Stress is one of the facts of daily life that cannot be ignored and individuals are confronted with many stress factors in their daily lives. Stress is claimed to be related not only to the individual’s physical healthy but also to irrational beliefs and well-being. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the relationship between young adults’ perceived stress levels and irrational beliefs and self-esteem. The findings of the current study exploring the predictor factors of the perceived stress are believed to be useful for psychological counselors working with young adults and for researchers working in this field. The current study employed the relational survey model. The study group of the current research is comprised of a total 219 young adults, of whom 159 (72%) are females and 60 (28%) are males whose ages range from 25 to 40. The data of the study were collected by using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Irrational Beliefs Scale and the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale. The data were collected from people participating in the study in 2016 on a volunteer basis. The dependent variable of the study is the perceived stress and the independent variables are irrational beliefs and self-esteem. In order to determine whether the irrational beliefs and self-esteem significantly predict the perceived stress level, standard multiple regression analysis was used. The results of this analysis can be summarized as follows; while the self-sub-dimension of irrational beliefs and being a woman positively predict the helplessness sub-dimension of the perceived stress and self-esteem significantly and positively predict the perception of helplessness, the need for approval and interpersonal relationships sub-dimensions of irrational beliefs do not significantly predict helplessness. Moreover, the self-sub-dimension of irrational beliefs and the need for approval positively predict the inadequacy sub-dimension of perceived stress; self-esteem negatively and significantly predicts the perception of inadequacy and the interpersonal relationships sub-dimension of irrational beliefs do not significantly predict the perception of inadequacy.

Stress, irrational beliefs, self-esteem.