The Relationship between Hardiness and Coping Styles: The Mediating Role of Self-esteem

The aim of this study was to examine the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between hardiness and coping styles. Based on a correlation design, a sample of 200 teachers in Tehran from 4 education areas completed Personal Views Survey (Hardiness Institute, 1985) which evaluates three hardy attitudes in terms of a trait, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (Endler & Parker, 1994) and Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory (O’brien, 1988). Findings showed that self-esteem correlated with hardiness and problem-focused coping style positively and with emotion-focused coping style negatively, but it did not correlate with avoidant coping style. In addition, hardiness correlated with all the three coping styles negatively. Path analysis showed that self-esteem has a mediating role in the relationship between hardiness and problem-focused and avoidant coping styles but it does not have a mediating role in the relationship between hardiness and emotion-focused coping style. According to the result of this study, although hardiness does not correlate with coping styles positively but, by influencing self-esteem, it provides the needed motivation for applying problem-focused coping style.