Hardiness: conceptual and methodological issues.

Hardiness is a personality construct that is thought to influence illness outcomes by mediating the impact of stressful life events. Hardiness research has proceeded with insufficient attention to important conceptual and methodological problems associated with this construct that have appeared in the literature. This paper analyzes and synthesizes the conceptual and methodological issues associated with the use of the hardiness construct. Implications for future nursing research are discussed.