- Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology
- Oxford Library of Psychology
- About the Editors
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Foreword
- Memoriam: Remembering C. R. Snyder: A Humble Legacy of Hope
- Preface
- A Case for Positive Psychology
- Positive Psychology: Past, Present, and Future
- Positive Emotions
- Classifying and Measuring Strengths of Character
- Positive Psychology Applications
- Positive Psychology Within a Cultural Context
- Stopping the “Madness”: Positive Psychology and Deconstructing the Illness Ideology and the DSM
- Widening the Diagnostic Focus: A Case for Including Human Strengths and Environmental Resources
- Toward a Science of Mental Health
- Modeling Positive Human Health: From Covariance Structures to Dynamic Systems
- Positive Ethics: Themes and Variations
- Resilience in Development
- Positive Psychology for Children and Adolescents: Development, Prevention, and Promotion
- The Positive Youth Development Perspective: Theoretical and Empirical Bases of a Strengths-Based Approach to Adolescent Development
- Aging Well in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities
- New Territories of Positive Life-Span Development: Wisdom and Life Longings
- Subjective Well-Being: The Science of Happiness and Life Satisfaction
- Flow Theory and Research
- Positive Affectivity: The Disposition to Experience Positive Emotional States
- The Social Construction of Self-Esteem
- Coping Through Emotional Approach: Emerging Evidence for the Utility of Processing and Expressing Emotions in Responding to Stressors
- The Positive Psychology of Emotional Intelligence
- Emotional Creativity: Toward “Spiritualizing the Passions”
- Creativity
- The Role of Personal Control in Adaptive Functioning
- Mindfulness Versus Positive Evaluation
- Perspectives on Time
- Optimism
- Optimistic Explanatory Style
- Hope Theory
- Self-Efficacy: The Power of Believing You Can
- Problem-Solving Appraisal and Psychological Adjustment
- Self-Determination
- Curiosity and Interest: The Benefits of Thriving on Novelty and Challenge
- Courage
- Relationship Connection: A Redux on the Role of Minding and the Quality of Feeling Special in the Enhancement of Closeness
- Compassion
- Adult Attachment Security: The Relational Scaffolding of Positive Psychology
- Empathy and Altruism
- Forgiveness
- Furthering the Science of Gratitude
- Love
- For Richer … in Good Times … and in Health: Positive Processes in Relationships
- What's Positive About Self-Verification?
- Reality Negotiation
- Humility
- The Motive for Distinctiveness: A Universal, but Flexible Human Need
- A Role for Neuropsychology in Understanding the Facilitating Influence of Positive Affect on Social Behavior and Cognitive Processes
- Toward a Biology of Social Support
- The Central Role of the Heart in Generating and Sustaining Positive Emotions
- Toughness
- Family-Centered Positive Psychology
- Positive Schools
- Positive Psychology on Campus
- Positive Workplaces
- Positive Institutions, Law, and Policy
- Meditation and Positive Psychology
- Spirituality: The Search for the Sacred
- Sharing One's Story: On the Benefits of Writing or Talking About Emotional Experience
- Benefit-Finding and Growth
- Making Sense of Loss, Perceiving Benefits, and Posttraumatic Growth
- Happiness, Resilience, and Positive Growth Following Physical Disability: Issues for Understanding, Research, and Therapeutic Intervention
- The Promise of Sustainable Happiness
- Meaning in Life
- The Future of Positive Psychology: Pursuing Three Big Goals
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter presents an overview of the concept of toughness, which at the abstract level is about the harmony of physiological systems, and more concretely is about how the body influences the mind. Toughness theory begins with the recognition that there is a “training effect” for neuroendocrine systems. Following a review of the characteristics of interventions and training programs that can promote toughness, the authors present a model in which the effects of toughness are mediated by neuroendocrine systems such as the pituitary-adrenal-cortical system and the central nervous system. The elements of toughness (e.g., having a greater capacity for arousal and energy when needed) are proposed to promote positive outcomes by facilitating the use of adaptive coping strategies and improving emotional stability. Toughness therefore appears to be a promising concept within positive psychology in that it helps to explain how the dynamic interactions between psychological and somatic processes can promote positive outcomes.
