The paper examines the relationship between personality and stress. Data on eight secondary personality factors and perceived stress was collected from 50 students of a business school using 16 Personality Factors (16PF) and Perceived Stress Scale respectively. Student's t-test was done for each secondary personality factor to detect significant difference in perceived stress among low and high categories. Stress is higher in low extraversion group as compared to high extraversion group. Stress is higher in high anxiety group as compared to low anxiety group. Similar findings hold good for Leadership and Adjustment.

Stress is found in all aspects of life. Selye (1976) defined stress as a non-specific response of the body to any demands made upon it. Stress is a psychological reaction to problems, threats, opportunities and challenges faced by an individual when the outcome is both important and uncertain. All of us experience stress on a regular basis. Management students are highly prone to stress due to (i) pressure to learn a large number of subjects in a limited time, (ii) heavy demands on their time to complete home assignments and preparing for classroom presentations and discussions, (iii) the challenge of adjusting in the new environment, (iv) pressure to meet high expectations from self and parents, (v) uncertainties about the future employment. The impact of stress is dependent on a student's personality characteristics. Linn and Zeppa (1984) have revealed that students likely to experience more unfavorable stress are those who harbor low self-esteem and experience external control and that unfavorable stress is associated with poor performance.

Stress can affect a student's ability to function effectively and thus have a bearing on his/her academic performance. It is particularly important for the students to manage their stress and maintain it within the limits to ensure good academic performance together with physical and psychological well-being. The problem of stress among the management students has been under study for a long time. A number of researchers (Linn and Zeppa, 1984) have tried to justify their findings and theories for alleviating the stress among the youth. The present study brings out the relationship between stress and personality characteristics.

Stress-Personality Relationship: An Empirical Study,personality, students, stress, performance, extraversion, pressure, psychological, relationship, characteristics, demands, academic, unfavorable, discussions, environment, expectations, ability, factors, harbor, bearing, Leadership, opportunities, management, particularly, Personality