Stress and Well-Being at Work

What is Stress?

Stress – the unconscious preparation to fight or flee that a person experiences when faced with any demand

Stressor – the person or event that triggers the stress response

Distress – the adverse psychological, physical, behavioral, and organizational consequences that may arise as a result of stressful events

Strain – distress

What is Homeostasis?

Homeostasis – a steady state of bodily functioning and equilibrium

4 Stress Approaches: Homeostatic/Medical Approach

Homeostasis

External environmental demand

+

=

FightFlight

• Individuals differ in their appraisal of events and people

• What is stressful for one person is not for another

• Perception and cognitive appraisal determines what is stressful

4 Stress Approaches: Cognitive Appraisal Approach

4 Stress Approaches: Cognitive Appraisal Approach

Problem-focused copingemphasizes managing the stressor

Emotion-focused copingemphasizes managing your response

• No undue stress Good person-environment fit: a person’s skills and abilities match a clearly defined, consistent set of role expectations

• Stress, strain, and depression occur when role expectations are confusing and/or conflicting, or when the person’s skills and abilities do not meet the demands of the social role

4 Stress Approaches: Person–Environment Fit Approach

4 Stress Approaches: Psychoanalytic Approach

= the difference between ego ideal and

self-image

Self-Image – how a person sees oneself,

both positively & negatively

Ego Ideal – the embodiment of a

person’s perfect self(imaginable)

Sources of Stress at Work

Work Demands Task Demands Role Demands

Change & uncertainty Lack of control Career progress New technologies Work overload/underload

Role conflict: Interrole Intrarole Person–role

Role ambiguity Interpersonal Demands Physical Demands

Abrasive personalities Sexual harassment Leadership styles

Extreme environments Strenuous activities Hazardous substances

Stress Sources at Work

Nonwork Demands Family Demands Personal Demands

Marital expectations Child-rearing/day care

arrangements Parental care

Religious activities Self-improvement

tasks Traumatic events

Stress Benefits and Costs

Benefits of Healthy, Normal Stress (Eustress) Performance Health

Increased arousal Bursts of physical strength

Cardiovascular efficiency Enhanced focus in an

emergency

Costs of Distress Individual Organizational

Psychological disorders Medical illnesses Behavioral problems

Participation problems Performance decrements Compensation awards

Individual Distress

Work-related psychological disordersWork-related psychological disorders(depression, burnout, (depression, burnout,

psychosomatic disorders)psychosomatic disorders)

Medical illness

(heart disease, strokes,

headaches, backaches)

Behavioral problems

Behavioral problems(substance abuse,

(substance abuse,violence, accidents)

violence, accidents)

Organizational Distress

Participative Problems – a cost associated with absenteeism, tardiness, strikes and work stoppages, and turnover

Performance Decrement – a cost resulting from poor quality or low quantity of production, grievances, and unscheduled machine downtime and repair

Positive Stress

• Stress response itself is neutral• Some stressful activities (aerobic

exercise, etc.) can enhance a person’s ability to manage stressful demands or situations

• Stress can provide a needed energy boost

Negative Stress

Negative stress results from– a prolonged activation of the stress

response– mismanagement of the energy induced

by the response– unique personal vulnerabilities

Individual differencesDealing with Stress

Achilles’ heel phenomenon – –

a person breaks down at his or her weakest

point

Backaches

HeadachesHeart Disease

Depression

Are There Gender-Related Stressors?

Sexual harassment

Early age fatal health problems

Long term disabling health problems

Violence

Type A Behavior Patterns

Type A Behavior Patterns – a complex of personality and behavior characteristics– sense of time urgency

“hurry sickness”– quest for numbers (of

achievements)– status insecurity– aggression & hostility expressed

in response to frustration & conflict

Personality HardinessPersonality Hardiness – a personality resistant

to distress and characterized by – challenge (versus threat)– commitment (versus alienation)– control (versus powerlessness)

Transformational Coping – a way of managing stressful events by changing them into subjectively less stressful events (versus regressive coping – passive avoidance of events by decreasing interaction with the environment)

Self-RelianceSelf-Reliance – a healthy, secure,

interdependent pattern of behavior related to how people form and maintain supportive attachments with others (social relation ship)

Counterdependence – an unhealthy, insecure pattern of behavior that leads to separation in relationships with other people

Become rigid, denial of need of peopleOverdependence – an unhealthy, insecure

pattern of behavior that leads to preoccupied attempts to achieve security through relationships., cling to other people.

Preventative Stress Management – an organizational philosophy that holds that people & organizations should take joint responsibility for promoting health and preventing distress and strain

Preventative Stress Management

Primary Prevention – designed to reduce, modify, or eliminate the demand or stressor causing stress

Secondary Prevention – designed to alter or modify the individual’s or the organization’s response to a demand or stressor

Tertiary Prevention – designed to heal individual or organizational symptoms of distress and strain (healing , therapy)

Preventative Stress Management

Organizational Stress Prevention

• Focuses on people’s work demands• Focuses on ways to reduce distress

at work• Most organizational prevention is

primary– job redesign– goal setting– role negotiation– social support systems

Individual Preventive Stress Management

Primary Prevention Learned optimism: Alters the person’s internal self-talk and

reduces depression Time management: Improves planning and prioritizes activities Leisure time activities: Balance work and non-work activities

Secondary Prevention Physical exercise: Improves cardiovascular function and muscular

flexibility Relaxation training: Lowers all indicators of the stress response Diet: Lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and

improves overall physical health

Tertiary Prevention Opening up: Releases internalized traumas and emotional

tensions Professional help: Provides information, emotional support, and

therapeutic guidance

What Can Managers Do?

• Learn how to create healthy stress without distress

• Help employees adjust to new technologies

• Be sensitive to early signs of distress• Be aware of gender, personality, and

behavioral differences• Use principles and methods of preventive

stress management