Keywords: coping, hardiness, resilience, toughness
Richard A. Dienstbier, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska.
Lisa M. Pytlik Zillig, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska
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- Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology
- Oxford Library of Psychology
- About the Editors
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Foreword
- Memoriam: Remembering C. R. Snyder: A Humble Legacy of Hope
- Preface
- A Case for Positive Psychology
- Positive Psychology: Past, Present, and Future
- Positive Emotions
- Classifying and Measuring Strengths of Character
- Positive Psychology Applications
- Positive Psychology Within a Cultural Context
- Stopping the “Madness”: Positive Psychology and Deconstructing the Illness Ideology and the DSM
- Widening the Diagnostic Focus: A Case for Including Human Strengths and Environmental Resources
- Toward a Science of Mental Health
- Modeling Positive Human Health: From Covariance Structures to Dynamic Systems
- Positive Ethics: Themes and Variations
- Resilience in Development
- Positive Psychology for Children and Adolescents: Development, Prevention, and Promotion
- The Positive Youth Development Perspective: Theoretical and Empirical Bases of a Strengths-Based Approach to Adolescent Development
- Aging Well in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities
- New Territories of Positive Life-Span Development: Wisdom and Life Longings
- Subjective Well-Being: The Science of Happiness and Life Satisfaction
- Flow Theory and Research
- Positive Affectivity: The Disposition to Experience Positive Emotional States
- The Social Construction of Self-Esteem
- Coping Through Emotional Approach: Emerging Evidence for the Utility of Processing and Expressing Emotions in Responding to Stressors
- The Positive Psychology of Emotional Intelligence
- Emotional Creativity: Toward “Spiritualizing the Passions”
- Creativity
- The Role of Personal Control in Adaptive Functioning
- Mindfulness Versus Positive Evaluation
- Perspectives on Time
- Optimism
- Optimistic Explanatory Style
- Hope Theory
- Self-Efficacy: The Power of Believing You Can
- Problem-Solving Appraisal and Psychological Adjustment
- Self-Determination
- Curiosity and Interest: The Benefits of Thriving on Novelty and Challenge
- Courage
- Relationship Connection: A Redux on the Role of Minding and the Quality of Feeling Special in the Enhancement of Closeness
- Compassion
- Adult Attachment Security: The Relational Scaffolding of Positive Psychology
- Empathy and Altruism
- Forgiveness
- Furthering the Science of Gratitude
- Love
- For Richer … in Good Times … and in Health: Positive Processes in Relationships
- What's Positive About Self-Verification?
- Reality Negotiation
- Humility
- The Motive for Distinctiveness: A Universal, but Flexible Human Need
- A Role for Neuropsychology in Understanding the Facilitating Influence of Positive Affect on Social Behavior and Cognitive Processes
- Toward a Biology of Social Support
- The Central Role of the Heart in Generating and Sustaining Positive Emotions
- Toughness
- Family-Centered Positive Psychology
- Positive Schools
- Positive Psychology on Campus
- Positive Workplaces
- Positive Institutions, Law, and Policy
- Meditation and Positive Psychology
- Spirituality: The Search for the Sacred
- Sharing One's Story: On the Benefits of Writing or Talking About Emotional Experience
- Benefit-Finding and Growth
- Making Sense of Loss, Perceiving Benefits, and Posttraumatic Growth
- Happiness, Resilience, and Positive Growth Following Physical Disability: Issues for Understanding, Research, and Therapeutic Intervention
- The Promise of Sustainable Happiness
- Meaning in Life
- The Future of Positive Psychology: Pursuing Three Big Goals
- Index