“Psychological capital” (hope, self-belief, resilience and optimism) is linked to lower stress and less job-hunting
The 2026 Work in America Survey, fielded by the Harris Poll with 2,009 US workers, found 37% say their workplace harms their mental health, up from 32% last year. Workers who score high on psychological capital were much less likely to feel stressed during the workday (38% vs 55%) or to plan a job search (19% vs 51%), and less worried about AI making them obsolete (37% vs 53%). APA stresses it is not a fixed trait and can be developed.
These four resources can be built, not just possessed: keep a record of problems you solved to build self-belief, and write down more than one route to a goal to build hope. The finding is correlational, so treat it as a strong hint rather than proof that building them lowers your stress.
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