Coping with “Role-Boundedness” through “Hardiness” during Economic Crisis

Abstract

As India is presently facing an economic crisis it might lead to certain negative consequences like recession in the corporate sector affecting changes in recruitment policy, layoffs, retrenchments, downsizing -- even unemployment -- leading to lower or no income; and less or no opportunity for personal career growth. Obviously, this will also affect the intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships. In such a situation an individual may feel insecure at job place as well as home, resulting in an immense amount of stress. In the Indian context, it is evident from various studies that professionals face multiple stressors due to high obligation to the expectations of the significant role senders while sacrificing ones own interests, preferences, comforts and wishes. Udai Pareek (2002) names it as Role boundedness. However, according to S. C. Kobasas concept of Hardiness (1979) a stress-resilient personality disposition can help cope with this role stress. My paper, a descriptive research work emphasizing on coping with role boundedness through hardiness among Indian corporate professionals depicts a significant and positive correlation between professionals hardiness and role boundedness suggesting that an increase in one variable leads to an increase in the other.