STRESS AND PERSONALITY TRAITS

SURENDAR.S*

ABSRACT

Stress is a condition arising from the interaction of people and their jobs and characterized by

changes within people that force them to deviate from their normal functioning. It is viewed in a

number of ways and is said to have a positive and pleasant side. This is called “eustress” which

helps to improve work efficiency. But when there is distress the effects are negative and impact

the individual. Stresses are caused by extraorganizational stressors, organizational stressors,

individual stressors and group stressors. Competition in the global economy has increased the

stress at work. However not all people are equally prone to the same level of stress. Research

has indicated that certain personality traits can make us more vulnerable to stress.  People with

such traits are known as Type A personalities which is distinguished from Type B. They face

adverse health effects such as anxiety, depression, ulcers, high blood pressure and even heart

diseases. Individual and organizational coping strategies provide physiological and psychological

benefits. However, it is the individuals who will have to make a shift towards personality

characteristics that help cope with stress. This paper discusses the characteristic features of Type

A and B personalities and offers measures to cope with stress.

STRESS

The word stress refers to a state of deviation or variation from normal state due to unplanned or

improperly designed system or work process resulting into failures and non – accomplishment of

goals. Organizational stress as defined by J.E Newman, is "a condition arising out of

interaction of people with their jobs and characterizes by changes within people

that forces them to drift apart from normal functioning".

*MBA- final year, Oscar Business School, Vellore.

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PERSONALITY TRAITS

We all have certain features to our personality that make us unique as people; however there are

many aspects of our personality that are similar to other people.  These similar personality

factors are called Personality Traits.  Research has indicated that certain personality traits can

make us more vulnerable to stress.  People with such traits are known as Type A personalities. 

Type A's tend to be more competitive, more impatient, have time urgency when compared to the

more relaxed and laid back Type B personalities. It's important to realize that we are all a

mixture of Type A and Type B personality.

CAUSES OF STRESS

Extraorganizational Stressors: It comes from outside the employing organization. Taking an

open system perspective of an organization, it is clear that job stress is not just limited to things

that happen inside the organization, during working hours. Extraorganizational stressors include

things such as societal/technological change, the family, relocation, economic and financial

conditions, race and class, and residential or community conditions.1

Organizational Stressors: It comes from within the employing organization. Although the

organization is made up of groups & individuals, there are also more macro-level dimensions

unique to the organization that contains potential stressors. It results when people face anxiety or

frustration from aspects of their work that they cannot control. Examples include situations

where people are not able to exercise their full skills and knowledge potential or may not

understand what they produce, and how. They may face conflicting demands. Or they may not

receive the respect or recognition they expect for their accomplishments. Organizational stressors

may cause specific reactions in the body that can lead to potential health effects. One European

study correlates the degree of stress with the amount of responsibility and control a person has

over the job.

1 – John M. Ivancevich & Michael T. Matteson, Stress & Work, Soctt, Foresma, Glenview, Ill.,

1980, p.145.

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Group Stressors: The group can also be a potential source of stress. Workplaces are generally

thought to be stress-inducing environments on many levels.  Various studies have examined task-

related stressors (e.g., high work load), but it is also important to consider the influence of social

stressors – psychological/physical strains that are social in nature (e.g., co-worker conflict, poor

group climate, unjust treatment, and verbal aggression from customers). It is valuable to

understand characteristics of those who can successfully cope against social stressors.  Therefore,

research has looked toward understanding core self-evaluations.

Core Self Evaluations are individual characteristics that represent fundamental evaluations

people form concerning themselves, other people, and the world in general. Core Self

Evaluations consist of four distinct individual traits that vary from person to person and include:

Self-esteem – general confidence and assurance in oneself.

Locus of control – beliefs about what causes good or bad events (i.e., environmental

[external], or individual causes [internal]).

Generalized self-efficacy – views of individual ability to ascertain goals.

Neuroticism – tendency to experience more negative emotional states (e.g., anger,

anxiety, guilt).

These traits take part in mediating how one copes with stress and can ultimately buffer against

unwanted stressors. For example, an individual who has an internal locus of control, has high

self-esteem and generalized self-efficacy, while low in neuroticism may, generally, cope with

stress/stressors better than an individual who has an external locus of control, is low in self-

esteem and generalized self-efficacy, yet high in neuroticism.

