ABSTRACT
This chapter defines stress as an imbalance between environmental demands and a circus artist’s resources to deal with these demands. Then, ‘the stress process’ is used as a framework to explain the impact of these environmental demands (so-called stressors) on the circus artist. Organisational, performance, and personal stressors that are frequently experienced by circus artists are introduced. Following this, the chapter covers how appraisal of stressors impacts stress responses and behavioural consequences in circus. The chapter concludes with advice on balancing stress and recovery based on ‘the scissors model’, which states that increased levels of stress should coincide with increased levels of recovery.
