The Influence of Selected Demographic Variables on Hardiness of EFL teachers in Palestine

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the influence of selected demographic

(gender, marital status, qualifications, teaching experience, class size and

salary) variables on hardiness levels (commitment, control, and challenge)

of EFL teachers in Palestine. A sample of 271 of EFL teachers participated in

the study. A modified form of Maddi & Kobasa’s (1983) Hardiness Inventory

(HI) was used to measure the level of hardiness of English language teachers

in Palestine. Results revealed that the total levels of hardiness behavior of

English teachers in Palestine were generally high for all domains of hardiness

(commitment, control and challenge) . This indicates that English teachers are

hardy persons. There were significant differences in EFL teachers’ hardiness

between EFL female teachers and EFL male teachers in favour of female

teachers. Moreover, significant differences were found on the qualification

variable in favour of the diploma. Whereas, there were no significant

differences in EFL teachers hardiness on teaching experience, marital status

and salary. Recommendations and implications were suggested.