The association between perceived stress, life satisfaction, optimism, and physical health in the Singapore Asian context

Abstract

Stress levels, satisfaction, and outlook in life, interact with physiological health indicators such as Body Mass Index (BMI), heart rate and blood pressure. However, various theories offer conflicting opinions on the direction of such effect. Since cultural differences can influence these interactions, we investigated the association of these factors and the direction of the relationship in a sample of 112 Singapore Asians, utilizing the psychological measures of optimism, life satisfaction, perceived stress, and physiological parameters: blood pressure, heart rate, and BMI. Our analysis showed that both physiological parameters and mental health were associated with the stress levels, and that statistical tests supported the direction of influence proposed by the controversial James-Lange theory that body physiology elicited emotions.

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