This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called How to Make Stress Work for You taught by Professor Kimberlee Bethany Bonura, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.
In this free lecture from The Great Courses, Professor Kimberlee Bethany Bonura starts with the equation that arousal plus your value judgment equals stress. She emphasizes the importance of one’s perception when it comes to stressing out under a given circumstance, and also points out many of the cultural and environmental factors that contribute to stress. She also points to studies where genetics and early life experience play a heavy role as to how you’ll react to stress later in life. She places stress on a continuum, where very low stress can lead to boredom and poor performance, but too high of stress can lead to anxiety and poor performance as well. In between these two extremes you can find an optimal level of aroused stress that leads to your best performance.