Deborah M. Khoshaba

Early experiences in hardiness development.

Personality hardiness has emerged in research as an important buffer in the stress—illness relationship. Little, however, is known about the antecedents in early experience. Based on conceptualizations in existential psychology and research on the resilient child, the present study tested hypotheses implicating stresses, compensatory family standards and self-perception, and parental stimulation as formative influences for hardiness in adulthood. Responses to life review interview questions given by managers previously selected to be low or high in hardiness were coded blind for the early experience variables hypothesized. The study demonstrated adequate interscorer agreement on early experience coding. Correlation and regression analyses demonstrated the expected prevalence of compensatory family standards and self-perceptions in highversus lowhardiness participants but failed to show any differences regarding stresses and parental stimulations. Discussion of these results centers on the developmental importance of compensatory effort.

Reduction in Psychopathology following Bariatric Surgery for Morbid Obesity

Background: Although there has been some disagreement, there is growing evidence now that psychopathology is a comorbidity of morbid obesity among patients seeking bariatric surgery.The aim of this study was to determine whether psychopathology decreases following this surgery. Methods: Utilizing a national sample, this study focused on pre- and post-surgery scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Second Edition (MMPI-2). The MMPI-2 was administered first during the pre-surgery medical examination, and again between 6 months and 1 year following surgery. Results:Validity scale scores on the pre- and postsurgery MMPI-2s indicated that there was no impediment to interpreting the clinical scale scores of these tests.There was a pervasive pattern of statistically significant decreases in pre- to post-surgery clinical scale scores. Further, comparison of MMPI-2 clinical scale scores to available test norms showed that the number of participants showing signs of mental disorders was unusually high before surgery, and at or below the test norms following surgery. Conclusions:There is clear evidence in this study that psychopathology declines following bariatric surgery.The unusually high levels of psychopathology before surgery may be a joint function of the factors producing the morbid obesity, and a reaction to the obesity itself.That psychopathology declines following surgery to levels expected in the general population indicates that the patients were becoming more positive about their lives.

Hardiness training facilitates performance in college

In 25 years of research and practice, hardiness has emerged as a pattern of attitudes and skills that is a pathway to resilience under stressful circumstances. As such, it is important to determine whether hardiness can be trained, and if such training improves performance and health. The few relevant studies available thus far have suggested this training effectiveness among working adults and students. Furthering this theme, the present study involves a large sample of undergraduate students, comparing those who experienced hardiness training as a regular credit course, with those who went through other courses taught by the same teachers. At the beginning of the courses, these two groups did not differ in demographics, hardiness levels, or grade-point-average (GPA). At the end of the courses, the Hardiness Training Group showed higher levels of hardiness, and GPA than did the Comparison Group. This improvement in GPA for the Hardiness Training Group persisted over the following 2-year period, even controlling for GPA and hardiness level prior to the training, and the grade received in the training. These results suggest the importance of hardiness training in facilitating a major indicator of excellent performance in college life.

Hardiness Training for High-Risk Undergraduates

We evaluated the effectiveness of hardiness training in improving the retention rates and grade-point averages offirst-semester high-risk undergraduates. Undergraduates in the experimental group underwent hardiness training as a regular semester course. The control group consisted of demographically comparable undergraduates who underwent either a traditional student-enrichment or a leadership-training class. These control-group courses were taught by the instructors of the hardiness-training classes. At the end of the year following training, the experimental group showed a significantly higher increase in grade-point average and a trend toward greater retention than did the control group.

Relationship of hardiness and religiousness to depression and anger.

Both hardiness and religiousness share spirituality, in the sense of searching for meaning in one’s life, and have been shown to have a buffering effect on stresses that maintains and enhances performance, morale, and health. This study investigates how hardiness and religiousness compare in their relationship to depression, anger, and the coping and social support mechanisms whereby they may have these relationships. Participants were military and governmental personnel who completed accepted measures of hardiness, religiousness, and other variables on a volunteer basis. Correlational and multiple regression analyses showed that, by comparison with religiousness, hardiness has the larger and more comprehensive negative relationship with depression and anger, and positive relationship with coping and social support. The conceptual and empirical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Relationship of Hardiness and Some Other Relevant Variables to College Performance

Although it has emerged as a factor in performance effectiveness in both working adults and college students, hardiness has also been shown to be related to other factors that may well also be related to performance effectiveness. Consequently, attempts need to be made to determine whether the relationship to performance of hardiness is anything more than a mere reflection of its relationship to these other factors. This approach, which was begun in the comparison of the relative role of hardiness, optimism, and religiosity in performance effectiveness, is continued in the present study. Specifically, the relationship to grade point average of hardiness and related variables is compared. The related variables involve attitudes toward school and a sense of life’s meaning and one’s well-being. The results confirm the expectation that hardiness is a central factor in school performance.

The Personality Construct of Hardiness, IV: Expressed in Positive Cognitions and Emotions Concerning Oneself and Developmentally Relevant Activities

Personality hardiness has emerged as a composite of the interrelated attitudes of commitment, control, and challenge that provides the existential courage and motivation to turn stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities. This study contributes to the construct validity of the latest measure of hardiness, the Personal Views Survey III—R (PVS III-R). In a large sample of undergraduates, the PVS III-R measure of hardiness showed adequate internal consistency reliability, the expected intercorrelation of components, and the absence of relationship to socially desirable responding. Furthermore, as expected, hardiness was negatively related to depression, anxiety, and hostility, even though it was also negatively related to avoidance of intrusive, stressful thoughts. Also as expected, hardiness was associated with positive attitudes toward school, instructors, and ones own capabilities and standards as well as expressed satisfaction with life. This pattern of results fits well ...Personality hardiness has emerged as a composite of the interrelated attitudes of commitment, control, and challenge that provides the existential courage and motivation to turn stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities. This study contributes to the construct validity of the latest measure of hardiness, the Personal Views Survey III—R (PVS III-R). In a large sample of undergraduates, the PVS III-R measure of hardiness showed adequate internal consistency reliability, the expected intercorrelation of components, and the absence of relationship to socially desirable responding. Furthermore, as expected, hardiness was negatively related to depression, anxiety, and hostility, even though it was also negatively related to avoidance of intrusive, stressful thoughts. Also as expected, hardiness was associated with positive attitudes toward school, instructors, and ones own capabilities and standards as well as expressed satisfaction with life. This pattern of results fits well with those of previous construct-validational studies of hardiness.

The Personality Construct of Hardiness, IV

Personality hardiness has emerged as a composite of the interrelated attitudes of commitment, control, and challenge that provides the existential courage and motivation to turn stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities. This study contributes to the construct validity of the latest measure of hardiness, the Personal Views Survey III—R (PVS III-R). In a large sample of undergraduates, the PVS III-R measure of hardiness showed adequate internal consistency reliability, the expected intercorrelation of components, and the absence of relationship to socially desirable responding. Furthermore, as expected, hardiness was negatively related to depression, anxiety, and hostility, even though it was also negatively related to avoidance of intrusive, stressful thoughts. Also as expected, hardiness was associated with positive attitudes toward school, instructors, and ones own capabilities and standards as well as expressed satisfaction with life. This pattern of results fits well ...Personality hardiness has emerged as a composite of the interrelated attitudes of commitment, control, and challenge that provides the existential courage and motivation to turn stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities. This study contributes to the construct validity of the latest measure of hardiness, the Personal Views Survey III—R (PVS III-R). In a large sample of undergraduates, the PVS III-R measure of hardiness showed adequate internal consistency reliability, the expected intercorrelation of components, and the absence of relationship to socially desirable responding. Furthermore, as expected, hardiness was negatively related to depression, anxiety, and hostility, even though it was also negatively related to avoidance of intrusive, stressful thoughts. Also as expected, hardiness was associated with positive attitudes toward school, instructors, and ones own capabilities and standards as well as expressed satisfaction with life. This pattern of results fits well with those of previous construct-validational studies of hardiness.

The Personality Construct of Hardiness, V Relationships With the Construction of Existential Meaning in Life

In the past 25 years, personality hardiness has been emphasized as a composite of the interrelated attitudes of commitment, control, and challenge that together provide the existential courage and motivation to turn stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities. As such, hardiness has become considered the pathway to resilience and is increasingly used in consulting work. This study continues the construct validation of hardiness, using its latest measure, the Personal Views Survey III-R. In a large sample of undergraduates, this test showed adequate internal consistency reliability and absence of relationship to socially desirable responding. Furthermore, as expected, hardiness was positively related to measures of the ongoing, existential process of finding meaning through experiencing rather than imposing preexisting notions of what life is all about.

Personality Construct of Hardiness, IV: Positive Cognitions and Emotions Concerning Oneself and Developmentally Relevant Activities

Personality hardiness has emerged as a composite of the interrelated attitudes of commitment, control, and challenge that provides the existential courage and motivation to turn stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities. This study contributes to the construct validity of the latest measure of hardiness, the Personal Views Survey III—R (PVS III-R). In a large sample of undergraduates, the PVS III-R measure of hardiness showed adequate internal consistency reliability, the expected intercorrelation of components, and the absence of relationship to socially desirable responding. Furthermore, as expected, hardiness was negatively related to depression, anxiety, and hostility, even though it was also negatively related to avoidance of intrusive, stressful thoughts. Also as expected, hardiness was associated with positive attitudes toward school, instructors, and ones own capabilities and standards as well as expressed satisfaction with life. This pattern of results fits well ...Personality hardiness has emerged as a composite of the interrelated attitudes of commitment, control, and challenge that provides the existential courage and motivation to turn stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities. This study contributes to the construct validity of the latest measure of hardiness, the Personal Views Survey III—R (PVS III-R). In a large sample of undergraduates, the PVS III-R measure of hardiness showed adequate internal consistency reliability, the expected intercorrelation of components, and the absence of relationship to socially desirable responding. Furthermore, as expected, hardiness was negatively related to depression, anxiety, and hostility, even though it was also negatively related to avoidance of intrusive, stressful thoughts. Also as expected, hardiness was associated with positive attitudes toward school, instructors, and ones own capabilities and standards as well as expressed satisfaction with life. This pattern of results fits well with those of previous construct-validational studies of hardiness.