Workplace Stress: Understanding Stressors and Consequences

1. Chapter 10 Stress & Worker Well-Being C. Borland/PhotoLink/Getty Images

2. Module 10.1: The Problem of Stress • Studying workplace stress Work stressors • Task & role stressors Moderators of the stress process • Individual differences & social support Consequences of stress • Burnout & heart disease

3. Studying Workplace Stress (cont’d) • Selye – “Father of Stress” • Defined stress as “the non-specific response of the human body to any demand made on it” • Eustress vs. distress • General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) • Alarm reaction Resistance Exhaustion • Response to chronic stress

4. Studying Workplace Stress (cont’d) • Recent studies • In addition to physiological reaction to stress, there is also a cognitive appraisal of situation & of resources available to handle stressors • Problem-focused coping • Managing or altering the problem causing the stress • Emotion-focused coping • Reducing the emotional response to the problem

5. Framework for Study of Stress (Kahn & Byosiere, 1992) Figure 10.1

6. What is a Stressor? • Stressors • Physical or psychological demands to which an individual responds • Strains • Reaction or response to stressors Situational constraints Heat, cold, noise Role stressors Interpersonal conflict Emotional labor Work schedule Workload Perceived control Work pace, time pressure

7. Common Stressors at Work • Physical/Task stressors • Effect of multiple stressors can be cumulative • e.g., Noise, demands of a given job Royalty-Free/CORBIS

8. Psychological Stressors • Lack of control/predictability • Individual’s perception of control or predictability determines his/her response to the situation • Interpersonal conflict • Negative interactions w/co-workers, supervisors, clients • Can occur when resources are scarce, employees have incompatible interests, or employees feel they are not being treated fairly

9. Psychological Stressors (cont’d) • Role stressors: Result from multiple task requirements or roles of employees • Role ambiguity • Employees lack clear knowledge of expected behavior • Role conflict • Demands from different sources are incompatible • Role overload • An employee is expected to fill to many roles at once

10. Psychological Stressors (cont’d) • Work-family conflict • When workers experience conflict between roles they fulfill at work & roles they fulfill in their personal lives • Flexible time schedules & child care becoming increasingly important

11. Psychological Stressors (cont’d) • Emotional labor: Regulation of one’s emotions to meet job or organizational demands • Surface acting • Consists of managing or faking one’s expressions or emotions • Deep acting • Consists of managing one’s feelings, including emotions required by the job

12. Behavioral Consequences of Stress • Information processing • Chronic stress has negative effects on memory, reaction time, accuracy, & task performance • Performance • Hypothesis: Performance & stress have an inverted U relationship • As arousal increases, performance increases, but only up to a certain point, & then performance begins to decline

13. Stress & Performance:Inverted U Relationship Figure 10.2

14. Psychological Consequences of Stress • Burnout • Extreme state of psychological strain resulting from prolonged response to chronic job stressors that exceed an individual’s resources to cope with them • 3 components • Emotional exhaustion • Depersonalization • Low personal accomplishment

15. Physiological Consequences of Stress • Stressful situations cause overactivation of sympathetic nervous system (SNS), producing several kinds of stress hormones • Initially, these changes can improve decision making & physical performance • Chronic activation of SNS leads to “wear & tear” on coronary arteries & heart

16. Module 10.2: Theories of Stress • Demand-Control Model • 2 factors prominent in producing job stress • Job demands • Workload or intellectual requirements • Control (decision latitude) • Autonomy & discretion for using different skills

17. Demand-Control Model (cont’d) Figure 10.3 Demand-Control Model Source: Adapted from Karasek (1979).

18. Demand-Control Model (cont’d) • Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) • Role overload & role conflict (demands) • Skill utilization & job decision (control) • Depression, job dissatisfaction, & sleep problems (health consequences)

19. Person-Environment Fit Model • Hypothesis: Fit between person & environment determines amount of stress that person perceives • Considers external influences like social support from family & work sources • Person-job fit vs. person-organization fit

20. Individual Differences in Resistance to Stress • Moderators of stressor-strain relationship • Locus of control (LOC) • Belief of individuals that what happens to them is under their control • Hardiness • Set of personality characteristics that provide resistance to stress • Self-esteem • Positive self-worth that is considered to be an important resource for coping

21. Example of Moderator Figure 10.4

22. Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) • Moderator of stressor-strain relationship • Individuals displaying TABP characterized by ambitiousness, impatience, easily aroused hostility, & time urgency • Seem to thrive on “life in the fast lane”

23. Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) • Compared to Type Bs, Type As more punctual, work at faster rates, & higher achievers in college & in professional careers • Hostility is primary TABP subcomponent associated with increased risk of heart disease & other long-term, harmful health outcomes

24. TABP Subcomponents • Achievement strivings (AS) • Tendency to be active & work hard in achieving one’s goals • Positively correlated with academic performance, sales performance, & job satisfaction • Impatience/Irritability (II) • Intolerance, frustration that results from being slowed down • Associated with health problems like insomnia, headaches, poor digestion, & respiratory difficulties

25. TABP Subcomponent Time urgency • Refers to feeling of being pressured by inadequate time • Dimensions include eating behavior, nervous energy, list making, scheduling, speech patterns, & deadline control

26. Module 10.3:Reducing & Managing Stress • Primary prevention strategies • Concerned with modifying or eliminating stressors in work environment • Most proactive & preventative approaches to stress management • Examples: • Work & job design • Cognitive restructuring

27. Secondary Prevention Strategies • Involve modifying responses to inevitable demands or stressors • Role is often one of damage control • Strategies that require no special training include lifestyle choices such as physical fitness, healthy eating, & weight control • Can be proactive or reactive

28. Secondary Prevention Strategies • Stress management training • Useful for helping employees deal with workplace stressors that are difficult to change • Cognitive-behavioral skills training • Stress inoculation • Relaxation & biofeedback techniques • Progressive muscle relaxation & deep breathing • Social support: Instrumental, emotional, informational, & appraisal support Royalty-Free/CORBIS

29. Tertiary Prevention Strategies • Focused on healing negative effects of stressors • Employee assistance programs (EAPs) • Counseling provided by an organization to deal with workplace stress, alcohol/drug difficulties, & problems stemming from outside the job

30. Summary of Stress Intervention Strategies • Combining various stress management interventions is more effective than using any single approach • Successful stress management interventions must accurately identify stressors causing strain & actively determine ways to reduce those stressors • Primary stress intervention strategies generally preferred over other interventions

31. Future Work Trends & Challenges to Stress & Stress Management • Workforce is becoming more culturally & ethnically diverse • Important for I-O psychologists to determine whether factors that predict health problems in White males are same as in other populations • Influences in the new millennium predicted to be stressful • Technological change, global competition, downsizing, elder & child care, & increased teamwork

32. Module 10.4: Violence at Work Violent actions carried out by a non-employee against an employee Vs. Violence perpetrated by employees & directed toward fellow employees • Many hypotheses for why workplace has become more violent since the early 1990s

33. 3 Levels of Violence • Level 1 • Spreads rumors & gossip to harm others, consistently argues with co-workers • Level 2 • Refuses to obey company policies & procedures, verbalizes wishes to hurt co-workers or management • Level 3 • Recurrent physical fights, destruction of property

34. Experiential Sequence of Violence Perpetrators Figure 10.12 Routine Experiential Sequence of Violence Perpetrators Source: Based on Kinney (1995).

35. “Typical” Violent Worker • Most cases of workplace violence involve some feeling of being treated unfairly, & perpetrator has some real or imaginary grievance against organization or a person in the organization • Characteristics of a violent worker • May include: Abuses alcohol, has a history of violence, has difficult accepting authority, is a white male 25-30 years of age

36. Theories of Workplace Violence • Frustration-aggression hypothesis • Argues that frustration leads to aggression • Ultimately found to be too broad • Not all frustrated individuals act aggressively & not all aggressive acts are a result of frustration • Modern view: Frustration leads to stress reaction & individual expends energy to relieve this stress • High self-esteem is associated with violence

37. Employee Behavior as a Result of Frustration & Employee Control Figure 10.13 Constructive and Destructive Employee Behavior as a Result of Frustration and Employee Control Source: Spector (2000).

38. Theories of Workplace Violence (cont’d) • “Justice” hypothesis • Proposes that some violent acts can be understood as reactions by an employee against perceived injustice • Relevance to the 3 types of justice • Layoffs & firings • Performance appraisals

39. Special Type of Violence: Bullying • Bullying - Harassing, offending, socially excluding, or assigning humiliating tasks to subordinate repeatedly & over long period of time • 4 steps in escalation • A critical incident • Bullying & stigmatizing • Organizational intervention • Expulsion of the victim Royalty-Free/CORBIS

40. Conclusions About Workplace Violence • Employees need avenues for communicating concerns about the fairness of organizational decisions that affect them • Managers need to be sensitive to signs of potential trouble in form of individual worker behaviors