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Soc Indic Res (2011) 101:155172
DOI 10.1007/s11205-010-9662-z
Geraldine OSullivan
Accepted: 12 May 2010 / Published online: 18 July 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010
Abstract The construct of eustress was studied alongside hope and self-efcacy, to explore how these constructs are related to life satisfaction among undergraduates. Questionnaires were administered to undergraduates to test the hypotheses that (1) as eustress levels increase, so will life satisfaction levels; (2) when eustress, hope, and self-efcacy are examined together, they will predict life satisfaction better than eustress alone;(3) eustress, hope, and self-efcacy will all be positively correlated with life satisfaction; and (4) self-efcacy will be the most positively correlated with life satisfaction. The results revealed a signicant positive correlation between eustress and life satisfaction. A Hierarchical Linear Regression analysis revealed signicant results supporting hypotheses 2 and 3, but not hypothesis 4. Results indicated that hope is the best predictor of life satisfaction. The work reported provides a reliable tool for measuring eustress, examines eustress in a new way at the academic level, and provides helpful information about student wellness to college administrators.
Keywords Eustress Hope Self-efcacy Life satisfaction Well-being
1 Introduction
Stress can be loosely dened as the relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing and endangering to his or her well-being (McGowan et al. 2006, p. 92). Of the several types of stress that exist, there are two that play a part in this study: eustress and distress. These two types of stress can be dened as the positive and negative aspects of stress respectively (McGowan et al. 2006). More specically, eustress is a positive psychological response to a stressor whereas distress is
G. OSullivan (&)
Pitzer College, 1209 La Peresa Dr, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362, USA e-mail: [email protected]
The Relationship Between Hope, Eustress, Self-Efcacy, and Life Satisfaction Among Undergraduates
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a negative psychological response to a stressor (Simmons 2000, p. 42). Although much research has been conducted on the construct of stress, far less exists on eustress. A clear measure of eustress has not been dened and eustress itself has not been clearly conceptualized in the limited research that exists. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine eustress, to create a measure for...