Stress, positive emotion, and coping

There is growing interest in positive aspects of the stress process, includ ing positive outcomes of stress and antecedents that dispose individuals to appraise stressful situations more as a challenge than as a threat. Less a ttention has been given to the adaptational significance of positive emotio ns during stress or to the coping processes that sustain positive emotions. We review evidence for the occurrence of positive emotions under condition s stress, discuss the functional role that positive emotions play under suc h conditions, and present three types of coping that are associated with po sitive emotion during chronic stress. These findings point to new research questions about the role of positive emotions.