Deriving benefits from stressful events: The role of engagement in meaningful work and hardiness.

Abstract

This research explored the relationship between the meaningfulness of work, personality hardiness, and deriving long-term benefits from a stressful event. U.S. soldiers participating in a peacekeeping mission to Bosnia completed measures assessing the meaning of their work and personality hardiness midway through a 1-year deployment (mid-deployment) and completed a measure of deriving benefits from the deployment 4-5 months after it was over (postdeployment). Structural equation modeling revealed that personality hardiness was associated with being engaged in meaningful work during the deployment, which was strongly associated with deriving benefits from the deployment months after it was over. Enriching experiences were also associated with deriving benefits from the deployment. Discussion focuses on the linkages between personality processes, meaningful work, and deriving benefits from a stressful experience.