Control is one of the characteristics of the hardy personality and refers to the person’s belief that they can influence events in their life. People who feel more in control of their lives are less likely to perceive events as stressors so are likely to experience lower levels of stress. Control is also related to workplace stress and refers to the extent to which a person feels able to manage aspects of their work, such as deadlines and work environment. Research has shown that workers with less control over their work are more likely to show symptoms of stress. For example, Marmot et al (1997) conducted ‘The Whitehall study’, where they investigated over 10,000 civil servants and found low job control to be linked to coronary heart disease (CHD).