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Copyright 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Chapter
Copyri ght 2011 by the McGraw-H il l Companies, Inc. Al l r ights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin
5 Stress
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Learning Goals
What is stress, and how is it different than stressors
and strains?
What are the four main types of stressors?
How do individuals cope with stress? How does the Type A Behavior Pattern influence the
stress process?
How does stress affect job performance and
organizational commitment?
What steps can organizations take to manage
employee stress?
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Stress
Stressis defined as a psychological responseto demands that possess certain stakes and
that tax or exceed a persons capacity or
resources.The demands that cause people to experience
stress are called stressors.
The negative consequences that occur whendemands tax or exceed ones capacity or resources
are called strains.
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Jobs Rated from Least Stressful (1) to Most
Stressful (250)
Least Stressful JobsStress
LevelMost Stressful Jobs
Stress
Level
1. Musical Instrument
Repairer
18.77 245. Surgeon 99.46
8. Librarian 21.40 246. Taxi Driver 100.49
12. Janitor 22.44 248. Senior corporate exec 108.62
18. Barber 23.62 249. Firefighter 110.93
32. Pharmacist 25.87 250. U.S. President 176.55
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Discussion Questions
Should the most stressful jobs also be paid the
most? Why do you think this isnt the case?
How does the job you currently occupy rank
on the stress scale? What aspects of that job
are the most stressful?
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Why Are Some Employees More Stressed
than Others?
Transactional Theory of StressWhen people first encounter stressors, the process
ofprimary appraisalis triggered. It occurs aspeople evaluate the significance and the meaning
of the stressors they are confronting.First consider whether a demand causes them to feel
stressed, and if it does, they consider the implications ofthe stressor in terms of their personal goals and overallwell-being.
Job demands that tend not to be appraised asstressful are called benign job demands.
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Transactional Theory of Stress
Figure5-1
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Types of Stressors
Hindrance stressors stressful demands that are
perceived as hindering progress toward personal
accomplishments or goal attainment.
Tend to trigger negative emotions such as anger andanxiety.
Challenge stressors stressful demands that are
perceived as opportunities for learning, growth, and
achievement.Often trigger positive emotions such as pride and
enthusiasm.
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Work Hindrance Stressors
Role conflictrefers to conflicting expectationsthat other people may have of us.
Call center operator
Role ambiguityrefers to the lack ofinformation regarding what needs to be donein a role, as well as unpredictability regardingthe consequences of performance in that role.
Students, new employees
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Work Hindrance Stressors, Contd
Role overloadoccurs when the number of
demanding roles a person holds is so high that the
person simply cannot perform some or all of the
roles very effectively. Daily hasslesreflects the relatively minor day-to-day
demands that get in the way of accomplishing the
things that we really want to accomplish.
OB on Screen
The Devil Wears Prada
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Work Challenge Stressors
Time pressurerefers to a strong sense thatthe amount of time you have to do a task isjust not quite enough.
Work complexityrefers to the degree towhich the requirements of the work, interms of knowledge, skills, and abilities, taxor exceed the capabilities of the personwho is responsible for performing the work.
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Work Challenge Stressors, Contd
Work responsibilityrefers to the nature of the
obligations that a person has to others.
Generally speaking, the level of responsibility in a
job is higher when the number, scope, and
importance of the obligations in that job are
higher.
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Nonwork Hindrance Stressors
Workfamily conflictrefers to a special form of roleconflict in which the demands of a work role hinderthe fulfillment of the demands in a family role (orvice versa).
Negative life events
They hinder the ability to achieve life goals and areassociated with negative emotions.
Divorce, death of family member
Financial uncertaintyrefers to conditions that createuncertainties with regard to the loss of livelihood,savings, or the ability to pay expenses.
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Nonwork Challenge Stressors
Family time demandsreflect the time that aperson commits to participate in an array offamily activities and responsibilities.
Traveling, hosting parties Personal development
Participation in formal education programs, musiclessons
Positive life events
Marriage, pregnancy
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Stressful Life Events
Life Event Stress Score
Death of a spouse 100
Divorce 73Jail term 63
Marriage 50
Vacations 13
Minor violations of the law 11
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Discussion Questions
Do you think these types of events are
stressful to all people equally?
