Scientic Bulletin of Kherson State University. Series Psychological Sciences

Abstract

The article encloses the results of the study of hardiness level as a personal pre-disposition associated with constructive response in stressful situations, among pupils of boarding schools and general education schools and gymnasiums. Psychological hardiness is meant to be a system of beliefs about the self, the world and the relationships with the world, which includes three dimensions: commitment, control, and challenge. Due to S. Maddi’s concept, hardiness develops on the influence of environment, however, in many recent researches the connection between hardiness and many biologically determined characteristics (such as temperament) are revealed. The aim of the study was to investigate the connections of hardiness with personal biologically and socially determined personal traits while controlling the educational environment of the studied pupils. Namely, the two groups of teenagers took part in the research, 26 of them studying in the boarding school (as the result of their parents being unable to take care of them at home or being orphans) and 27 pupils of the gymnasium. Besides personal hardiness, such characteristics as Big Five traits and Cattell personality traits were measured. It was found out that high school pupils from boarding schools have significantly lower indicators of hardiness, compared to their peers who study in the gymnasium. At the same time, it has been established that, regardless of the studying conditions, hardiness is higher among teenagers with a low level of neuroticism and adequate self-esteem. For the pupils of the boarding school it is important to work on hardiness strengthening, together with developing personality traits of pragmatism and realism for more effective coping with stress. Among pupils from the gymnasium hardiness is most closely connected with a trustful and confident position in relation to the world.