Date of Award

Summer 2003

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

First Advisor

Walter Buboltz

Abstract

Stress, and particularly its negative impact on health; is an important concern to society. Most research, however, has found the magnitude of the relationship between stress and well-being to be moderate, indicating that people's reaction to stress can be varied (Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1981). These results have led researchers to question what factors influence a person's response to stress and to investigate individual differences as potential intervening factors between stress and well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a model of hardiness on the relationship between stress and both physical and mental well-being. Research has suggested that hardiness has direct effects on well-being, that hardiness is a moderator between stress and well-being, and that hardiness is a mediator between stress and well-being. These relationships were empirically evaluated. Participants were assessed using the College Schedule of Recent Experience-Modified (CSRE-M), the Personal Views Survey III-Revised (PVS III-R), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Coping Responses Inventory (CRI), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Personal Lifestyles Questionnaire (PLQ), the Pennebaker Inventory of Limbic Languidness (PILL), and the General Well-Being Schedule (GWB). Results revealed that hardiness was not a moderator in the stress and physical well-being relationship; however, hardiness did have direct effects on physical well-being. Hardiness was found to be a moderator in the stress and mental well-being relationship. Additionally, results revealed that overall hardiness was not a mediator in the stress and physical well-being relationship or in the stress and mental well-being relationship; however, several individual variables of that model were found to be significant mediators.

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