Stress Managem

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Stress Managem

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Chapter 7Chapter 7

Organizational Behavior: ManagingPeople and Organizations,Ninth EditionGregory Moorhead, Ricky W. Griffin

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Chapter Learning Objectives

Define and describe the nature of stress.

Identify basic individual differences related to stress.

Identify and describe common causes of stress.

Discuss the central consequences of stress.

Describe various ways that stress can be managed.

Discuss work-life linkages and their relation to stress.

After studying this chapter you should be able to:

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The Nature of Stress

Stress Defined– A person’s adaptive response to a stimulus that places

excessive psychological or physical demands on that person

The Stress Process (Hans Selye)– General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Identifies three stages of response to a stressor: alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Sources of stress– Eustress: pleasurable stress accompanying positive events– Distress: unpleasant stress accompanying negative events

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Individual Differences and Stress

Type A Personality Profile– Extremely competitive, highly committed to work, have a strong

sense of time urgency Type B Personality Profile

– Less competitive, less committed to work, have a weaker sense of time urgency

Hardiness– A person’s ability to cope with stress

Optimism– The extent to which a person sees life in relatively positive or

negative terms

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Causes and Consequences of Stress

Most Common Causes of Stress– Organizational stressors

– Life stressors

Most Common Consequences of Stress– Individual consequences

– Organizational consequences

– Burnout – general feeling of exhaustion that develops when a person simultaneously experiences too much pressure and has too few sources of satisfaction

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Figure 7.2Causes and Consequences of Stress

Reference: Adapted from James C. Quick and Jonathan D. Quick, Organizational Stress and Preventive Management (McGraw-Hill, 1984) pp. 19, 44, and 76.

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Organizational Stressors

Workplace Stress Factors– Task Demands

Associated with the specific job a person performs

– Physical Demands Associated with the job’s physical setting and requirements

– Role Demands Associated with the expected behaviors of a particular

position in a group or organization

– Interpersonal Demands Group pressures, leadership, personality conflicts

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Organizational Stressors: Role Demands

Role– A set of expected behaviors associated with a

particular position in a group or organization.

Role Stress– Role ambiguity due to unclear roles– Role conflict due to:

Interrole conflict – conflict between roles Intrarole conflict – conflicting demands of the same role Intersender conflict – sends clear but contradictory

messages

– Role overload due to role expectations exceeding an individual’s capabilities

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Table 7.1 The Most Stressful Jobs

*Among the criteria used in the rankings: overtime, quotas, deadlines, competitiveness, physical demands, environmental conditions, hazards encountered, initiative required, stamina required, win-lose situations, and working in the public eye

Reference: "The Most Stressful Jobs," February 26, 1996. Republished with permission of Dow Jones, from WALL STREET JOURNAL, February 26, 1996; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

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External Causes of Stress Life Stressors

– Events that take place outside the organization Life change

– Any meaningful change in a person’s personal or work situation Life trauma

– Any upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his or her attitudes, emotions or behaviors

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Table 7.2 Life Changes and Life Change Units

The amount of life stress that a person has experiences in a given period of time, say one year, is measured by the total number of life change units (LCUs). These units result from the addition of the values (shown in the right hand column) associated with events that the person has experienced during the target time period.

Reprinted from JOURNAL OF PSYCHOSOMATIC RESEARCH, V11, Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe: "The Social Adjustment Rating Scale," Copyright © 1967, with permission from Elsevier.

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Consequences of Stress

Individual Consequences

– Behavioral

– Psychological

– Medical

Organizational Consequences

– Performance

– Withdrawal

– Attitudes

– Burnout

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Figure 7.4 Individual and Organizational Coping Strategies

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Managing Stress in the Workplace: Individual Coping Strategies

Exercise

Time Management

Role Management

Support Groups

Relaxation

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Managing Stress in the Workplace (cont’d)

Organizational Coping Strategies– Institutional Programs

Design of jobs and work schedules

Fostering a healthy work culture

Supervision

– Collateral Programs Organizational programs specifically created to help

employees deal with stress– Stress management, health promotion, employee fitness

programs, career development

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Work-Life Linkages Fundamental Work-Life Relationships

– Interrelationships between a person’s work life and personal life

Balancing Work-Life Linkages– Importance of long-term versus

short-term perspectives– Significance of evaluating tradeoffs between values