Stress in the Workplace

11 Key excerpts on "Stress in the Workplace"

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  Career, Work, and Mental Health

  Integrating Career and Personal Counseling

  • Vernon Zunker(Author)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  Work Stress 195 11 W ork stress has been the topic of numerous research projects over sev-eral decades. The concerns surrounding work stress appear to be well founded. In 1999, for instance, it was estimated that 550 million work-ing days were lost annually in U.S. industries because of stress-related absen-teeism (Danna & Griffin, 1999). The pervasive nature of work-related stress may also be responsible for negative reactions to the workplace and/or to other employees and supervisors, and it has been known to promote poor job performance (Sulsky & Smith, 2005). In addition, health concerns such as gastrointestinal problems and cardiovascular disease have been associated with work stress, particularly shift work (G. Costa, 1996). Serious concerns over the health of the workforce have become a significant issue of the 21st century. In 1991, for example, almost 72% of workers in a national survey reported that they had experienced frequent stress-related problems (Muchinsky, 2003). Like the previous chapter, this chapter focuses on developing an under-standing of the interplay of influences that leads to symptoms of work stress. In the process of discovery helpers must recognize that many events in life can be stress related: First day in school, meeting new friends, prepping for an exam, and starting a new job are examples of stress-related events. The point here is that people face stress-related activities in almost all dimensions of their lifestyle; therefore, Stress in the Workplace consists of stressors that originate from multiple sources of experiences. Understanding the whole person as a member of a complex social system is a challenge for all helpers. In the pages that follow, however, the focus is on the work role, which for most individuals is a pervasive part of human existence. A person’s work role is often at the center of his or her life story.

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  The Emerald Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology

  • Robert L. Dipboye(Author)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Emerald Publishing Limited

    (Publisher)

  As illustrated in these accounts, work stress is increasingly recognized as a serious problem in countries around the world. Perhaps the most serious threat is to mental and physical health. Stress is implicated either directly or indirectly in such life-threatening illnesses as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, stomach and intestinal ulcers, arthritis, and lung disease. The most widely consumed prescription drugs treat anxiety, depression, and other symptoms of stress. The widespread acknowledgment of this “stress epidemic” has prompted many people to try jogging, meditation, diets, counseling, support groups, and even new lifestyles. This concern has spread to industry, where business leaders have openly expressed alarm about the spiraling costs their organizations incur from stress-related absenteeism, decreased productivity, and medical expenses. Although it is difficult to estimate the true cost of work stress (see Goldin, 2004), various estimates in the United States range from as high as $300 billion to $50 billion per year. Stress negatively affects the bottom line, but employers also have an ethical and, in some cases, a legal obligation to protect worker health. To deal with the problem, corporations have provided stress management workshops, wellness or health maintenance programs, and exercise facilities. Decreasing employee stress, however, requires an understanding of exactly what it is.

  Much of the information on stress emanates from its historical roots in medicine and clinical psychology and targets the individual. The spiraling costs to organizations of stress-related outcomes such as illness, injury, absenteeism, and low productivity have compelled researchers to broaden their perspective and take into consideration work and the organization. This chapter is organized into three major sections. The first introduces the concept of stress. The second deals specifically with the sources and outcomes of job-related stress and the characteristics of people that make some more vulnerable than others. The last section is concerned with the management of stress, both at the individual level and organizational level of intervention.

  Definition of Stress

  So, what is stress? Before providing a working definition, I need to correct several popular misconceptions (Selye, 1974). Stress is not something that can or should be eliminated entirely. Many of the most stressful events in your life are the challenges and excitement making life worthwhile. Stress is not simply something occurring in your head to be ignored. Stress has real consequences for mental and physical well-being. Stress is not simply a matter of anxiety or nervous tension you can eliminate by calming your emotions. Stress also consists of physiological reactions that are often unconscious and not controllable. Finally, stress occurs not only as a result of overstimulation and overexcitement but also from boredom and understimulation. Jobs experienced as monotonous and requiring long periods of inaction are often just as stressful as dangerous or exhilarating jobs.

