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failed to support the hypothesis that hardiness buffers against stress-related

illness (Blaney & Ganellen, 1990; Funk, 1992). For example, a study of the
impact of hardiness, exercise participation, self-perceived fitness level, and

stress resistance found no moderator effect for hardiness, although further
analyses indicated that hardiness may have had an indirect eff ect on health

by influencing either the occurrence or the subjective interpretation of
stressful life events. Clark and Hartman (1996) also found that while har-
diness predicted psychological distress, it did not predict physical health.
A more recent study by Klag and Bradley (2004) found that the statistical
relationship between hardiness and illness was reduced when controlled for
the effect of negative aff ectivity.

Research concerning the presumed moderating effect of hardiness has
been limited by reliance upon cross-sectional, main-eff ect experimental
designs. Very few prospective investigations have been performed to consider
the interactions among variables associated with stress resistance. However,
some important exceptions do provide compelling evidence that hardiness

exerts a protective effect. In particular, Bartone and his colleagues have stud-
ied the relation between hardiness and resilience of military personnel who
are engaged in peacekeeping and other military missions. In these popu-
lations, Bartone and Adler (1999) found that hardiness is associated with
less depression and fewer other psychiatric symptoms. Bartone (1999) also
explored the potential stress-moderating role of personality hardiness as pre-
dictive of psychiatric symptoms in a sample of U.S. Army reserve person-

nel who served in the Persian Gulf War. This study revealed a signifi cant
interaction among hardiness, combat-related stress, and stressful life events.
Importantly, the relationship between hardiness and various indicators of
health was strongest for individuals who had been exposed to high-stress
and multiple-stress conditions (Bartone, 1999). Overall, these fi ndings lend
support to the hypothesis that hardiness may increase resistance to even the
most extreme forms of stress.

Biological Correlates of Appraisal Flexibility

Experts in the research field of psychoneuroendocrinology* have used the
concept of “allostatic load” to explain observed relations between hardiness
and stress (McEwen, 1998; McEwen & Seeman, 2003). Allostatic load refers
to the cumulative impact of stress (“wear and tear”) on an individual’s ability
to maintain physiological homeostasis as indicated by various indices of
health such as sleep and metabolic functioning. For example, several studies

* Psychoneuroendocrinology is a subspecialty of health psychology, concerned with inter-
actions between the brain, hormonal systems, and other body processes.

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