Unit-1 Introduction to Stress

Definition of Stress and Stressor

Stress is an internal state which can be caused by physical demands on the body (e.g., illness,
extreme temperature, exercise etc) or by environmental and social situations, which are evaluated
as potentially harmful, uncontrollable or exceeding our resources for coping. Stress is any kind of
pressure that affects a person in his daily life: This effect may be healthy or unhealthy depending on
his reactions to the stress factors.

The physical, environmental and social causes of stress are called stressors. Once encountered by
stressor, it may lead to number of physical and bodily responses. On the other hand it can
precipitate psychological responses like anxiety, hopelessness, depression, fatigue, irritability etc.
Any change in the environment demands some coping but when this change or the demand exceeds
certain point it becomes 'distress' for an individual.

Origin of Stress
1) The origin of stress can be any stressor (presence or absence of a factor), e.g., high temperature
can be a source of stress (presence of a factor) and absence of comfortable sitting arrangement in
office (absence of a factor) can also be a factor.

2) Life events: certain life events in our life can have a stressful impact on us. Losses of dear ones,
financial loss, strained relations, etc., are few examples of the same. Our reaction to them and our
handling of these situations decide how stressful we become.

3) Personality: The response to stress depends upon various dimensions in the individual's
personality like emotional make up, aggression, adjustment ability, practical approach, expectations
from life, past experiences, beliefs, vulnerabilities, resources, values, emotional stability and so on.
Type 'A' personality characterized by hostility, haste, and aggression is more prone to stress.

Types of Stressors
There are all kind of factors that can cause stress. They range from physical illness to financial
problems, to change of work, to strain relations, to loss of dear one, to social situations. All these
stressors can be listed here:

1) Emotional Stressors- Emotional stressor includes the fear and anxieties with which we
struggle: what will happen in future?, What if I loose my job?, What about my child's
future?, What If I fall ill?. Excessive aggression, hostility, sadness, hopelessness, irritability
and mood fluctuations are few examples of emotional stressors.
2) Family Stressor- Changing relationship in family structure can be a source of stress. Strained
relationship with blood related, children, parents and officers can be stressful. Having a new-
born, an adolescent, aging parent or grandparents may lead to stress for some.
3) Social Stressors- Interaction with others in society can involve social stress for some. Dealing
with neighbours, friends, relatives can cause stress to few. Any drastic change in the position
of an individual in society can lead to social stress.
 4) Change Stress- For some, any change in their well-defined schedule can be a stress. For
others, leading a monotonous life with no change-can involve stress. Usually change
demands readjustment. Many of us are not very comfortable making readjustment and can
experience stress.
5) Chemical Stressor- These may include alcohol, drugs, caffeine and nicotine. We may ingest
excessively large quantity of alcohol or smoke, which can cause physiological changes
leading to stress.
6) Work Stressor- Work stressor includes work place, occupation, work pressure, job
responsibility leading to work related stress. Jobs which have greater job responsibilities,
deadlines to complete jobs, excessive supervision, output linked rewarded, odd working
hours are more likely to lead to work stress.
7) Decision Stressors- Taking decisions can also become a stressful act for some. Rational
decisions depend on our ability to predict the consequences of our actions. Decision about
vocation is one of the most difficult decisions. This can become stressor for parents and their
children. Decision stress on the job is also increasing. Many job carry too much responsibility
with only little authority. As a result of this, individuals experience role ambiguity and
conflicting job demands.
8) Commuting Stressor- Many people spend lots of their energy, time and money in
commuting long distances to work. They may drive rash to reach on time and drive in rush
hours and ultimately suffer physical exhaustion. For them commuting, itself, becomes more
tiring than job and may suffer with commuting stress.
9) Phobia stressor- Irrational and excessive fear of any thing is called phobia. Many people
have exaggerated fears of certain animals, places, objects or situations and this can be a
great source of stress for them.
10) Physical Stressor- Physical stressors are demands that change the state of our bodies.
Physical stressor can be the strain we feel when we physically over extend ourselves, fail to
get enough sleep, lack of diet or suffer an injury. Pregnancy is another example of physical
stress.
11) Disease Stressor- Both long term and short-term disease can cause disease related stress.
Chronic diseases like headaches, arthritis, asthma, allergies, ulcers, hypertension, diabetes,
and dermatitis etc. cause disease stress making an individual irritable and vulnerable to
emotional outburst.
12) Pain Stressor- Aches and pains of new and old injuries, accidents or diseases are pain
stressors. Chronic pains result in decrease of both physical and social activities leading to
sola at ion and inactivity.
13) Environmental Stressor- Physical conditions of environment can sometimes be very
stressful. A noisy environment, dim light, suffocated room, old and dirty furniture,
uncomfortable sitting etc. are all environmental stressors.

