HARDINESS

Psychologists Stein and Bartone present an academic investigation into mental resiliency.

In these pages, the authors explore the psychological concept of “hardiness,” which was coined in a 1979 article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by University of Chicago researcher Suzanne Kobasa. The term refers to a set of attitudes that combine mental toughness and flexibility, an idea that’s been explored in various academic communities. The authors highlight the value of hardiness and provide examples of people (including many celebrities) who exemplify attitudes that contribute to this trait, including a sense of commitment, a willingness to embrace challenges, and a feeling that one is in control of one’s life. Stein, who’s the founder of the assessment and behavior analytics company Multi-Health Systems, and Bartone, a visiting research fellow at National Defense University, effectively introduce mechanisms to help readers deal with stress, and they provide exercises for readers to train themselves to see obstacles as opportunities for growth. They dedicate large portions of the book to analyzing specific people and groups who exhibit hardiness (including Chicago bus drivers, professional musicians and artists, and business and military leaders), and they include cited studies. Indeed, the book is structured much like an academic paper, illustrating select pieces of data with charts and graphs to help readers better visualize them. In some instances, however, Stein and Bartone refer to each other, and it’s unclear which sections are written by which author. The authors also sometimes offers generalities that provide little insight: “We encounter many people who come from difficult backgrounds….Some of these people choose to stay within their life circumstances…. Other people we know were determined to break out and change their lives for the better.” Still, they do offer a perspective on approaching stress that readers may find of interest.

An uneven but still intriguing self-help book.