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  Make That Grade Organisational Behaviour

  • Michele Kehoe(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Gill Books

    (Publisher)

  6 Stress in the Workplace Objectives This chapter will help you to: Define stress. Describe the General Adaptation Syndrome. Identify the difference between eustress and distress. Characterise Type A and B personality profiles. Examine the causes of life and organisational stressors. Understand the consequences of stress to the individual and the organisation. Recommend individual and organisational coping strategies. 6.1 Stress defined Stress is complex and the experience of it is very individual due to its many causes and consequences. Stress is a reality of life in general and therefore part of the experience of work. The most important aspect of stress is managing it effectively. The benefits for organisations in creating a work environment that helps employees manage the demands of life within and without the workplace include healthier employees, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity and an enhanced reputation. According to Moorhead and Griffin (2012), stress can be defined as ‘ a person’s adaptive response to a stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on that person ’. The source of stress must be perceived by the person to be excessive. Wagner and Hollenbeck (2010) assert that stress is ‘ an unpleasant emotional state ’. Arroba and James (1991) state that stress is ‘ a person’s response to an inappropriate level of pressure. It is a response to pressure, not the pressure itself. ’ This description of stress highlights the fact that stress is caused by pressure from many different sources, such as peer pressure, financial pressure or exam pressure. It is when an individual believes that the pressure they are under is too much for them to handle that stress is experienced. When placed under a lot of pressure, some people experience no stress and others only need a small amount of pressure to suffer the side effects of stress

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  The Psychology of Behaviour at Work

  The Individual in the Organization

  • Adrian Furnham(Author)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  7   Stress at work

  Introduction

  All jobs are potentially stressful, although the stresses vary widely. Some jobs are incredibly boring, involving machine monitoring or property guarding, and others are over-stimulating and physically demanding, leading to exhaustion. Stress is certainly pervasive. In a recent study of the 147 million workers in the European Union, 30% complained of backache, 28% of stress, 20% of fatigue, 17% of muscular pains and 13% of headaches (Paoli, 1997). There is certainly nothing new about either the acuity or chronicity of work stress, except perhaps the rapid rise in the number of people claiming to be stressed. Due to the popularity of the idea, and thanks to saturated media coverage, most people have learned to recognize classic symptoms: changes in eating, drinking, smoking patterns; irritability and moodiness; absent-mindedness, tiredness and exhaustion; anxiety and depression; negativism and susceptibility to illness.

  The word “stress” is derived from the Latin word stringere, which means “to draw tight” (Cox, 1978). It is such an overused and elusive term that many have agreed it should be completely abandoned. Many definitions exist: some believe stress can and should be subjectively defined; others feel one needs an objective definition. Some researchers believe a global definition is appropriate; others emphasize that stress is multidimensional. Until the eighteenth century, it colloquially implied hardship, adversity or affliction. It was later used by physicists to describe a force exerted upon an object, so that resultant changes in volume, shape and size were called “strains”. Hence, “stresses and strains”.

  Sometimes a concept becomes so oversized and extended it becomes meaningless. That happened to “alienation” for sociology and “neurosis” for psychiatry. Is the same true for stress? It has been seen as a confounding, dependent, epiphenomenal, independent, intervening and moderating variable. Briner (1999) has put forward a good case for abandoning the concept in favour of “feeling/emotions at work”. He notes quite correctly that stress is both stimulus and response. It is, at one and the same time, thought of as cause and consequence, trait and coping style, biological phenomenon and disrupter of performance. Because of this terminal confusion, the research is often bad. Even more provocatively, Briner (1999) believes that stress is a modern myth because the better the research, the more the evidence for the relationship between work stress and personal reactions evaporates.

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  Organizational Stress

  • J. Cranwell-Ward, A. Abbey(Authors)
  • 2005(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  This may mean raising their skill set and awareness of stress to deal effectively with the stress of others They must be aware of those occasions when an expert counselor is needed to deal with the stress of a team member. 9 MANAGING STRESS WITHIN THE WORKPLACE 93 94 10 The Legal Perspective: Stress and the Law Introduction In the past 15 years, since stress has become an issue that is recognized and openly discussed, awareness has grown of the importance of relevant legisla- tion and the need for employers to act responsibly and take care of the mental, as well as the physical, well-being of their employees. Case law is building gradually, but has not removed all ambiguity. This chapter is particularly important at a time when the number of tribunals for stress is increasing. The USA experienced litigation first, with the operation of the Workers’ Compensation Scheme: a no-fault insurance scheme that compensates for work-related accidents and injuries. It quickly received numerous claims for mental rather than physical injury and, during the 1980s, claims quadrupled as a result of long periods of stress at work and subsequent ill health. Despite repeated warnings by insurers and research workers, employers were caught off guard when the first UK claims were awarded in the early 1990s. At this stage the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regula- tions came into force, which explicitly state that employers have a duty of care to protect the psychological health of their employees. Case law since that time, and recent guidance from the Court of Appeal, have influenced the approach that employers need to adopt to meet their legal responsibilities. This chapter will help both employers and employees to understand their legal obligations. It will: Describe existing legislation that has a bearing on workplace stress and allows employees to seek compensation via employment tribunals or the courts.

