Hardiness, self-perceived health, and activity among independently functioning older adults.

As the older population continues its rapid rise, it becomes increasingly important to identify variables that contribute to the quality of life--that which the gerontological literature refers to as "successful aging." Since most studies have supported activity as the most satisfying pattern of aging, the notion that hardiness of personality and self-perception of health are related to activity levels was tested in a group of independently functioning older adults (n = 115). The obtained significant correlations between hardiness and self-perceived health were -.293 (p less than .001, hardiness is negatively scored), and .210 (p less than .01), respectively. Together these variables explained 10% of the variance in activity. The sub-variable challenge, within the hardiness construct, did not correlate with activity, thereby diminishing the composite score of hardiness and activity. These data support existing studies of perceptual and activity theories, the theoretical links between the constructs, and have identified hardiness as an antecedent variable of successful aging.