Personality Factors - Hardiness

Question 1

What are the three characteristics of the hardy personality?

Answer 1

• Commitment
• Control
• Challenge

Question 2

Why did Kobasa think that having a hardy personality makes you less likely to suffer from stress related illness?

Answer 2

Psychological hardiness acts as a buffer against the negative effects of stressors, resulting in lower psychological arousal when in the presence of stressors, and therefore leading to a reduction in stress related disorders.

Question 3

What were the aims of Kobasa’s research into hardiness?

Answer 3

To identify personality factors that affect an individuals response to stress.

Question 4

What were the procedures of Kobasa’s research?

Answer 4

Stress scores of 800 business executives and managers were determined using Holmes and Rahe’s SRRS and hardiness was assessed using a hardiness questionnaire.

Question 5

What were the findings of Kobasa’s research?

Answer 5

150 of the executives were experiencing high levels of stress. They differed in their illness record over the same period. Those with low levels of illness were more likely to have scored high on all three personality characteristics of the hardy personality.

Question 6

What were Kobasa’s conclusions?

Answer 6

People with the characteristics that make up a hardy personality are better able to cope with stress.

Question 7

What were the strengths of Kobasa’s research?

Answer 7

1. It has practical applications, as it lead to the development of a successful stress management technique called hardiness training. This involves increasing the three C’s in those who are less hardy. Applicants for elite military units are now screened for hardiness, and hardiness training has become widespread throughout the military.
2. The research has been supported by several other studies, suggesting the findings are reliable. Beasley et al found that uni students who scored higher on a hardiness test showed reduced levels of psychological distress.

Question 8

What were the limitations of Kobasa’s study?

Answer 8

1. It was conducted mainly on male white collar workers, so findings may not be generalisable to other groups such as women and other workers, so the research lacks population validity.
2. Control, commitment and challenge have never been clearly defined. Some researchers have suggested that control may be an important part of commitment and challenge rather than being separate from them, meaning that Kobasa is only looking at the role of control in protection against stress rather than a full personality type. This threatens the research’s internal validity.