New study suggests people who

New study suggests people who worry have an advantage over others

Seems like there’s an upside to being stressed out… so don’t worry about it.

New study suggests people who

Do you stress about every little thing that happens to you? Do you worry if you’re going to get that job or not? Well, don’t worry (mmm), you are on the winning side according to science.

via GIPHY

New research from the University of California, Riverside, led by Kate Sweeny (Ph.D.) evaluated the process of worrying while participants waited for something really important.

The research team evaluated about 230 law school graduates who were waiting on their exam results. They wrote the exam in July 2013 and got their results four months later.

The study mainly consisted of questionnaires which dealt with questions like:

How they felt and how much they thought about the exam –

How confident they were feeling –

Did they think about failing etc. –

Three strategies for dealing with the waiting period were eventually revealed.

Some participants distracted themselves and pretended they weren’t that bothered with the outcome. Other participants thought about what they were going to do when they fail and how to see the upside of it. Others just thought about their failure and initiated defensive pessimism, which consists of preparing for the worst scenario but still hoping for the best.

When the results came out, 85% of participants passed while 33 failed.

The research team found that participants who wanted to hide their feelings did not do a really good job at it. Their anxiety levels were still on the increase. The team said distractions did not help and only made the participants more anxious. “Perhaps a better alternative would be to simply experience and express emotions in a natural way without attempting to suppress them,” researchers suggested.

Those who were positive and optimistic in the beginning did not take the news to well when they failed.

Those who worried during the waiting period were more surprised while those who had a mellow approach throughout the waiting period were underwhelmed.

via GIPHY

Bottom line, the researchers found it is better to worry for whatever life-changing reason it may be. The experience at the end of the day when you get your results will be worth it.

Photo: Getty Images