A Comparative Study of Psychological Hardiness and Coping Strategies in Female Athlete and Non-Athlete Students

ABSTRACT: The purpose of the present research was to compare psychological hardiness and coping strategies in female athlete and non-athlete students in Zahedan, Iran.The research is causal-comparative and the sample consists of 90 female athlete students and 90 female non-athlete students (19-30 years of age) who were selected using convenience sampling. Bartone’s Psychological Hardiness Scale and Billings and Moos Coping Measures were used for data collection. The findings revealed that the psychological hardiness of athletes was significantly higher than that of the non-athletes (p < 0.05).Moreover, a significant difference was observed between the two groups in the components of psychological hardiness (p < 0.05). Regarding coping strategies, although the mean scores of the athlete group in the subscales of coping strategies (cognitive, behavioral, avoidance-focused, problem-focused, and emotion-focused) were higher than the scores of the non-athletes, the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05).