Applied Research Quality Life (2013) 8:265267

DOI 10.1007/s11482-013-9230-1

Salvatore R. Maddi: Hardiness, Turning Stressful

Circumstances into Resilient Growth
Springer 2013, ISBN: 978-94-007-5221-4

Felicity Ann Cowdrey & Sasha Louise Walters

Received: 21 December 2012 / Accepted: 18 March 2013 /

Published online: 29 March 2013
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and The International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies
(ISQOLS) 2013

We are living in turbulent times; the economy is in crisis, civil unrest is rife and on top
of this unsettled backdrop, we all have personal stressors which we have to contend
with on a daily basis. Individual and organisational levels of hardiness may be
critical to coping with and rising above such stresses. According to Maddi personality
hardiness is 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 (p.6). The hardy attitude is comprised
of the 3 Cs of Challenge, Commitment and Coping. In combination, the 3 Cs
provide a pathway towards stress resilience.
This short book contributes to a growing body of literature aiming to provide an
overview of psychological concepts and frameworks and their application to
real life settings. Hardiness is written in such a way that the concepts described
are easily accessible to a wide audience particularly those who do not have a
strong psychological background. Each chapter is self-contained and includes
clear and informative subtitles which signposts the reader throughout. Key
terms are helpfully re-defined in each chapter. As a result, Hardiness is an
ideal text for those of us with hectic lives who have time only to dip in and
out of books, rather than read them in their entirety.
Hardiness is organised into 10 brief chapters which define the concept of hardiness,
grounds the concept of hardiness in its evidence-base and then examines the application
of hardiness at both an individual and organisational level. Chapters 1 and 2 focus on
defining hardiness and highlight the evidence Maddi has collected to support the
concept. Chapters 3 and 4 detail methods of assessing hardiness and the training
involved to enable individuals to become hardier. The Hardi Institute, which has been
established to offer training in hardiness assessment and development, is the focus of
Chapter 4. Chapter 5 has a more developmental perspective and focuses on the notion

F. A. Cowdrey (*) : S. L. Walters

Clinical Psychology Unit and Research Centre, University of Bath, Bath, UK
e-mail: fac28@bath.ac.uk
266 F.A. Cowdrey, S.L. Walters

that hardiness can be fostered through positive parentchild interactions and thus
Chapter 5 may provide useful information for parents and care givers. Chapters 6, 7
and 8 explore the application of hardiness in multiple arenas. For example, in
Chapter 6 Maddi links low levels of hardiness to the development of existential
sickness which seems to map onto different types of mental ill health. The
author then posits that training in hardiness can be applied to counselling services, work
environments, relationships and specific organisations such as the Military and Fire
Service. Chapter 9 culminates by suggesting that Hardiness should be conceptualised
and developed systemicallyit is not sufficient to have individuals high in hardiness,
nor hardy organisations, but rather you need the combination to be able to turn stress into
growth opportunities. The author exemplified this point by drawing on the growth of
established companies such as Apple and Microsoft. Chapter 10 lightens the tone of the
book by concluding that the stressors that exist in todays society are, in fact,
positive and in light of the 3 Cs we should welcome such changes as they
provide opportunities for personal growth.
Collectively, this information is organised in a way that makes an interesting and
potentially important idea easily graspable and demonstrates the implications of
hardiness in everyday life. The lack of jargon and the focus on concepts rather than
evidence suggests that Hardiness is most appropriate for a non-academic audience.
That being said, within this book there are some chapters that are particularly
informative and grounded in evidence such as Chapter 2 which details The Illinois
Bell study. This was a 12 year longitudinal study that explored the experiences of
employees working for a telecommunications company that experienced drastic
reorganisation. Maddi found that the employees low in hardiness displayed maladaptive
responses to the challenges and stresses associated with the reorganisation, for example
some experienced personal break downs. Those described as being high in hardiness
not only coped, but developed innovative ways to foster personal growth and this in
turn contributed to the growth of the company. It was concluded from The Illinois
Bell Study that hardiness does more than facilitate coping, it is a mechanism or vehicle
through which one can improve themselves and organizations in the face of
adversity.
Whilst Chapter 2 neatly grounds the concept of hardiness in an empirical base,
Chapter 5 seems less coherently composed and neglects established theory and
research. For example, within Chapter 5, Maddi indentifies a potential association
between a positive, supportive parentchild relationship in the early years and the
development of hardiness. This association parallels the well validated link between a
secure parentchild attachment style, typical development and stress resilience.
However, at no point in this chapter does Maddi explicitly allude to parallels with
the attachment literature. Given how well-established the literature on attachment is,
Chapter 5 would have benefitted from clearer references being made. That said, to
reiterate an earlier pointthe lack of academic references in this book will make it
more accessible and appealing to non-academic audiences.
Ultimately, Hardiness provides an interesting perspective on a topic that has a
wide variety of real life applications. Reading from cover to cover, the structure of the
book is somewhat disorienting as Maddi jumps back and forth between broad and
specific foci, leaving the chapter on developmental applications of hardiness until the
middle of the book. However, the self-contained nature of the chapters means that
Hardiness, Turning Stressful Circumstances 267

readers can dip in and out of it and therefore the ordering of chapters should not
discourage readers from making the purchase. Hardiness has potential to link coherently
with established psychological theory and literature and so may provide a
starting point for academics interested in pursuing research this area. As it stands
Hardiness will be of most interest for individuals or organisations seeking enhance
resilience to stress.