Stress Cycle
Long term exposure to stressors lead to permanent behaviour, physical and cognitive changes. These
changes hinder adaptation to the environment and create distress. These changes themselves
become a source of stress and tend to perpetuate a cycle of distress. On the other hand, people who
develop ways to cope with stressors are able to respond adaptively. They are able to handle stress
and protect themselves of ill effects of stress. This is called wellness cycle.

Stages of Stress
Dr. Hans Selye (1956, 1976) is referred to as father of stress research. He termed the body response
to stressor as 'general adaptation syndrome'. The 'general adaptation syndrome' has three stages:

I) The Alarm Reaction- During the alarm reaction the stressor activates the body to
prepare for fight or flight. Both electrical and hormonal signals are involved in mobilizing
the energy needed for an emergency. Heart rate, breathing and perspiration increase.
Pupils are dilated. Adrenalin and cortisol are released in blood stream. Stored energy
floods to bloodstream.
II) The Stage of Resistance- On prolonged exposure to stressor, body responds by resisting
the effects of continuous stressor. This is called the stage of resistance. The body
responds by release of certain hormones, which help in coping the stressor. In nutshell
in the stage of resistance the body apparently puts a brave front but internally it
becomes weak and prone to illness due to excessive and prolonged exposure to stress.
III) The Stage of Exhaustion- This is the final stage of general adaptation syndrome, where
the continuous exposure to stressor has nearly depleted the organism's adaptive energy.
In this stage the body's capacity to respond to both continuous and new stressor gets
seriously affected. Resistance is decreased and illness or death may follow.
 Unit-2 Coping with Stress

Definition and Nature of Coping

Coping in simple terms can be described as ways in which an individual tries to deal with stress
experienced by him/ her. And in this context, the individual may be able to deal effectively with
stress if he/ she adopts effective coping skills and he/ she may not be able to deal effectively with
stress if the coping skills adopted by him/ her are ineffective. Coping refers to the individual’s
response to a psychological stressor which is often related to a negative event. Coping can also be
described as deliberate efforts that are directed towards decreasing the negative effects that could
be psychological, physical or even social, of the stressful situation.

Goals of Coping
 To enhance the possibility of recovery by decreasing the negative environmental conditions.
 To be able to adjust to the negative situation.
 To maintain a self-image that is positive and maintain emotional balance.
 To ensure positive interpersonal relationship.

Coping Styles
As the nature of coping is now clear let us focus on the coping styles and strategies. Coping styles
can be categoried as proactive coping, avoidant coping, emotion focused coping and problem
focused coping. Proactive coping and avoidant coping are based on the method of coping and the
emotion focused coping and problem focused coping are based on the focus of the coping. Let us
discuss each of these styles in detail:

 Proactive coping
In proactive coping the individual will directly confront the stressful situation or event. An
individual adopting this type of coping will take direct action by developing a better idea
about the stress creating situation. There are various stages of proactive coping:

Stage 1 Accumulation of resources: In order to be able to deal with the stressful situation,
the individual will make attempts to accumulate resources, this could also be in terms of
gathering information so as to understand the stressful situation in better manner.

Stage 2 Identifying or anticipating the potential stressor: A potential stressor is anticipated

or identified by the individual. For instance, if it is expected that one’s superior may ask for a
certain report, the employee will anticipate the stressor and start working on the report
beforehand.

