A comparison of psychological hardiness in male athlete and non-athlete students

The purpose of the present research was to examine and compare psychological hardiness in the male high-school students of Zahedan Province. The research sample consisted of 400 students who were divided into an athlete group (N=150) and a non-athlete group (N=250) using diagnostic interview. Bartone’s 45-item Dispositional Resilience Scale that includes all the psychometric characteristics required for this study was used to collect data. The results showed that athletes had significantly higher scores in hardiness and the control subscale than nonathletes. Moreover, no significant difference was observed between team and individual athletes. In sum, we can conclude that athletes have higher levels of psychological hardiness than non-athletes and physical activities have positive effects on hardiness. It could also be that hardy individuals tend to participate in sport activities