Individual Stressors: Since each individual's disposition and perception for taking and handling

stress varies, so the level of stress and its causes are more individual in nature.

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The causes of individual stressors are,

Role ambiguity It can be due to lack of training, improper knowledge of subject, poor

communication channel, friction between superior and subordinates etc.

Psychological Hardiness It decides the level and capacity of a person to handle stress

since it varies from individual to individual. Thus people having high level of hardiness

in handling stress are persons who know how to handle situation better and in a planned

way so as to reduce level of stress

Type of Personality As per the category Type A are people who have high level of

commitment, are competitive,, aggressive, and exhibit different behavior patterns. They

desire to achieve. Such personalities are more prone to chances of stress and

incompatibility. Type B are those who have a relaxed and balanced approach and are

more confident in their approaches towards work. They are less susceptible to stress.

TYPE A & TYPE B PERSONALITY TRAITS

Type A Personality Traits Type B Personality Traits

Must get things finished Do not mind leaving things unfinished for a while

Never late for appointments Calm and unhurried about appointmentsExcessively competitive Not excessively competitiveCan't listen to conversations, interrupt, finish others sentences

Can listen and let the other person finish speaking

Always in a hurry Never in a hurry even when busyDo not like to wait Can wait calmlyVery busy at full speed Easy goingTrying to do more than one thing at a time Can take one thing at a timeWant everything to be perfect Do not mind things not quite perfectPressurized speech Slow and deliberate speechDo everything fast Do things slowlyHold feelings in Can express feelingsNot satisfied with work/life Quite satisfied with work/lifeFew social activities/interests Many social activities/interestsIf in employment, will often take work home

If in employment, will limit working to work hours

COPING STRATEGIES FOR INDIVIDUAL STRESS

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Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of individual thoughts, emotions,

schedule, environment, and the way they deal with problems. The ultimate goal is a balanced

life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation, and fun – plus the resilience to hold up under

pressure and meet challenges head on. Most people don’t have to be convinced of the value of

taking charge and actually making a change in their lives.

Unhealthy ways of coping with stress: These coping strategies may temporarily reduce stress,

but they cause more damage in the long run:

Smoking

Drinking too much

Overeating or undereating

Zoning out for hours in front of the TV

or computer

Withdrawing from friends, family, and

activities

Using pills or drugs to relax

Sleeping too much

Procrastinating

Filling up every minute of the day to

avoid facing problems

Taking out your stress on others (lashing

out, angry outbursts, physical violence)

Healthy ways of coping with stress: There are many healthy ways to manage and cope with

stress, but they all require change. Some specific techniques that individuals can use to eliminate

or more effectively manage inevitable, prolonged stress are the following,

Go for a walk.

Spend time in nature.

Call a good friend.

Sweat out tension with a good workout.

Write in your journal.

Take a long bath.

Light scented candles

Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea.

Play with a pet.

Work in your garden.

Get a massage.

Curl up with a good book.

Listen to music.

Watch a comedy

Behavioral self-control: Self-control can be achieved by deliberately managing the

antecedents and the consequences of their own behavior. For example, sales managers

who have a steady stream of customer complaints all day could change the antecedent by

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having an assistant screen all complaints and allow only exceptions to reach them. They

could also manage the consequences by rewarding themselves with an extra break when

they remain calm and collected after interacting with a particular angry customer. This

strategy involves individuals’ controlling the situation instead of letting the situation to

control them.

Cognitive Therapy: Techniques such as Ellis’s rational emotive model and

Meichenbaum’s cognitive behavior modification have been successfully used to reduce

test anxiety and have recently been used as an individual strategy for reducing job stress.

When this coping strategy combined with some simple relaxation techniques was

systematically evaluated by a field experimental design in a social service agency, it was

found to have a positive impact on some of both the physiological (ephinephrine, a

hormone produced by the adrenal glands) and the psychological (depression) variables

measured.

CONCLUSION

Irrespective of the nature of industry and work, no job can remain untouched and affected from

stress since it is a multi-dependent variable including the individual in its different attributes like

personal, work related, external and internal environment related and above all psychological

make-up which decides the extent to which the person can accept and overcome stress. In the

same way, irrespective of the causes of stress, the stress can only be managed from one part that

is self. So, proper self-control will help to fix any stress caused irrespective of the source.

As Stephen Covey said, “10% of life is made up of what happens to us and the rest 90% of life is

decided by how you react”.

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