Stage 3 Initial appraisal: Initial appraisal of the stress creating situation is carried out.

Stage 4 Preliminary efforts to cope with the stressful situation: Based on the initial
appraisal, preliminary efforts to cope with the stressful situation are carried out. In case
 these efforts do not show any positive results then, some other action is taken in order to
deal with the situation.

Stage 5 Seeking feedback and using the same: Based on the stages three and four, feedback
is sought and used so that modifications and changes can be carried out.

 Avoidant coping
As the name suggests, the individual will try to avoid the stress creating situation or may give
less importance to the stressful event. Thus, the behaviour that is displayed by the individual
is directed towards avoiding certain thoughts or feelings that could arise due to the stressful
situation. Avoidance coping can result in individuals experiencing not only stress and anxiety
but it can have an impact on self-confidence of the individual as well. In avoidant coping
certain behaviours that may stir up negative memories are avoided. Situations that may stir
up negative feelings are also avoided. Individuals who use avoidant coping may not continue
pursuing their goal if they experience thoughts that create anxiety.
 Unit-3 Stress Management
Stress is a state of discomfort experienced by an individual. Loss of emotional stability is the general
expression of stress. Prolonged stress leads to burnout. It is a state of mind. It results from a
continuous feeling of emotional stress. An individual feels physical, mental and emotional
exhaustion.

Features of Stress
• Stress is both psychological and physical aspect.

• It is common to both the genders.

• It results from the deviation of expectations from actual situation.

• It is symptomatic. Potential stress appears with the symptoms. If the potential stress is ignored it
leads to actual stress.

• Stress is treated to be negative. Nevertheless, it has positive consequences. This is called as

eustress.

• Stress is an interactive concept. It does not spring from the internal organs of the individual. It
comes from the interaction of the human being with the environment. Thus, environment has a
profound influence on the stress.

• Stress is generic term. If it is applied to the context of organisation, it is known as work stress or
job stress.

• Stress occurs only when the human being feels mediation of the internal or external factors.

• Stress is related to the attitude of the person. Stress does not occur when the person is having an
indifferent attitude to the opportunity.

• Stress is associated with certain common biological disorders such as heart attack, stroke, diabetic,
blood pressure, neurological disorders etc.

Causes of Stress
Individual Factors:

1) Personality: Individual basic dispositions are the main reason for potential stress.
Introversion, extroversion, masculinity, rigidity, locus of control, personal life, demographic
differences such as age, health, education and occupation are some of the reasons causing
stress in individuals. It is found that type A personality is prone to more stress than type B
personality. Type A personality is characterised by emotion and sensitivity to organisation
goals, competitive spirit and achievement oriented behaviour. This leads to frustration even
for small deviations from the expectations, thus feeling of more stress. Type B personality is
typically relaxed, carefree, patient and less serious in achieving objectives. Thus, he never
feels stress. Some propositions of personality and individual stress are:
 • Age is positively related to stress. When a person grows older, his expectations also go up.
If he is unable to find avenues for realising expectations, he feels stress.
• Sound health enables a person to cope up stress better than unsound health.
• Education and health are related positively and negatively. Better education provides an
opportunity to understand things in a better manner. Even the level of maturity increases
with better education. So better educated persons are less prone to stress.
• The nature of the occupation and stress are related. Certain occupations are inherently
stressful than the other occupations. For instance, doctors, lawyers, politicians etc.
• Strong urge for satisfaction of needs compel people to over work and may lead to stress.
• Greater degree of locus of control leads to stress. A person is less likely to feel stress as he
believes that he can exercise control over external factors.
• Self-efficacy and stress are negatively related. Higher degree of self-efficacy elevates
motivation levels. Therefore people with greater self-efficacy remain calm and effectively
face stressful situation.
• Another personal disposition related to stress is psychological hardiness. Hardiness is the
ability to withstand provocation from others. People with greater psychological hardiness
are able to survive and withstand stressful environment. For instance, people who remain
calm even at the provocation of others and ignore the esteem are less likely to feel stress.

