Draft:Stevan E. Hobfoll

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  • Comment: Potentially notable under WP:NACADEMIC. We need sources for the Awards section and the date of birth. qcne (talk) 20:31, 7 July 2025 (UTC)

Stevan E. Hobfoll (born September 25, 1951)[1] is an American psychologist who developed Conservation of Resources (COR) theory in 1989.[2] and whose work has had major impact on the understanding of stress in a broad array of contexts, ranging from the everyday stress of work to the traumatic impact of mass casualties. He was Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Kent State University and was Presidential Professor at Rush University Medical Center. He is currently affiliated with STAR: STress, Anxiety & Resilience Consultants.[3]

Career and education

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Although Hobfoll did poorly in school, he was able to obtain a scholarship to the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He earned a Bachelor of Science (Magna cum Laude) in Psychology from the University of Illinois (1973) and a Ph.D. in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Florida (1977). He taught at Ben Gurion University (1980-1983) and Tel Aviv University (1983-1988) before joining Kent State University in 1987.[4] At Rush University Medical Center, he chaired the Department of Behavioral Sciences and held appointments in Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Nursing Sciences.[5] During Operation Desert Storm, he co-chaired the American Psychological Association National Commission on Stress and War.[5]

Conservation of Resources theory

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Hobfoll published his Conservation of Resources (COR) theory in 1989.[2] The theory has become the most widely cited stress theory across multiple areas of psychology and organizational behavior. COR theory proposes that stress occurs when resources are threatened, lost, or fail to increase after investment.[6] A basic tenet of COR theory is that resource loss is disproportionally impactful and that resource gain generally has weak impact on emotional, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes.

Core tenets

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COR theory rests on three principles:[7] 1. Loss primacy: Resource loss has greater impact than resource gain 2. Investment principle: People invest resources to prevent losses, recover from losses, and gain new resources 3. Third, COR theory posits that resource gain increases in impact in the context of people's experience of high resource loss.

Impact

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COR theory has become widely cited in organizational psychology and stress research across virtually all domains of stressful contexts.[7] COR theory has also become the basis for Psychological First Aid interventions, particularly in the context of mass casualty and other major stressful life events.[8] COR theory also is fundamental to the job demands-resources model in organizational stress research, which has become one of the core principles in the understanding of stress in organizational context.[7]

Criticisms

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Critics have questioned the definition of resources. Halbesleben et al. noted that the resource concept is "the most criticized element of the conservation of resources theory," with critics arguing that "nearly anything good can be considered a resource."[9] Despite these criticisms, research has found the COR-E (COR theory evaluation), which has 74 listed key resources to be an excellent measure of stress and no additional resources have ever been suggested to be added or deleted.[10]

Other work

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Dual-axis coping model

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In the 1990s, Hobfoll developed the dual-axis model of coping, examining active versus passive and prosocial versus antisocial dimensions of coping. This research found that women were "more prosocial than men in their coping, but no less active," challenging gender stereotypes.[11]

Ecological stress theory

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Hobfoll's 1988 book "The Ecology of Stress" presented ecological stress theory, connecting individual and environmental factors in stress research. This work influenced community psychology approaches to stress intervention and challenged prevailing individualistic, appraisal-based views of stress.[12] The ecological model challenged the prevailing models in psychology which emphasized individual perception and took little account for context. As such, Hobfoll's ecological approach emphasizes that individuals' circumstance, including poverty, sexism, racism, war, and disaster, are key to understanding stress.

Five Essential Elements

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In 2007, Hobfoll led an expert panel, commissioned by SAMHSA and the Department of Defense, that created the "Five Essential Elements of Immediate and Mid-Term Mass Trauma Intervention," published in Psychiatry.[13] The framework outlines five principles for post-disaster care: safety, calming, self and community efficacy, social connectedness, and hope. These guidelines have been adopted by the World Health Organization, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and various countries and NGOs as a blueprint for responding to mass casualty events, including school shootings, natural and technological disasters, war, and terrorism.[14] The Five Essential Elements have become the blueprint for prevention and intervention programs addressing mass casualty worldwide.

Awards and recognition

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Lifetime Achievement Award. International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Miami, FL, November 2014.[15]

Lifetime Achievement Award: Trauma Psychology Division 56, American Psychological Association. Washington, D.C., August 2014.[16]

Leadership Award. International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Miami, FL, November 2014.[17]

Lifetime Achievement Award, Division of Health Psychology, International Association of Applied Psychology. Athens, Greece, July 2006.[18]

Robert S. Laufer Memorial Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (2006). "This award is given to an individual or group who has made an outstanding contribution to research in the PTSD field."[19]

Senior Fulbright Specialist Award (2003-2008). The Senior Fulbright Specialist Award allows senior scholars to be available to universities throughout the world for a 5-year period in order to allow brief visits to provide consultation, research collaboration, and teaching. Area of expertise for this award is terrorism and its impact on communities.[20]

Selection as a "Model Program" recommended for National adoption by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For work on HIV/AIDS Prevention Among Inner-City Women, "Communal Effectance-AIDS Prevention (CE-AP)". 2003.[21][22]

Invited Expert. Disaster Mental Health Subcommittee, National Biodefense Science Board, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) (2008, 2010).[23]

STAR Lifetime Career Award. Stress, Trauma, Anxiety, And Resilience Society (STAR). For outstanding scientific contributions to the field of stress and anxiety and for professional contributions to the field. July 2002.[24]

