On a scale of 1-10, rank (to yourself) how stressed you are currently.
On a scale of 1-10, rank (again, to yourself) how happy you are currently.
I think it is first important to define stress and happiness so that we are all on the same page. Stress is defined as periods of time when people respond to environmental stimuli psychologically, biologically and behaviorally in such a manner that the situation calls for greater resources than the person has available. Happiness can be defined several ways, but some of the components of happiness include perceived subjective well being, how engaged the person is and how meaningful the person finds their life. Many studies of happiness look to alleviate stress to very low levels when trying to increase ones happiness.
In a study done by Nelson and Schiffrin, the hypothesized relationship was an inverse relationship between happiness and stress. After conducting studies on 100 college students using ten self-report tests. After conducting all of the research, the results showed that there was in fact a linear, inverse relationship between stress and happiness.
When I read this article, I thought the research was going to be more in depth and talk about the curvature of the relationship, as other research shows that a small level of stress will spur productivity. This can arguably lead to increased happiness, if looking at happiness as per the construct of the meaningful life.
Schiffrin, H., Nelson, S. 2010. Stressed and Happy? Investigating the Relationship Between Happiness and Percieved Stress. Journal of Happiness Studies. 11:33-39
I think that I can rate my stress level a 9. With 21 hours and other activities, it seems like so much needs to be done with so little time. When it comes to happiness I would rate my life a 10. I believe that the stress will go down and that all my work will pay off and my activities, since I am working to help people, will all be worth it. It is interesting to see the different factors that play into each area.
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