Hardiness Scale

The Hardiness Scale is a psychological assessment tool used for measuring hardiness, focusing on an individual’s resilience to stress and their ability to adapt to challenges.

The original Hardiness Scale was developed by Suzanne C. Kobasa. It for measuring hardiness, which reflects their ability to cope with stress and adversity through three dimensions: commitment, control, and challenge. However, there are now more reliable scales today, such as the Dispositional Resilience Scale-15 and the Hardiness Resilience Gauge.

A hardy personality type is characterized by a strong sense of purpose, confidence in controlling life events, and a positive attitude toward challenges. Individuals with this personality type tend to handle stress effectively and view difficulties as opportunities for growth.

The Hardiness Scale uses a response scale ranging from "Not at All True" to "Completely True," with items scored between 0 to 3 and some requiring reverse scoring. Scores for commitment, control, and challenge are combined to compute a total hardiness score, providing insights into resilience levels and stress management abilities.

A hardy personality type is characterized by a strong sense of commitment to personal goals, a belief in one's ability to influence outcomes (control), and a positive outlook on challenges as opportunities for growth, making them more resilient in stressful situations.

The three dimensions of hardiness are commitment, control, and challenge. Commitment reflects engagement and purpose, control denotes confidence in influencing outcomes, and challenge emphasizes openness to change and viewing stressors as opportunities rather than threats.

Kobasa's Hardiness Scale is typically scored on a range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater levels of hardiness; scores are categorized into low (0-33), moderate (34-66), and high (67-100) hardiness. For Bartone's DRS-15, the total score can fall within specific bands: 39+ (very high), 34-38 (high), 28-33 (average), 22-27 (low), and 22 or below (very low).