When we think of stress we typically put a
negative spin on it. In its everyday usage stress is
thought of as a negative emotional state, shaped by harm,
loss, and threat. This is certainly true of distress, the
bad stress, which has been profusely researched. It is
well understood that psychological principles, such as
appraisal, are involved in stress, not to mention that
distress is regulated by coping. But there is no escaping
stress. To live is to stress. Life in and of itself places
numerous demands on the human response system. Based on
this premise there is more to life than coping and dealing
with distress; there is fun, laughter, play, learning,
exploration and growth. By necessity the positive aspects
of life place demands on the human response system, too.
Hence the infamous eustress, the good stress, which tells a
tale of exploration and mastery. There are limited
empirical investigations that bring to light the
psychological make-up of eustress; the current research is
one of the first. So what is psychological eustress and how
is it regulated or fostered? This manuscript empirically
examines this question. Enjoy!