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Work Stress

This document discusses the nature and sources of stress, as well as its effects. It defines stress as being produced by physical or psychological demands that exceed a person's ability to cope. Sources of stress can come from work, such as excessive workload, role ambiguity, or poor relationships. Life stressors outside of work can also impact stress levels. Effects of stress can be psychological, emotional, or behavioral. Too much stress can negatively impact health and job performance. Personality also influences how people perceive and react to stressors. The document outlines various coping and stress management strategies.

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Deogratias Laurent
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54 views18 pages

Work Stress

This document discusses the nature and sources of stress, as well as its effects. It defines stress as being produced by physical or psychological demands that exceed a person's ability to cope. Sources of stress can come from work, such as excessive workload, role ambiguity, or poor relationships. Life stressors outside of work can also impact stress levels. Effects of stress can be psychological, emotional, or behavioral. Too much stress can negatively impact health and job performance. Personality also influences how people perceive and react to stressors. The document outlines various coping and stress management strategies.

Uploaded by

Deogratias Laurent
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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I. Nature of Stress.

A. Definitions.
 Stress-produced by special physical or
psychological demands on a person.
 Stressors-physical or psychological
demands that cause stress.
 Excessive of one's capacity to
respond.
B. "Fight-or-Flight" response .
 A natural response to an
environmental .stressor .
Figure 18.1 The Relationship between Stressors and Stress
I. Nature of Stress.
C. Factors determining whether an
individual experiences work stress.
 Perception.
 Past experience.
 Familiarity with the situation.
 Experience with the specific
stressors.
 Training for dealing with stress.
 Stress and performance.
 Optimum level required for best
performance.
I. Nature of Stress.
 Interpersonal relationships.
 May support, increasing capacity to
deal with stress.
 May alienate, reducing capacity to
deal with stress.
 Individual differences in responses
according to:
 Personalities;
 Needs;
 Values;
 Abilities.
Figure 18.2 Source of Stress
II. Sources of Stress.
A. Stress at work.
 Intrinsic to the job.
 Amount of work (too much or too little).
 Poor physical working conditions.
 Time pressures.
 Role in the organization.
 Role conflict (differing expectations or demands
placed on a person's role).
 Role overload (demand exceeds the capacity to
perform or meet all of them adequately).
 Role ambiguity (uncertainty about job duties and
responsibilities).
 Responsibility for the behavior of others.
 Lack of participation in decision making.
II. Sources of Stress.
A. Stress at work.
 Career development.
 Over promotion.
 Under promotion.
 Lack of job security.
 Thwarted ambition.
 Relations within the organization.
 Poor relations with the boss.
 Poor relations with colleagues and
subordinates.
 Difficulties in delegating responsibilities.
II. Sources of Stress.
A. Stress at work.
 Being part of the organization.
 Lack of effective consultation (opinions
do not seem to matter).
 Restrictions on behavior.
 Office politics.
 Shift work.
 Organizations interface with the outside
world.
 Company vs. family demands.
 Company vs. own interests.
II. Sources of Stress.
B. Life Stressors.
 Life stressors and stressors at work
are often related.
 Conflict between work and family life.
 Life stressors are felt by employees at
work
 High stress in one area reduces
capacity to cope with stress in other
areas.
III. Effects of Stress.
A. Effects in three areas.
 Psychological.
 Emotional.
 Behavioral.
B. Health and stress.
 Many illnesses are stress-related.
 Substantial costs to organizations.
C. Performance and stress.
 Too little stress--insufficiently alert, challenged, or
motivated.
 Too much stress--too agitated, aroused, or threatened.
 There is an optimum level for each task.
 Optimum amounts vary by individual.
18.3 Typical Relationship between Performance and Stress
III. Effects of Stress.

D. Job burnout.
 Occurs when stressors seem
unavoidable and relief unavailable.
 Individuals can no longer cope with
job demands.
 Results commonly in physical, mental,
and emotional exhaustion.
 Willingness to try to cope drops
dramatically.
 Most common among professionals
who must deal extensively with other
people.
III. Effects of Stress.
D. Job burnout.
 High probability associated with certain
characteristics:
 Burnout candidates experience a great deal
of stress as a result of job related
stressors.
 Burnout candidates tend to be idealistic
and/or self-motivating achievers.
 Burnout candidates tend to seek
unattainable goals.
 An interaction of individual characteristics
and job situation.
 Process typically requires substantial time.
 Major costs to the organization.
IV. Personality and Stress.
A. Influence of personality.
 Influences how people perceive
situations and stressors.
 Influences how people react to
environmental stressors.
B. Related personality dimensions or
traits.
 Self-esteem, tolerance for
ambiguity,
introversion/extroversion,
dogmatism.
 Traits affect the probability that a
situation will be a stressor.
IV. Personality and Stress.

C. The Type-A personality.


 Defined--involved in a struggle to achieve
more and more in less and less time.
 Characteristics.
 Chronic sense of time urgency.
 Competitiveness and hostility.
 An aversion to idleness.
 Trying to do too many things at once.
 Impatience to barriers to task accomplishment.
 Lack of planning.
 Some Type-A dimensions are associated with
health problems.
D. The Type-B personality.
 Generally, the opposite of Type-A.
Figure 18.4 Targets of Organizational Stress Management
Programs
V. Coping with Stress.

A. Purposes of stress management.


 To eliminate or control sources of stress.
 To make individuals more resistant to stress.
 To enable individuals to be better able to cope with stress.
 E.g., through therapy, exercise, planning, diet, sleep,
relaxation.
B. Managers should be able to recognize symptoms of stress
among employees.
 Changes in personality (patterns).
 Changes in work habits (patterns).
 Changes in behavior (patterns).
C. Programs of stress management.
 Those that promote role clarity and role analysis have
been found useful.
 Reductions in role ambiguity and role conflict
Review/Discussion Questions
 Why is stress an important issue for
individuals and organizations?
Brainstorm all related aspects of this
issue.
 Design a stress management
programme for managers and
engineers at TANESCO – Mwanza
City. Justify the various components
of your suggested programme

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