The word stress was coined by Hans Selye (1907- 1982) back in 1965, who defined stress as “the non-specific responses of the body to any demand for change”.
Selye introduced the concept of positive stress, namely eustress in 1974. He used the terms “eustress” and “distress” to distinguish different types of stress and in other instances, he identified them as stimuli that cause stress. He suggested that eustress is “healthy, positive, constructive results of stressful events and stress response”
Eustress is what energizes the person and motivates him to make a change. It gives a positive outlook and makes him capable of overcoming obstacles and sickness.
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
Yerkes-Dodson Law stated that stress is beneficial to performance until some optimal level is reached, after which performance will decline, which follow the inverted U shape diagram.
Concept of Eustress