Selected publications

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Hobfoll has authored 14 books and over 300 research papers and book chapters. As of August 2025 his h-index stands at 103. His major works include: • The Ecology of Stress (1988) • Stress, Culture, and Community: The Psychology and Philosophy of Stress (1998) • Tribalism: The Evolutionary Origins of Fear Politics (2018)

References

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  1. ^ National Library of Australia. "The ecology of stress / Stevan E. Hobfoll." National Library of Australia Catalogue. https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/378770
  2. ^ a b Hobfoll, Stevan (1989). "Conservation of Resources. A New attempt at conceptualizing stress". The American Psychologist. 44 (3): 513–524. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.44.3.513. PMID 2648906.
  3. ^ "Stevan Hobfoll". Google Scholar. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fgIzUM8AAAAJ&hl=en Retrieved 2025.
  4. ^ "Dr. Stevan E. Hobfoll - Speakers". Akron Roundtable. January 20, 2005. Retrieved 2025. https://www.akronroundtable.org/speakers/dr-stevan-e-hobfoll/1551/
  5. ^ a b Du Toit, M. L., et al. (2013). "Five essential principles of post-disaster psychosocial care: looking back and forward with Stevan Hobfoll". European Journal of Psychotraumatology. 4: 21914. doi:10.3402/ejpt.v4i0.21914.
  6. ^ Halbesleben, J.B.; Paustian-Underdal, S.C.; Westman, M (2014). "Getting to the "COR": Understanding the Role of Resources in Conservation of Resources Theory". Journal of Management. 40 (5): 1334–1364. doi:10.1177/0149206314527130.
  7. ^ a b c Hobfoll, Stevan E.; Halbesleben, Jonathon; Neveu, Jean-Pierre; Westman, Mina (2018). "Conservation of Resources in the Organizational Context: The Reality of Resources and Their Consequences". Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior. 5 (1): 103–128. doi:10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104640.
  8. ^ Wang, L., Norman, I., Edleston, V., Oyo, C., & Leamy, M. (2024). "The effectiveness and implementation of psychological first aid as a therapeutic intervention after trauma: An integrative review". Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 15248380231221492.
  9. ^ Halbesleben, J.B.; Neveu, J.P.; Paustian-Underdahl, S.C.; Westman, M. (2014). "Getting to the "COR": Understanding the Role of Resources in Conservation of Resources Theory". Journal of Management. 40 (5): 1334–1364. doi:10.1177/0149206314527130.
  10. ^ Hobfoll, S. E., & Lilly, R. S. (1993). "Resource conservation as a strategy for community psychology". Journal of Community Psychology. 21(2): 128–148. doi:10.1002/1520-6629(199304)21:2<128::AID-JCOP2290210206>3.0.CO;2-5.
  11. ^ Hobfoll, Stevan E.; Dunahoo, Carla L.; Ben-Porath, Yossef; Monnier, Joseph (1994). "Gender and coping: The dual-axis model of coping". American Journal of Community Psychology. 22 (1): 49–82. doi:10.1007/BF02506817.
  12. ^ Hobfoll, Stevan E. (1988). The Ecology of Stress. New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.
  13. ^ Hobfoll, S. E., Watson, P., Bell, C. C., Bryant, R. A., Brymer, M. J., Friedman, M. J., et al. (2007). "Five essential elements of immediate and mid-term mass trauma intervention: Empirical evidence". Psychiatry. 70(4): 283-315. PMID 18181708.
  14. ^ West, J. C., Morganstein, J. C., & Benedek, D. M. (2021). "Fourteen years later: Hobfoll and colleagues five principles of psychological first aid through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic". Psychiatry. 84(4): 373-377. doi:10.1080/00332747.2021.2005440.
  15. ^ "Lifetime Achievement Award". International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Retrieved 2025. https://istss.org/awards/professional-awards/lifetime-achievement-award/
  16. ^ "APA honors psychology's best in D.C." Monitor on Psychology. September 2014. Retrieved 2025. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/09/honors
  17. ^ "2014 Leadership Awards - ISTSS". International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Retrieved 2025. https://istss.org/2014-leadership-awards-istss/
  18. ^ "European Health Psychology Society Bulletin". European Health Psychology Society. Vol. 8, No. 3. 2006. Retrieved 2025. https://ehps.net/ehp/index.php/contents/article/download/ehp.v8.i3.p13/915/
  19. ^ "Robert S. Laufer Memorial Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement". International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Retrieved 2025. https://istss.org/awards/professional-awards/robert-s-laufer-memorial-award-for-outstanding-scientific-achievement/
  20. ^ "Fulbright Alumni". Fulbright Israel. Retrieved 2025. https://www.fulbright.org.il/alumni?page=61
  21. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Archive | Risk Reduction | Compendium | Intervention Research". CDC HIV/AIDS Prevention Research Synthesis Project. Retrieved 2025. http://medbox.iiab.me/modules/en-cdc/www.cdc.gov/hiv/research/interventionresearch/compendium/rr/archive.html
  22. ^ Hobfoll, S.E.; Jackson, A.P.; Johnson, R.J.; Schröder, K.E.E. (2002). "Effects and generalizability of communally oriented HIV-AIDS prevention versus general health promotion groups for single, inner-city women in urban clinics". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 70 (4): 950–960. doi:10.1037//0022-006X.70.4.950.
  23. ^ "Disaster Mental Health Recommendations". National Biodefense Science Board. 2008. Retrieved 2025. https://aspr.hhs.gov/Shared%20Documents/NBSB%20Files/dmhreport-final.pdf
  24. ^ "STAR Awards". Stress, Trauma, Anxiety, And Resilience Society. Retrieved 2025. https://star-society.org/star-awards/