Multidimensionality vs. unitary of academic hardiness: An under explored issue…? ☆ , ☆☆ Evangelia Karagiannopoulou PhD, Spiridon Kamtsios PhD ⁎ University of Ioannina, Department of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology, Section Psychology, Greece abstract article info Article history: Received 17 June 2015 Received in revised form 1 July 2016 Accepted 11 August 2016 Available online xxxx The purpose of the study was to examine the hypothesis that academic hardiness may be represented as a multi- dimensional trait with separate measures for commitment, control and challenge. The “Revised Academic Hardi- ness Scale” and the “Undergraduates Stressors Questionnaire” were distributed to 850 undergraduates attending a Social Science Department. The study suggests that academic hardiness researchers should examine the components-academic hardiness attitudes (commitment, control and challenge) separately. Results also reveal commitments' differentiation from control and challenge. Control and challenge seem to reduce the detrimental effects of the stressors, while commitment seems to comprise with the stressors as a unified entity. The findings are discussed in the context of the recent literature. © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Academic hardiness Undergraduates Commitment 1. Introduction Stress is a common element in the life of every individual. Stress is generally defined as a particular relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or her well being (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Stress and the identification of potential stressors among undergraduates have received much attention in the literature (Dahlin, Joneborg, & Runeson, 2005; Friedlander, Reid, Shupak, & Cribbre, 2007; Misra, McKean, West, & Russo, 2000). Attending univer- sity presents students with learning experiences and opportunities for psychological development (Tao, Dong, Prott, Hunsberger, & Pancer, 2000). However, entering university may be a source of strain and acute stress. Stress among college students has been a topic of interest for many years and has recently attracted the interest of a range of stud- ies (Heikkilä, Lonka, Niemine, & Niemivitra, 2012): research suggest that excessive stress is harmful to academic performance and may lead to dropping out (Robotham, 2008). Excessive stress may result in mental and physical problems, may diminish a student's sense of worth and might affect his/her academic achievement (Niemi & Vainiomaki, 1999). Stressors in undergraduate education have also been investigated. Studies demonstrate that college students experience high stress at pre- dictable times each semester and have classified stressors into three main categories: academic pressures, social issues and financial prob- lems (Robotham, 2008). Research findings have indicated that pressure of work, especially preparing for examinations and acquiring profes- sional knowledge, are the most stressful aspects (Karagiannopoulou & Kamtsios, 2011). Other studies demonstrate that the most common stressors for undergraduates are fear of failure (Gibbons, 2015; Kamtsios & Karagiannopoulou, 2015; Schafer, 1996; Tyrrel, 1992) as- sessment deadlines (Misra et al., 2000), stressors related to examina- tions and time management (Robotham, 2008), feeling overwhelmed by workload (Reisberg, 2000), finding the motivation to study (Tyrrel, 1992), concerns about academic ability (Tyrrel, 1992). Difficulties han- dling these stressors may lead to decreased academic performance and increased psychological distress (Dwyer & Cummings, 2001). Although most of the studies exploring stress and coping among uni- versity students construe stress as distress (McGowen, Gardner, & Fletcher, 2006; Gibbons, 2015; Gibbons, Dempster, & Moutray, 2008), there is some growing research on good stress or “eustress” experi- ences. “Eustress” is a positive psychological response to a stressor whereas “distress” is a negative psychological response to a stressor (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Simmons, 2000). If the stress is perceived as exceeding one's capacity to cope, then distress results (Gibbons, 2012; Gibbons et al., 2008). These studies either operationalize the indi- vidual responses to stressors scores as potential uplifts and hassles (Gibbons, 2015) or treat the mean scores range appropriately from lower to higher. Many factors may mediate the relationship between university events, adjustment and subsequent stress, whereas a variety of Learning and Individual Differences 51 (2016) 149–156 ☆ The work described has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright-holder. ☆☆ There are no conflict of interest. ⁎ Corresponding author at: Arx., Makariou 37, TK., 45221 Ioannina, Greece. E-mail address: spiroskam@gmail.com (S. Kamtsios). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.08.008 1041-6080/© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Learning and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/lindif