Abstract
Individuals’ beliefs about stress have been linked to health and performance. The stress optimization model proposes regulatory strategies through which these beliefs may shape stress responses, but evidence for these mechanisms comes largely from laboratory research. We investigated whether these mechanisms generalize to everyday life in a 14-day ecological momentary assessment study of N = 173 university students (86% women, M_age = 22.6). Multilevel models examined associations of stress beliefs with stress regulation strategies, affect and somatic symptoms. Stress beliefs were associated with several regulation strategies on the between-person level, but explained little variability in how regulation changed with increasing stress intensity. Associations with affective and somatic responses were limited. Thus, laboratory-derived stress-belief mechanisms appear to generalize only partially to everyday life. We discuss advantages of laboratory and daily-life research on this topic. Interpretation is limited by a homogenous sample, potentially missed event-contingent assessments and independently modeling regulatory processes.