People seek activity, including the kinds of activities that use abilities they value.
However, some activities or situations produce undersirable effects, such as emotional tensions, physical symptoms like sleep disorders, and decrements in job performance.
Selye (1982) sought to distinguish "good stress" from "bad stress" by referring to them as "eustress" and "distress", respectively. The focus here will be primarily limited to distress as we seek to understand its negative effect on individuals. Sonnentag and Frese (2003) provided an overview of stress reactions, as shown in Table 11-1