Mediating effects of perceived stress on the relationship of positivity with negative and positive affect

BACKGROUND: Positivity refers to “a general tendency to view life and experiences with a positive outlook”. Enhanced positivity has been linked with decreased negative affect and increased positive affect, but rather little is known about the factors that mediate these relationships. One potential such factor is perceived stress, which refers to how one appraises life situations as stressful. This study examined the mediating effects of perceived stress on the associations of positivity with negative and positive affect. Two hypotheses were tested: 1) positivity is negatively associated with perceived stress, which in turn is positively associated with negative affect, and 2) positivity is negatively associated with perceived stress, which in turn is negatively associated with positive affect. METHODS: An online survey was conducted with 100 Japanese men and 100 Japanese women who were members of a survey company in January 2018. They completed questionnaires on positivity, perceived stress, and negative and positive affect. All survey procedures were managed and conducted by a web-survey company. RESULTS: Mediation analyses indicated that perceived stress was a mediator in the relationship between positivity and negative affect. Perceived stress was also found to be a mediator in the relationship between positivity and positive affect. CONCLUSION: Positivity was found to be associated with negative affect and positive affect via perceived stress.