2) Individual differences:
Individual differences in perception, job experiences, social support, hostility etc., are some
of the reasons that cause stress.
• Perception helps in understanding the environment. Person possessing a positive
perception understands reality and appraises the events objectively. Thus, he feels less
stress.
• Job experience and stress are negatively related. As one gains experience he develops
adaptability to various job and organisational demands. He realises the job expectations. He
develops a mechanism to deal with stress situations. Therefore more experienced people
remains cool, calm, and ignore stressors than young and inexperienced employees.
• Hostility and aggressive behaviour is positively related to stress. A person who becomes
aggressive and gets quick anger is cynical and does not trust others. He feels more stress
than others who are cool and calm.

3) Family Problems: Family issues influence the personal life of individuals. Sound marital
relationships, marital discipline, early and healthy children may lead to happy personal life.
They enjoy the life and become positive in their attitudes. So they do not tend to greater
stress. On the other hand, poor marital relationships, nagging wife, family separations, extra
marital relationships, disturbing children, poor settlement of family members, aging parents,
dual working couple, death of spouse or other close family member are some of the reasons
for greater stress in the individuals.

4) Economic Problems: Economic difficulties are the main cause of stress. Poor management of
personal finances, heavy family expenditure, and constant demand for money, poor
incoming earning capacity and slow financial growth in the job are some of the economic
reasons responsible for greater stress. For instance, an increasing family expenditure,
 increased expenditure on children education and health create heavy demand for income.
This creates greater stress in the individuals.

5) Life Styles: Life Styles of individuals can cause stress. The following situations of life style
cause stress:
• Sedentary life styles cause greater stress.
• Individuals experiencing certain unique situations may be compelled to alter their attitude,
emotions and behaviour. These are known as life trauma. Life trauma is potential reason for
stress.
• Faster career changes bring more responsibilities to the individuals. Persons occupying
higher positions in the younger age are likely to get heart attacks due to greater stress. This
is because of inability to adapt to the new carrier responsibilities.

6) Role Demands: Individuals play multiple roles in their personal life and organisations. In
their personal life, they play the roles of family head, husband, father, brother and son. In
social life they play the roles of club members, informal community group members,
members of recreation groups, religious groups and a number of other social groups.
Similarly in organisations, employees play the role of superior, subordinate, co-worker,
union leader, informal group leaders etc. Incidentally, all these roles are performed
simultaneously. Thus, they cause anxiety and emotion. Another potential reason is role
conflict. It arises because of poor role perception, role ambiguity, role overload and role
overlapping. Role ambiguity and stress are positively related. The greater the role conflict,
individual experiences more stress.

Organizational Factors:

