Researchers from Penn State have found that feeling more in control over daily hassles makes people 62% more likely to resolve them. This effect strengthens with age, offering a simple way to manage stress. The findings come from a decade-long analysis of everyday experiences.
Everyday frustrations like work deadlines, household issues, or arguments can quickly build into stress, but a new study suggests that a sense of control can help people tackle them effectively. Led by scientists at Penn State, the research analyzed data from over 1,700 adults in the National Study of Daily Experiences, part of the Midlife in the United States Survey. Participants reported stressors from the previous 24 hours over eight consecutive days, rating their perceived control on a four-point scale: none, a little, some, or a lot. The survey was repeated 10 years later to track changes.
Common stressors included interpersonal tensions, such as arguments or avoided discussions; work or home overload; and network stress, like problems affecting friends or family that still caused personal distress. On days when participants felt greater control than usual, they were 61% more likely to resolve these issues early in the study, rising to 65% a decade later. This indicates that perceived control fluctuates daily and grows as a resource with age.
"This research shows that even small boosts in how much control people feel they have over everyday hassles make it more likely that those hassles actually get resolved," said David Almeida, professor of human development and family studies at Penn State and senior author. Lead author Dakota Witzel, now an assistant professor at South Dakota State University, added, "This work also begins to show that as we get older, not only do we have more control but that control helps us get better at handling stress."
The study, published in Communications Psychology, suggests practical strategies like setting priorities, reframing challenges, breaking tasks into steps, and reflecting daily to build control. It was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Future work will explore how this applies to chronic stress.