Stress

4e

Nelson/Quick

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Chapter 7Stress and

Well-Being at Work


What Is Stress?

Unconscious preparation to fight or flee that a person experiences when faced with any demand

Stressor: Person or event that triggers the stress response

Distress or strain: Adverse psychological, physical, behavioral, and organizational consequences that may arise as a result of stressful events

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4 Approaches to Stress

Homeostatic/medical approach

Stress occurs when an external, environmental demand upsets an individual’s natural steady-state balance

Homeostasis: Steady state of bodily functioning and equilibrium

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Cognitive Appraisal

Individuals differ in their appraisal of events and people

Perception and cognitive appraisal determines what is stressful

Culture affects the perception of stress

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Cognitive Appraisal

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Problem-focused coping emphasizes managing the stressor

Emotion-focused coping emphasizes managing your response


Person-Environment Fit

Confusing and conflicting expectations of a person in a social role create stress

Person-environment fit occurs when one’s skills and abilities match a clearly defined set of role expectations

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Psychoanalytic

Stress results from the discrepancy between the idealized self (ego-ideal) and the real self-image

Ego-ideal: Embodiment of a person’s perfect self

Self-image: How a person sees himself or herself, both positively and negatively

Discrepancy between the two elements of personality is directly proportional to the amount of stress experienced

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The Stress Response

Release of chemical messengers

Activation of sympathetic nervous and endocrine system

Triggering of mind-body changes that prepare the person for fight or flight

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Beyond the Book:Stress Check

How often do the following happen to you? Always (3), often (2), sometimes (1), or never (0)? Rate each statement on a scale from 0 to 3, as honestly as you can and without spending too much time on any one statement.

Am I Overstressed?

1. I have to make important snap judgments and decisions.

2. I am not consulted about what happens on my job or in my classes.

3. I feel I am underpaid.

4. I feel that no matter how hard I work, the system will mess it up.

5. I do not get along with some of my coworkers or fellow students.

6. I do not trust my superiors at work or my professors at school.

7. The paperwork burden on my job or at school is getting to me.

8. I feel people outside the job or the university do not respect what I do.

Record your score as the sum of your responses.

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How often do the following happen to you? Always (3), often (2), sometimes (1), or never (0)? Rate each statement on a scale from 0 to 3, as honestly as you can and without spending too much time on any one statement.

Am I Angry?

1. I feel that people around me make too many irritating mistakes.

2. I feel annoyed because I do good work or perform well in school, but no one appreciates it.

3. When people make me angry, I tell them off.

4. When I am angry, I say things I know will hurt people.

5. I lose my temper easily.

6. I feel like striking out at someone who angers me.

7. When a coworker or fellow student makes a mistake, I tell him or her about it.

8. I cannot stand being criticized in public.

Record your score as the sum of your responses, and add it to your score from the previous section.

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To find your level of anger and potential for aggressive behavior, add your scores from both quiz parts.

40–48: The red flag is waving, and you had better pay attention. You are in the danger zone. You need guidance from a counselor or mental health professional, and you should be getting it now.

30–39: The yellow flag is up. Your stress and anger levels are too high, and you are feeling increasingly hostile. You are still in control, but it would not take much to trigger a violent flare of temper.

10–29: Relax, you are in the broad normal range. Like most people, you get angry occasionally, but usually with some justification. Sometimes you

take overt action, but you are not likely to be unreasonably or excessively aggressive.

0–9: Congratulations! You are in great shape. Your stress and anger are well under control, giving you a laid-back personality not prone to violence.

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Table 7.1 - Work and Nonwork Demands

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Table 7.1 - Work and Nonwork Demands

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Positive Stress

Some stressful activities enhance a person’s ability to manage stressful situations

Stress can provide a needed energy boost

Yerkes-Dodson law - Indicates that stress leads to improved performance up to an optimum point

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Figure 7.1 - Yerkes-Dodson Law

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Individual Distress

• Heart disease, strokes, peptic ulcers, headaches, and backaches

Medical illness

• Substance abuse, violence, accidents

Behavioral problems

• Depression, burnout, psychosomatic disorders

Work-related psychological disorders

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Organizational Distress

Participation problem: Cost associated with absenteeism, tardiness, strikes and work stoppages, and turnover

Performance decrement: Cost resulting from poor quality or low quantity of production, grievances, and unscheduled machine downtime and repair

Compensation award: Organizational cost resulting from court awards for job distress

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Type A Behavior Patterns

Complex of personality and behavioral characteristics

Competitiveness

Time urgency

Social status insecurity

Aggression

Hostility

Quest for achievements

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Personality Hardiness

Personality characterized by challenge, commitment, and control

Is resistant to distress

Coping strategies

Transformational coping: Way of managing stressful events by changing them into less subjectively stressful events

Regressive coping - Passive avoidance of events and decreased interaction with the environment

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Self-Reliance

Healthy, secure, interdependent pattern of behavior related to how people form and maintain supportive attachments with others

Counterdependence: Unhealthy, insecure pattern of behavior that leads to separation in relationships with other people

Overdependence: Unhealthy, insecure pattern of behavior that leads to preoccupied attempts to achieve security through relationships

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Figure 7.2 - Framework for Preventative Stress Maintenance

SOURCE: J. D. Quick, R. S. Horn, and J. C. Quick, “Health Consequences of Stress,” Journal of Organizational Behavior Management 8, No. 2 (Fall

1986): 21. Reprinted by permission of (Taylor & Francis Ltd, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals).

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Organizational Stress Prevention

Job redesign - Increased worker control reduces distress and strain without reducing productivity

Goal setting - Increases task motivation while reducing role conflict and ambiguity

Role negotiation - Allows individuals to modify their work roles

Social support systems - Team building provides social support

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Figure 7.3 - Job Strain Model

SOURCE: Republished with permission of ABC-CLIO Inc., from Work Stress: Health Care Systems in the Workplace, J. C. Quick, R. S. Bhagat, J. E.

Dalton, and J. D. Quick. © 1987; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

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Figure 7.4 - Social Support at Work and Home

SOURCE: J. C. Quick, J. D. Quick, D. L. Nelson, and J. J. Hurrell, Jr., Preventive Stress Management in Organizations (Washington, D.C.:

American Psychological Association, 1997), 198. Reprinted with permission.

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Individual Preventive Stress Management

Primary prevention

Positive thinking

Time management

Leisure time activities

Secondary prevention

Physical exercise

Relaxation

Diet

Tertiary prevention

Opening up

Professional help

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Stress

Self Improvement

Transcript of Stress