Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Hardy Plants, Hardy Children
Michael D. Matthews
Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
U.S. Military Academy
West Point, New York

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Hardiness: Able to withstand fatigue, privation, etc.; robust;
vigorous (Webster’s Dictionary)

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Personality Hardiness: the pattern of attitudes and strategies that constitute the existential courage and motivation to do the hard work of turning stressful circumstances from potential disasters into growth opportunities (Maddi, 2002).

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
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By its very nature, personal growth and development is naturally stressful for all children
-“birth trauma” (Otto Rank)
- learning about gravity and the physical world
- social learning/socialization/rule learning
- adjusting to school, sports, dating, etc.
- and then adulthood . . . .

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
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Stress is neutral in its impact on development and adjustment
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Without stress, there would be no impetus for personal growth
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Given that stress is inevitable and ubiquitous, the key is learning adaptive ways of viewing the world and dealing with challenges as they arise

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
The “Three C’s” of hardiness
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Commitment : the belief in persisting in tasks, no matter how daunting they may be
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Control : the belief that you possess the behavioral, emotional, and cognitive skills needed to prevail
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Challenge : the perspective that life’s challenges provide you with a chance to grow new skills and perspectives

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
-Children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) are no less adaptive in social functioning, emotional well-being, and behavior (Noll et al, 2001)
- Hardiness mediates grief and other negative emotions in adult children of
MIAs (Campbell & Demi, 2000)
- Hardiness and resilience is the common response of children with cancer
(Noll & Kupst, 2007)
- High-hardy high school students have higher SAT scores and higher class rank than low-hardy students (Busko et al, 2000)
- Among highly stressed teens, hardiness mitigated against pathological physical and psychological symptoms (Shepperd & Kashani, 1991)

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Some general findings on the role of hardiness and its relationship to performance among West Point cadets:
- Hardiness is a significant predictor of first year academic, military, and physical fitness performance (Maddi et al. 2008)
- Cadets higher in hardiness are more likely to complete training (Bartone et al, 2005)
- Hardiness tested at entry to West Point predicts favorable ratings of leadership three years following graduation

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
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Deployed soldiers high in hardiness showed better health outcomes and reported less combat-related and life stress than those lower in hardiness (Bartone, 1999)
• Hardiness may protect soldiers against “existential boredom” (Bartone, 2005)
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High hardiness is associated with increased engagement and meaning both during and in the months following deployment (Britt et al., 2001)

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
I will show you three sets of statements. Use the following scale to rate how true each statement is to you. (The scale is reproduced with each set of statements.)
0 = not at all true
1 = a little true
2 = quite true
3 = completely true

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Use the following scale to rate each statement:
0 = not at all true
1 = a little true
2 = quite true
3 = completely true
1. Most of my life gets spent doing things that are worthwhile.
2. Working hard matters, because we all profit by it.
3. I really look forward to my work activities.
4. Trying your best at work is really worth it in the end.
5. Most days, life is really interesting and exciting for me.
Scoring: Add up your responses to each question and record the total score.

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Use the following scale to rate each statement:
0 = not at all true
1 = a little true
2 = quite true
3 = completely true
6. Planning ahead can help avoid most future problems.
7. By working hard you can nearly always achieve your goals.
8. If I'm working on a difficult task, I know when to ask for help.
9. Most of the time, people listen carefully to what I say.
10. When I make plans I'm certain I can make them work.
Scoring: Add up your responses to each question and record the total score.

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Use the following scale to rate each statement:
0 = not at all true
1 = a little true
2 = quite true
3 = completely true
11. I don’t mind making changes to my regular activities.
12. Changes in routine are interesting to me.
13. It does not bother me when my daily routine gets interrupted.
14. I enjoy the challenge when I have to do more than one thing at a time.
15. I like having a flexible daily schedule.
Scoring: Add up your responses to each question and record the total score.

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Add up your three sub scores.
The range of possible scores is 0 to 45
The average score for a cadet is 30.57
Questions 1-5 measure commitment
Questions 6-10 measure control
Questions 11-15 measure challenge
For each sub score, the mean cadet score was approximately 10.2

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
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Hardiness is likely a jointly interactive function of genes and environment
- Constitutional differences in neural and autonomic nervous system function may suggest different developmental trajectories
- Multiple levels of interaction between genes and environmental influences
- Emerging understanding of role of epigenetics in regulating gene expression

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
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Commitment
Nurturing the commitment attitude
- encouragement
- acceptance
- approval
Stultifying the commitment attitude
- neglect
- hostility
- disapproval

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
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Control
Nurturing the control attitude
- progressive experience of task mastery
- social reinforcement for success
- aim for challenges but not tasks that are too difficult
(or too easy)
Stultifying the control attitude
- giving the child tasks that are too easy (learned indifference)
- giving the child tasks that are too hard (learned helplessness)

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
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Challenge
Nurturing the challenge attitude
- frame change as richness in life
- frame change as opportunity to learn new skills
- change is viewed as interesting and fun
Stultifying the challenge attitude
- change is framed as a threat, obstacle, hassle

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
Parents should emphasize:
• problem solving coping (builds self-efficacy, efficient problem solving strategies)
• supportive social interactions (allows effective and engaged social behavior, direct conflict resolution strategies)
• taking care of one’s self
(establishes autonomy and confidence)
In essence, practice Roger’s principle of unconditional positive regard toward your children

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
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Dr. Salvatore Maddi established the Hardiness Institute
• The Institute is a clearing house for hardiness training, testing, and information
• Notably, information on a “train the trainer” protocol is available at http://www.hardinessinstitute.com/

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership
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Hardiness is a psychological construct that helps explain positive adaptive behavior under both the normal stresses of life and exceptional stresses that sometime occur
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Parents, teachers, and others may have a strong impact on developing hardiness in children
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Hardiness is especially relevant to military children, given the challenges they face
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Hardiness may make the difference between flourishing versus floundering in the face of challenge, adversity, and change

Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership