Stress, Mattering, and Health

Abstract A central concern of social stress research is to understand the diverse psychosocial resources that condition the influence of stress exposure on health and well‐being. As articulated in the stress process, positive self‐conceptions are thought to act as mediators and moderators of stress, which in turn diminish the deleterious impact of stress on mental and physical health. In this regard, self‐concepts such as mastery and self‐esteem have consistently emerged in the literature as playing significant and powerful buffering roles against stressors. Mattering, on the other hand, despite its demonstrated efficacy in protecting against manifestations of stress, has received far less attention as a critical intervening link in the stress–health relationship. This entry provides an overview of the conceptual and methodological issues that have guided research on mattering before elaborating on findings related to mattering's role in the connection between social stress and health‐related outcomes.