i) Working Conditions: Working conditions and stress are inversely related. Employees
working with poor working conditions are subject to greater stress. The factors that lead
to more stress are crowded work areas, dust, heat, noise, polluted air, strong odour due
to toxic chemicals, radiation, poor ventilation, unsafe and dangerous conditions, lack of
privacy etc.
ii) Organisational Tasks: Organisational tasks are designed to meet the objectives and
goals. Poorly designed tasks lead to greater stress. Task autonomy, task inter-
dependency, task demands, task overload are some of the potential reasons for stress in
organisations. For instance greater the task interdependence, greater is the coordination
required. This requires employees to adjust themselves to co-workers, superiors, and
subordinates, irrespective of their willingness. They are expected to communicate,
coordinate, exchange views, with other people irrespective of caste, creed, gender,
religion and political differences. Lack of adjustment and poor tolerance to others lead
to greater degree of stress.
iii) Administrative Policies and Strategies: Employee’s stress is related to certain
administrative strategies followed by the organisations. Down sizing, competing
pressure, unfair pay structures, rigidity in rules, job rotation and ambiguous policies are
some of the reasons for stress in organisations.
 iv) Organisational Structure and Design: As pointed out earlier organisational structure is
designed to facilitate individual’s interaction in the realisation of organisational goals.
Certain aspects of design like specialisation, centralisation, line and staff relationships,
span of control, and organisational communication can severely create stress in
organisations. For example, wider span of management compels the executive to
manage large number of subordinates. This may create greater stress. Similarly,
frequent line and staff conflict lead to obstacles in the work performance. Inability to
resolve the conflicts lead to stress.
v) Organisation Process and Styles: A number of organisational processes are designed for
meeting organisational goals. Communication process, control process, decision making
process, promotion process, performance appraisal process, etc. are designed for
realising organisational objectives. These processes limit the scope of functioning of
employees. Improper design of various organisational processes leads to strained
relationships among the employees. They may also cause de-motivation and job
dissatisfaction. Consequently, employee feels stress in adapting to the processes.
vi) Organisational Leaderships: Top management is responsible for creation of a sound
organisation climate and culture by appropriate managerial style. The climate provided
should be free of tensions, fear, and anxiety. Authoritarian leadership style creates a
directive environment in which employees are pressurised to attain targets. They work
under impersonal relationships and tight controls. This creates greater work stress to
employees. On the other hand, a climate of warm and friendliness, scope for
participation in decision making, non financial motivation and flexibility are encouraged
under democratic leadership style. This relieves stress in the employees. Therefore,
employees working under authoritarian leadership styles experience stress than
employees working under democratic leadership style.
vii) Organisational Life Cycle: Every organisation moves through four phases of
organisational life cycle. They are birth, growth, maturity and decline. In each of these
stages the structure and the design of organisation undergoes frequent changes. In
addition, human beings are subject to metamorphosis to adapt to the stages in the life
cycle. In this process, employees are subject to job stress. For instance in the initial
stages of organisational birth, stress is caused because of ambiguous policies and
designs. In the growth stage, employees experience stress due to failure to meet
conflicting demands. At the time of decline, stress is caused due to down sizing,
retrenchment and loss of financial rewards and changing organisational systems.
viii) Group Dynamics: Groups are omni present in organisations. Groups arise out of
inherent desire of human beings and spontaneous reactions of people. In organisations
both formal groups and informal groups exist. A formal group exist in the form of
committees, informal group exit among different levels of organisation. Groups have a
number of functional and dysfunctional consequences. They provide social support and
satisfaction, which is helpful in relieving stress. At the same time, they become the
source of stress also. Lack of cohesiveness, lack of social support, lack of recognition by
the group and incompatible goals cause stress.

Environmental Factors:
 i) The political party in power as per their ideology enacts legislation in the Parliament. As
the new laws and regulations are enacted by the new political party, the political
changes bring uncertainty in the environment. This compels employees to adapt to the
new legal order. This creates stress.
ii) Economic environment deals with income levels, demand and supply, inflation etc.
Changes in these factors may require more work or better strategy to cope up with the
environment. This creates stress when the employees are unable to adjust to the new
situations. For instance, increase in inflation levels creates pressures on the employee
income levels leading to stress.
iii) Technological changes bring new methods of production and new ways of handling the
organisational tasks. Employees are required to learn new skills in order to discharge
their jobs effectively. Unable to cope up with the new technology creates stress in the
employees. For example, bank employees felt stress when the bank management
decided to introduce computers.
iv) Legal environment consists of complex web of laws and regulation intended to control
the business operations. Organisations are required to follow the legal provisions
otherwise they are subject to prosecution. Practical difficulties arise in the
implementation of the legislative framework. Employees who are unable to respond
properly to the laws and regulations find themselves in stressful situation.
v) The government is enacting legislation to protect the ecological environment in the
country. Organisations are compelled to adapt to the legislative framework protecting
the ecological environment. Protecting the ecological balance becomes a cause for
potential stress.
vi) Government Administration is composed of the administrative machinery and
institutions that enforce the laws, regulations, policies and other government
instructions. The bureaucratic practices of the administrative machinery can create
stress in the executives.
vii) Social, cultural and ethical environment can bring stress in the individuals. Social factors
influence the life styles of employees. Certain social security measures such as health
protection, civic facilities and social groups reduce stress in the employees. Certain
sociological variables such as race, sex, social class, gender etc., and cultural factors such
as beliefs, customs and traditions cause potential stress.

