Eustress concept, Factors affecting eustress

03/09/2020 0 By indiafreenotes

Eustress means beneficial stress either psychological, physical (e.g. exercise), or biochemical/radiological (hormesis).

The term was coined by endocrinologist Hans Selye, consisting of the Greek prefix eu- meaning “good”, and stress, literally meaning “good stress”.

It is the positive cognitive response to stress that is healthy, or gives one a feeling of fulfilment or other positive feelings. Selye created the term as a subgroup of stress to differentiate the wide variety of stressors and manifestations of stress.

Eustress is not defined by the stressor type, but rather how one perceives that stressor (e.g. a negative threat versus a positive challenge). Eustress refers to a positive response one has to a stressor, which can depend on one’s current feelings of control, desirability, location, and timing of the stressor. Potential indicators of eustress may include responding to a stressor with a sense of meaning, hope, or vigor. Eustress has also been positively correlated with life satisfaction and well-being.

Eustress occurs when the gap between what one has and what one wants is slightly pushed, but not overwhelmed. The goal is not too far out of reach but is still slightly more than one can handle. This fosters challenge and motivation since the goal is in sight. The function of challenge is to motivate a person toward improvement and a goal. Challenge is an opportunity-related emotion that allows people to achieve unmet goals. Eustress is indicated by hope and active engagement. Eustress has a significantly positive correlation with life satisfaction and hope. It is typically assumed that experiencing chronic stress, either in the form of distress or eustress, is negative. However, eustress can instead fuel physiological thriving by positively influencing the underlying biological processes implicated in physical recovery and immunity.

Measurement

Occupational eustress may be measured on subjective levels such as of quality of life or work life, job pressure, psychological coping resources, complaints, overall stress level, and mental health. Other subjective methodological practices have included interviews with focus groups asking about stressors and stress level. In one study participants were asked to remember a past stressful event and then answer questionnaires on coping skills, job well-being, and appraisal of the situation (viewing the stressful event as a challenge or a threat).

Common subjective methodologies were incorporated in a holistic stress model created in 2007 to acknowledge the importance of eustress, particularly in the workplace. This model uses hope, positive affect, meaningfulness, and manageability as a measure of eustress, and negative psychological states, negative affect, anxiety, and anger as a measure of distress.

Objective measures have also been used and include blood pressure rate, muscle tension, and absenteeism rates. Further physiological research has looked for neuroendocrine changes as a result of eustress and distress. Research has shown that catecholamines change rapidly to pleasurable stimuli. Studies have demonstrated that eustress and distress produce different responses in the neuroendocrine system, particularly dependent on the amount of personal control one feels over a stressor.

Factors

There are several factors that may increase or decrease one’s chances of experiencing eustress and, through eustress, experiencing flow.

  • Stress is also influenced by hereditary predispositions and expectations of society. Thus, a person could already be at a certain advantage or disadvantage toward experiencing eustress.
  • If a person enjoys experiencing new things and believes they have importance in the world, they are more likely to experience flow.
  • Flow is negatively related to self-directedness, or an extreme sense of autonomy.
  • Persistence is positively related to flow and closely related to intrinsic motivation.
  • People with an internal locus of control, have an increased chance of flow because they believe they can increase their skill level to match the challenge.
  • Perfectionism, however, is negatively related to flow. A person downplays their skill levels therefore making the gap too big, and they perceive the challenge to be too large to experience flow. On the opposite end of perfectionism, however, there are increased chances of flow.
  • Active procrastination is positively related to flow. By actively delaying work, the person increases the challenge. Then once the challenge is matched with the person’s high skill levels, the person can experience flow. Those who passively procrastinate or do not procrastinate do not have these same experiences. It is only with the purposeful procrastination that a person is able to increase the challenge.
  • Mindset is a significant factor in determining distress versus eustress. Optimistic people and those with high self-esteem contribute to eustress experiences. The positive mindset increases the chances of eustress and a positive response to stressors. Currently, the predominant mindset toward stress is that stress is debilitating. However, mindsets toward stress can be changed.

Examples

Eustress is common in the examples below. However, the examples depend on how an individual perceives the stress. The examples below are most often perceived as eustress:

  • Meeting or engaging in a challenge
  • Desired physical exercise (e. g. weight training, running, biking)
  • Intentional exposure to cold water
  • Playing sports
  • Watching a suspenseful or scary movie
  • Riding a roller coaster
  • Competing in a tournament
  • Gambling
  • Wim Hof breathing
  • People (e. g. Coaches, Parents)

Factors affecting eustress

In daily life, we often use the term “stress” to describe negative situations. This leads many people to believe that all stress is bad for you, which is not true. Eustress, or positive stress, has the following characteristics:

  • Motivates, focuses energy
  • Is short-term
  • Is perceived as within our coping abilities
  • Feels exciting
  • Improves performance

In contrast, Distress, or negative stress, has the following characteristics:

  • Causes anxiety or concern
  • Can be short- or long-term
  • Is perceived as outside of our coping abilities
  • Feels unpleasant
  • Decreases performance
  • Can lead to mental and physical problems