ABSTRACT
The concept of hardiness was identified by a twelve-year study at the Illinois Bell Telephone Company (IBTC) from 1975 to 1987, which was a time of severe corporate disruption and the deregulation of the communications industry (Maddi, 2007; Maddi & Kobasa, 1984). The investigation followed managers and executives who remained with IBTC as well as those who were laid off. Two-thirds of this group was stricken with an increase in violence, absenteeism, divorce, suicide, heart attacks, and other mental and physical health problems, while the other one-third thrived and survived without an increase of these issues. An analysis of the data determined that the differentiating factor between these groups was an attitude characterized by hardiness (Kobasa, 1979; Maddi, 2007; Maddi & Kobasa, 1984).
