does hardiness give us?

Answer 2

existential courage to deal with stress + the determination to keep going despite setbacks/uncertainties

Question 3

what are the 3 dimensions of hardiness which relate to cognitive appraisal?

Answer 3

~ commitment
~ challenge
~ control

Question 4

what does ‘commitment’ mean in terms of hardiness?

Answer 4

hardy people throw themselves fully into all life has to offer them rather than standing on the sidelines

Question 5

what does ‘challenge’ mean in terms of hardiness?

Answer 5

hardy people view stressful situations as opportunities for self-development rather than threats to their self-esteem

Question 6

what does ‘control’ mean in terms of hardiness?

Answer 6

hardy people believe that stressful situations can be overcome through their own efforts + they are in charge of their own life

Question 7

who did Kobasa research?

Answer 7

670 male American middle/senior managers aged 40-49

Question 8

how did Kobasa identify those with high stress?

Answer 8

Schedule of recent experiences (forerunner to SRRS)

Question 9

how did Kobasa measure illness?

Answer 9

Seriousness of illness survey + recorded number of days taken off work

Question 10

what did Kobasa find?

Answer 10

those managers that coped well with their stressful jobs without becoming ill/taking time off work were those that scored highly on the 3Cs

Question 11

what did Kobasa conclude?

Answer 11

her findings confirmed the role of hardiness in stress

Question 12

who did Maddi research?

Answer 12

400 managers + supervisors at US Bell Telephone company

Question 13

what happened to the company that Maddi researched during this time?

Answer 13

thousands of people lost their jobs, resulting in a highly stressful experience for employees

Question 14

how many managers’ performance + health declined in Maddi’s study?

Answer 14

2/3

Question 15

what were the outcomes of poor health/performance of stressed managers in Maddi’s study?

Answer 15

heart attacks, strokes, depression, drug abuse, etc.

Question 16

how many managers in Maddi’s study appeared to flourish?

Answer 16

1/3

Question 17

who were the managers in Maddi’s study that flourished the most?

Answer 17

the managers that scored most highly on measures of 3Cs

Question 18

what are 2 strengths of this research?

Answer 18

~ research support
~ real-world application

Question 19

what is 1 limitation of this research?

Answer 19

concept of hardiness may be too broad

Question 20

what is 1 counterpoint to ‘research support’?

Answer 20

research into hardiness is based on measures that lack validity

Question 20

how did Bartone et. al. provide a real-world application of hardiness?

Answer 20

he suggested that knowledge of hardiness may be useful in certain jobs to predict who can resist stress

Question 21

who did Bartone research + what were his findings?

Answer 21

~ he measured hardiness in candidates applying for positions within US Army Special Forces
~ he found that those who passed the tough 4-week assessment course were significantly hardier than those who did not

Question 22

how did Contrada provide research support?

Answer 22

he studied cardiovascular responses in men to a stressful task in lab conditions

Question 23

what did Contrada find + conclude?

Answer 23

~ he found that students who scored highest on a measure of hardiness had lower levels of resting blood pressure in response to stressor
~ lowest blood pressure levels were found in those who were not only hardy, but had a Type B personality
~ this shows that hardiness affects physiological stress response + may protect from some stress-related illnesses

Question 24

why did Hull et. al. suggest that the concept of hardiness is too broad?

Answer 24

he recommended that research should only focus on control + abandon the 'challenge' component altogether because there is psychological research showing how important a sense of personal control is to wellbeing in various contexts

Question 25

true or false? the concept of hardiness is so broad that it may have little/no validity

Answer 25

true

Question 26

what implies that the concept of hardiness is poorly defined?

Answer 26

hardiness has to be measured by 5 different questionnaires, not by a single scale, showing that the concept is too vague

Question 27

what did Contrada find when he analysed his data more closely?

Answer 27

he found that only the 'challenge' component of hardiness was linked to blood pressure, not all the 3Cs