Stress stimulates optimism


According to research currently being conducted at the University of Southern California, stress can encourage people to see the ‘bright side of life’.

There are a number of causes of stress ; the pressures to complete a piece of work by a deadline, an important presentation and relationship difficulties, most of which would be regarded as negative life events. However, results from this new study, which are due to be published in the Journal of Current Directions in Psychological Science, report that people who are stressed are more likely to attend the upsides of decisions or potential outcomes.

In a statement released by the co-author Mara Mather, if a person was suffering from symptoms of stress while having to decide whether or not to get a new job; they could be more likely to focus on a positive of the move such as an increase in salary, rather than a downside of such a change, such as a more junior position within a company.

These results are interesting as they highlight why stress is a part of human existence and contrary to popular opinion is not always a terrible attribute to experience.

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