Health, Stress, and Coping — Executive Summary
Aaron Antonovsky’s salutogenic model reshaped the fundamental understanding of health. Instead of asking why people become ill, he posed a different question: why do people stay well despite the ongoing presence of stressors? As he wrote,
“… the question of why people stay well despite the constant bombardment of stressors.”
(Antonovsky, 1979, Health, Stress, and Coping, p. 12)
This shift from a pathogenetic worldview to a salutogenic one places the human capacity for interpretation, resource mobilization, and meaning at the center of health.
Stress is not inherently destructive. The decisive factor is how individuals understand, respond to, and integrate the tension it produces. Antonovsky explained that
“… it is not the stressor that determines health, but the ability to comprehend, manage, and find meaning in the tension it produces.”
((Antonovsky, 1979, Health, Stress, and Coping, p. 37)
This insight became the conceptual core of the salutogenic approach in both 1979 and his later 1987 work.
The Continuum of Health
Health is not a binary state. It is a continuum extending between [health – ease] and [dis – ease]. Every person exists somewhere along this line. Antonovsky emphasized:
“Every person is at some point between absolute health and absolute dis-ease.”
((Antonovsky, 1979, Health, Stress, and Coping, 70)
A person’s movement along the continuum depends on their ability to make sense of life events, access resources, mobilize coping strategies, and perceive demands as meaningful rather than overwhelming.
Generalized Resistance Resources (GRRs)
GRRs are life-spanning resources — material, cognitive, emotional, relational, cultural — that make it possible to transform tension into manageable experience. Antonovsky defined GRRs as:
“characteristics of a person, group, or environment that facilitate effective tension management.”
((Antonovsky, 1979, Health, Stress, and Coping, p. 99)
Modern research (2018–2026) demonstrates that GRRs predict long-term mental health outcomes more accurately than initial symptom severity, and they buffer anxiety, depression, obsessive tendencies, and chronic overwhelm by strengthening coherence.
Coping as Resource Mobilization
Coping is not avoidance. It is the mobilization of resources in the face of tension. In his 1987 book, Antonovsky wrote:
“Coping is the ability to mobilize the resources available to meet the demands posed by the stressor.”
(Antonovsky, 1987, Unraveling the Mystery of Health, p. 108)
Coping aligned with the Sense of Coherence leads to upward movement toward [health – ease]. It transforms symptoms into signals of resource imbalance and opportunities for growth.
Toward a Modern Salutogenic Framework
The concepts introduced in Health, Stress, and Coping form the bedrock of all later salutogenic research and the practical application within this project. They show that health arises from clarity, predictability, agency, meaning, and the structured use of resources. The mystery, as Antonovsky concluded, is not why people break down but:
“why they remain healthy.”
(Antonovsky, 1979, p. 1)
This page serves as the central overview from which all child pages expand the model in depth.
To explore related concepts and deepen your understanding, visit: