Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

4-2015

Disciplines

Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Advisor

Aubrey Immelman, Psychology

Abstract

Hardiness is a personal attribute commonly sought in the workplace and greatly valued in students of all ages. This study examined hardiness in relation to stress, happiness, and gender. Ninety undergraduate students from two colleges in the Upper Midwest completed standard surveys on these constructs. It was hypothesized that hardiness would be negatively correlated with stress and positively correlated with happiness. It was also hypothesized that females would report higher hardiness scores than males. The first two hypotheses regarding stress and happiness were tested with bivariate correlations and were found to be significant (p < .01). These results were consistent with previous research findings. The test of the third hypothesis, by means of an independent t-test, unexpectedly revealed—contrary to the hypothesis—that males were hardier than females. Few previous studies have been conducted on the relationship between gender and hardiness. There are limitations in this study, such as sample variability and internal consistency levels, which hinder its external validity.

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