Utilizing a prospective design, this study tested the hypothesis that hardinesscommitment, control, and challenge-functions to decrease the effect of stressful life events in producing illness symptoms. Subjects were middle-and upper-level managers who filled out questionnaires covering a period of 5 years. Results support the hypothesis by showing main effects on illness for both stressful life events and hardiness and an interaction effect for these independent variables. Implications for coping with stress are discussed.

The seeds of hardiness were planted in 1974 when a graduate student of mine at the University of Chicago brought me an article she had found in Family Circle magazine about how it is best to avoid stress, lest it kill you. I was at the time so preoccupied with my work on creativity that I had not become This article is based on Salvatore R. Maddi's address at the 107th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Boston, MA, August 1999, on having been recipient of the RHR International Award in 1998.My gratitude and appreciation for their help in preparing this article go to my wife and colleague, Deborah M. Khoshaba, and to my present research team, notably,

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