Dr. Alia Crum

And they also reported performing better at work compared to those who watched the debilitating videos.

Now, interestingly, we didn't make anyone worse with the debilitating videos, which was good.

We had told the IRB we didn't expect that because that message was already out there.

That's what they were already seeing.

That wasn't new to them.

It was more this enhancing message.

a perspective that turned out to be inspiring.

People get this wrong sometimes.

They think that I'm saying that a stress-enhancing mindset means you should like stress.

That's not what we're saying, right?

Having a stress-enhancing mindset doesn't mean the stressor is a good thing, right?

It doesn't mean that getting a cancer diagnosis is a good thing or being in abject poverty is a good thing.

These are not good things.

But the experience of the stress associated with that, the challenge, the adversity, that experience can lead to enhancing outcomes with respect to not just our cognition, but our health, our performance and our well-being.

How does that work?

Right.

Well, it works through a number of different pathways.

One is that it changes fundamentally what we're motivated to do.

So if you, you know, just imagine we're stressed about something and you think that stress is bad.

then what's your motivation, right?