Personal hardiness refers to the capability to plow through any kind of stress with great resilience. This ability was proposed by Kobasa in the late 1970’s and stems from an individual’s ability to remain committed (mentally and emotionally involved in any endeavor), have control, and view adversity as challenge (seeing constraining and restricting opportunities as growth possibilities).
Take a student, as a contemporary example. When the student is able to experience setbacks and, instead of giving up, is able to come up with strategies, that student exhibits good personal hardiness. Perhaps the most relevant findings reveal that the higher the level of hardiness an individual possesses, the less likely that person will suffer the adverse effects of stress, being able to employ positive coping strategies and a generally positive mindset.
Along with many of the benefits hardiness brings to the individual, within the workplace, the individual is likely to experience less burnout and an increase in productivity. The characteristic personal hardiness possesses, in contemporary analysis, acts as a foundational element for positive psychological protection, in increase, and the net diversity of the contexts used, from military to health, serves to underline the value of the outcome.