Hardiness and Expectations for Future Life: The Roles of Perceived Stress, Music Listening for Negative Emotion Regulation, and Life Satisfaction

This study investigated the relationship between hardiness and Korean adults’ expectations for future life, and verified the multiple mediating effects of perceived stress, music listening for negative emotion regulation, and life satisfaction on that relationship. The participants were 412 Korean adults aged 20–65 years. PROCESS Macro 3.5 Model 80 was used to examine the multiple mediating effects. Correlational analysis showed that hardiness was positively correlated with music listening for negative emotion regulation, life satisfaction, and expectations for future life, whereas it was negatively correlated with perceived stress. Perceived stress was negatively correlated with life satisfaction and expectations for future life, whereas music listening for negative emotion regulation was positively correlated with life satisfaction and expectations for future life. In the multiple mediation model, the relationships between hardiness and expectations for future life, the sequential mediating effect of perceived stress and life satisfaction, and the sequential mediating effect of music listening for negative emotion regulation and life satisfaction were significant. The direct effect of hardiness on expectations for future life was also significant, indicating that perceived stress, music listening for negative emotion regulation, and life satisfaction only partially mediated the relationship between hardiness and expectations for future life. It seems, thus, that perceived stress, music listening for negative emotion regulation, and life satisfaction play an important role in Korean adults’ expectations for future life.