under pressure: stress vs. success
spring 2025
For my data visualization class, we had to create a physical installation that collected user data on a certain subject in duality. Our group was assigned Stress vs. Performance, so we chose to study whether stressors can trigger burnout or if they can be positive motivators.
In a study conducted on types of stressors on innovation performance of employees, it was found that the type of stress influences the outcome of performance on the employees. To simply put, challenge stressors - stress that contributes positively towards performance or goals, alongside with a positive environment saw a positive impact on performance while hindrance stressors - stress that hinders performance or goals, alongside negative environments saw negative impacts (Dou et al., 2022). This study shows the type of stress is important in determining the potential outcome of performance or burnout.
We chose to use elastic bands because it gives the user a direct sense of tension as they use it to contribute their experience. The farther they stretched their band, the more stress they were visualizing.
We got a really good batch of responses; about 150 people contributed! We put this data into a spreadsheet and reset the install every day or so to make room for more answers. We multiplied their stress score (1 to 7) by their performance score (-7 to 7) to get a net score.
For all the scores put together, we noticed a reverse Bell curve where most answers trended toward extremes. We weren't sure how to interpret this data because it basically told us two opposing things - either stress was really good for performance or it was terrible.
We split the responses by color of band to see whether intrinsically motivated activities scored differently than extrinsic ones.
Based on these charts with the responses separated by type of task, there were clear takeaways. In the case of intrinsic activities, like passion projects or learning new skills, stress can have a very positive impact on motivation and performance. When it comes to activities and tasks given to you by others, stress may have a very negative impact on your performance, leading to burnout and lack of motivation.
