Exploring academic hardiness in Greek students: Links with achievement and year of study

Abstract

The purpose of the study was twofold: a) to investigate the psychometric properties of the revised Academic Hardiness Scale (RAHS) in the Greek educational content and b) to investigate relationships between academic hardiness, achievement and year of study in Greek undergraduates. A total of 478 undergraduates completed the RAHS. Findings from exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors (commitment, control and challenge) accounting for 38.65% of the total variance. High reliability coefficients were obtained for the RAHS factor scores. The final instrument contains 38 questions. The results of the study indicate a relation between academic hardiness and grade point average (GPA was the academic performance criterion). Commitment was most highly positively correlated with academic achievement. Across the years of study, students appeared less committed and less likely to perceive academic demands as challenge. The findings are discussed in the context of the recent literature.