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228 Biobehavioral Resilience to Stress

to the stress resistance that is observed in hardy individuals (Kobasa, 1979;
Maddi, 1987; Maddi & Kobosa, 1984). Kobasa et al. (1981, 1982) proposed that
hardy individuals perceive potentially stressful events as less threatening than
nonhardy individuals do. Several studies have supported this hypothesis by
finding that despite experiencing no more or fewer negative life events than

nonhardy individuals, hardy individuals tend to evaluate negative events as less

stressful and are more confident that they will cope successfully (Allred & Smith,
1989; Rhodewalt & Zone, 1989; Westman, 1990; Wiebe, 1991). Kobasa et al.

(1982) found that hardy individuals reported finding more meaning in their

work activities and were less vulnerable to the negative effects of stress than
people scoring low on this personality dimension (Bartone, Ursano, Wright
& Ingraham, 1989; Kobasa et al., 1982). A survey conducted by Rhodewalt
and Zone (1989) also found that hardy women were less likely than their
low-hardy female counterparts to view their life experiences as undesir-

able and as requiring greater adjustment. Research findings from numerous
studies suggest that hardiness is positively associated with both physical and
mental health (Kobasa, 1979; Kobasa et al., 1981, 1982, 1985; Kobasa & Puccetti,
1983; Maddi, 1998; Maddi & Khoshaba, 1994). Hardiness has been found to
be inversely correlated with measures of anxiety and depression (Allred &
Smith, 1989; Drory & Florian, 1991; Funk & Houston, 1987; Nowack, 1989,
1990; Rhodewalt & Zone, 1989) and positively correlated with well-being and
adjustment (for reviews, see Blaney & Ganellen, 1990; Hull, Van Treuren &
Virnelli, 1987; Orr & Westman, 1990).
Th e buff ering effect of hardiness against adverse effects of stress on

psychological well-being appears to be robust across diverse occupational
groups that involve different levels of work-related stress (Bartone, 1989,

1996; Contrada, 1989; de Vries & van Heck, 2000; Kobasa et al., 1982; Roth,
Wiebe, Fillingim & Shay, 1989; Wiebe, 1991). For example, Kobasa et al. (1985)
studied the health of 85 business executives who experienced a high number
of stressful life events and found that out of three variables known to be asso-
ciated with stress resistance (personality hardiness, exercise, and social sup-
port), personality hardiness was the most important predictor of concurrent
and prospective health. Optimism and health-related hardiness have also
been found to predict a significant proportion of variability in the health and

well-being of older women, above and beyond factors such as socioeconomic
status, social support, physical illness, and access to services (Smith, Young
& Lee, 2004). In a study of older people (65–80 years), Sharpley and Yardley
(1999) found that hardiness was a strong predictor of scores along a mood
scale (continuum from depression to happiness), with high-hardy individu-
als tending to score higher on the happiness end of the continuum.

Although hardiness has often been viewed as a moderator of stress-related
illness, research findings are inconsistent on this point. Some studies—

particularly those that measure hardiness as a composite construct—have

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