The Effectiveness of Progressive Relaxation Training on Daily Hassles: Moderating Role of Hardiness and Self esteem

The effectiveness of Progressive Relaxation Training in evaluating the stress of daily life events was examined. One hundred and twenty female students of Islamic Azad University completed the Personal Views Survey (PVS; Hardiness Institute,1985), Self-esteem Inventory (Coopersmith, 1967, ), and Cattell Anxiety Scale (Cattell,1958). After random assignment of participants to a control and an experiment group, the experimental group received 10 weekly sessions of Progressive Relaxation Training (Jackobson, 1934). Next, the Hassles and Uplifts Scale (Delongis et al., 1982) was administered to both groups. Data showed that by controlling the levels of self-esteem, hardiness and tension, the experimental group, after receiving the relaxation training, appraised the daily life events as less stressful than did the control group that did not receive the training. It can be concluded that the appraisal of stressful circumstances were influenced on individual resources.