Why are events that are positive in nature
(e.g. marriage and vacations) also stressful?
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How Do People Cope with Stressors?
Copingrefers to the behaviors and thoughtsthat people use to manage both the stressfuldemands that they face and the emotions
associated with those stressful demands.Behavioral copinginvolves the set of physical
activities that are used to deal with a stressfulsituation.
Cognitive copingrefers to the thoughts that areinvolved in trying to deal with a stressful situation.
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How Do People Cope with Stressors?
Contd
Problem-focused copingrefers to behaviors and
cognitions intended to manage the stressful
situation itself.
Emotion-focused copingrefers to the various waysin which people manage their own emotional
reactions to stressful demands.
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Examples of Coping Strategies
Table5-3
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Coping Strategies
How do people choose a particular coping
strategy?
The set of beliefs that people have about how well
different coping strategies can address different
demands.
The degree to which people believe that a
particular strategy gives them some degree ofcontrol over the stressor or how they feel about it.
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The Experience of Strain
Physiological strains
Illness, high blood pressure, back pain, stomach aches
Psychological strains
Burnout is the emotional, mental, and physical exhaustionthat results from having to cope with stressful demands on
an ongoing basis.
Depression, anxiety, anger, hostility, irritability, inability to
think clearly, forgetfulness Behavioral strains
Grinding ones teeth at night, being overly critical and bossy,
excessive smoking, compulsive gum chewing
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Examples of Strain
Figure5-2
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Accounting for Individuals in the Stress
Process
Type A Behavior Pattern
Have a strong sense of time urgency and tend tobe impatient, hard-driving, competitive,
controlling, aggressive, and even hostile.May have a direct influence on the level of
stressors that a person confronts.
Influences the stress process itself.
Directly linked to coronary heart disease andother physiological, psychological, and behavioralstrains.
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Discussion Questions
Should companies go out of their way to hire
or avoid Type A personalities?
Would you prefer to be a part of a group
consisting solely of Type A or Type B
members? How might a mix help group
functioning?
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Accounting for Individuals in the Stress
Process, Contd
Social supportrefers to the help that people
receive when they are confronted with
stressful demands.
Instrumental supportrefers to the help people
receive that can be used to address the stressful
demand directly.
Emotional supportrefers to the help peoplereceive in addressing the emotional distress that
accompanies stressful demands.
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Why Are Some
Employees
More
Stressed thanOthers?
Figure
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How Important is Stress?
Hindrance stressors have a moderately negative
relationship with job performance.
Hindrance stressors result in strains and negative emotions
that reduce the overall level of energy and attention thatpeople could otherwise bring to their job duties.
Hindrance stressors have a strong negative
relationship with organizational commitment.
Hindrance stressors evoke strains, which are generallydissatisfying to people, and satisfaction has a strong
impact on the degree to which people feel committed to
their organization.
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Effects of Strains on Performance and
Commitment
Figure5-4
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Application: Stress Management
Assessment
Stress audit - Managers ask questions about the nature of
the jobs in their organization to estimate whether high
stress levels may be a problem.
Reducing stressors
Organizations could try to eliminate or significantly reduce
stressful demands.
Job sharing occurs when two people share the responsibilities of asingle job.
Sabbatical gives employees the opportunity to take time off from
work to engage in an alternate activity.
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Stress Management, Contd
Providing resourcesTraining interventionsaimed at increasing job-related
competencies and skills.
Supportive practiceshelp employees manage and balance
the demands that exist in the different roles they have.Flextime, telecommuting, compressed work week
Reduce strainsRelaxation techniques
Cognitivebehavioral techniques
Attempt to help people appraise and cope with stressors in a morerational manner
Health and wellness programs
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Examples of Supportive Practices Used by
Organizations
Table5-4
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Takeaways, Contd
Because of the high costs associated withemployee stress, organizations assess andmanage stress using a number of different ofpractices. In general, these practices focus onreducing or eliminating stressors, providingresources that employees can use to cope withstressors, or trying to reduce the strains.