Consequences of Stress
i) Physiological Consequences: Stress influences the biological system of the human being.
Certain visible forms of stress are increased blood pressure, proneness to heart disease,
cancer, sweating, dry mouth, hot and cold flashes, frustration, anxiety, depression,
increased level of cholesterol, ulcer, arthritis etc. Physical stress increases the body
metabolic rate. This results into malfunctioning of internal gland and consequently the
body disorder. This is felt in the form of increasing heart beating, increase in breathing
rate and headache. This creates biological illness. The physical stress also creates
psychological problems. In fact, physical stress and physiological disorders are
interrelated. However, physical disorders and stress always need not associate
 positively. This is because of complexity of symptoms of physical stress and lack of
objective measurement of impact of stress on bodily disorders.
ii) Psychological Consequences: Psychological consequences are interrelated to biological
consequences. They are invisible, but affect the employees’ job performance.
Psychological stress creates a pressure on human brain. This is expressed in terms of
certain psychological symptoms such as anger, anxiety, depression, nervousness,
irritation, tension, boredom, aggressiveness, moodiness, hostility and poor
concentration. Tensions, anxiety, and emotions lead to procrastination. Psychological
stress produces interpersonal aggressions, misunderstanding in communication, poor
interpersonal communication and low interpersonal attraction. This is demonstrated
through aggressive actions like sabotage, increased interpersonal complaints, poor job
performance, lowered self-esteem, increased resentment, low concentration on the job
and increased dissatisfaction. Psychological stress produces harshness in the behaviour
and may lead to assumption of authoritarian leadership style by the superior executive.
iii) Behavioural Consequences: Stress has an impact on employee’s behaviour. An
abnormal behaviour is observed in those individuals who are prone to stress. A change
in eating habits, sleep disorder, increased smoking, alcoholism, fidgeting and aloofness
are some of the behavioural changes observed in stressful employees. Sometimes stress
leads to anxiety, apathy, depression and emotional disorder. This leads to impulsive and
aggressive behaviour and frequent interpersonal conflicts. Under eating, overeating,
drug abuse and sleeplessness are some of the behavioural consequences.

The following are some propositions relating to stress and behaviour:

1. Perception: Stressful individuals develop tension and anxiety. As a result, their level
of understanding considerably decreases. When perceptual distortions occur in the
employees, it may adversely affect decision making process, interpersonal
understanding, interpersonal communication and capacity to work with groups.
They become stress intolerable. All these lead to increased levels of interpersonal
conflicts.
2. Attitudes: Continued stressful environment creates certain permanent negative
impressions in the mind of the employees. These permanent impressions adversely
influence their work performance. For example, an employee developing a negative
attitude on work, superior, working conditions, organisational climate and culture
intentionally decreases his output. He also becomes demoralised and the motivation
level decreases.
3. Learning : Employees in organisations continuously learn new skills and techniques.
Learning new methods and techniques to adapt themselves and discharge their jobs
effectively is inevitable to employees. Stressful employees can not learn the things
quickly.

iv) Organisational Consequences: Stress has negative impact on the performance of the
job. Organisations face the problems of poor performance and other negative
consequences. Some of them are described below:
1. Absenteeism: Employees subject to stress were found to addict to drugs and
alcohol. Thus, they abstain from the jobs frequently. This creates discontinuity in the
jobs and adversely effect performance of other employees.
2. Turnover: Turnover and stress have shown some relationships. An employee
experiencing continued stress develops disgust and frustration. Therefore, they are
likely to change their jobs.
3. Decision-Making: Excessive stress distorts perception of managers. This adversely
effects their capacity to take decision. Thus, stressful executives become irrational in
the decision making. This leads to loss of organisational resources and reputation.
4. Disturbed Customer Relationships: Employees experiencing excessive stress
develop irritation, looses emotional stability and emotional tolerance. Intolerance
impels them to pick up conflicts easily due to misunderstandings. Employees dealing
with the customers and the public disturb relationship due to their inpatient
behaviour. For instance sales persons, bank employees, public relation executives
are required to be more emotionally stable. Otherwise, customers dealing with
them will have trouble in dealing with the company. This also creates poor
impression on the corporate image of the organisation.