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  Ergonomics Guidelines and Problem Solving

  • A. Mital, Å. Kilbom, S. Kumar(Authors)
  • 2000(Publication Date)
  • Elsevier Science

    (Publisher)

  Managing Stress in the Workplace: Part II – The scientific basis (knowledge base) for the guide

  Ann M. Williamson,     National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (Worksafe Australia), P.O. Box 58, Sydney, Australia 2001

  1. Problem description

  The stress response is the body’s natural reaction to situations that are perceived to require more than the normal or comfortable amount of effort to achieve required performance. Situations that are unfamiliar to the individual or that challenge or threaten them in some way will produce a stress response. One of the pioneers of the area of stress, Hans Selye, described stress in terms of the nonspecific result of any demand made on the body (Selye, 1936 , 1982 ). This could include situations that are well-recognised to produce a stress response in individuals not used to them, like having to speak in public, taking on a new or difficult task, or undergoing examination or inspection. In all of these situations the physiological, psychological and behavioural changes that form the stress response have beneficial effects on performance. Biochemical and other changes help to, amongst other things, increase the level of energy and muscle tension of the individual and improve their ability to concentrate on the task at hand, thereby helping to enhance their performance. A certain level of stress that brings about these sorts of changes is a necessary aspect of maintaining productivity.

  A very large amount has been written about when stress occurs, and many theories and models have been developed (Eichler et al., 1986 ; Kahn and Byosiere, 1992 ). This is an important issue because the model which describes when stress occurs will provide the framework for all other work on the problem, including how it is prevented and managed. The earlier models of stress emphasised the biological processes involved and described stress as occurring when the body state changed in response to external demands (Cannon, 1935 ; Selye, 1936 , 1982 ). Later models emphasised the interaction between the environment or situation (stressors) and the person, for example the Person–Environment Fit model (French et al., 1982 ) or the job demands and control model (Karasek, 1979 ). More recent models have been based on the same person-environment relationship but have focussed on different features. For example some models have emphasised the transactional or process-oriented nature of the relationship between the person and their environment (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; Cox, 1978 ), and others have included the role of moderating or mediating factors like age, education and the amount of social support in the person-environment relationship in addition to the other acknowledged factors (Ivancevich and Matteson, 1980 ; Kahn and Byosiere, 1992

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  Organizational Psychology

  A Scientist-Practitioner Approach

  • Steve M. Jex, Thomas W. Britt(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Another indication of the harmful effects of occupational stress is the increasing trend toward stress-related workers' compensation claims (DeFrank & Ivancevich, 1998; National Council on Compensation Insurance, 1988 1991). In the past, compensation for work-related injuries was limited to physical injuries caused by some physical event or stimulus. Increasingly, however, more and more states are recognizing the legitimacy of physical and even psychological injuries that may be caused by some stressful aspect of the work environment that is not physical in nature (e.g., an overly demanding supervisor). In fact, a trend in recent research is to examine the intersection between psychological and physical risk factors in the prediction of both psychological outcomes (e.g., depression, burnout) and such physical outcomes as accidents (Kaplan & Tetrick, 2011).

  Occupational stress and employee health are also important because of their impact on society as a whole. It is unlikely that people experiencing constant stress on the job will function effectively in their other roles, such as husband/wife, parent, neighbor, and community member. Failure to perform these roles effectively may not have direct economic costs but may, in the long run, have a tremendously negative impact on society. Thus, occupational stress is clearly not the “cause of all societal ills,” but it does have an important and real impact on individuals, organizations, and society. Given the emphasis in this chapter on occupational stressors as predictors of health and well-being, it is worth highlighting that we view health and well-being in terms consistent with Jex, Swanson, and Grubb (2013). These authors highlighted that health and well-being should be considered as not only representing the absence of physical symptoms, but also the presence of positive psychological states and behavior.

  A Brief History

  The earliest scientific investigations related to the field of occupational stress were conducted by the well-known physiologist Walter Cannon in the early part of the 20th century (e.g., Cannon, 1914). Cannon's work focused on the relationship between emotions and physiological responses, and is considered the earliest work in the field of psychosomatic medicine (the relationship between psychological states and physical illness). Cannon, however, is best known for having coined the term homeostasis

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  Coping with Work Stress

  A Review and Critique

  • Philip J. Dewe, Michael P. O'Driscoll, Cary Cooper(Authors)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • Wiley-Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  International Journal of Stress Management 14(3): 227–48. Hauge, L. J., Skogstad, A. & Einarsen, S. (2007) Relationships between stressful work environments and bullying: Results of a large representative study. Work & Stress 21(3): 220–42. Haward, L. R. C. (1960) The subjective meaning of stress. British Journal of Psychol- ogy 33: 185–94. Hayman, A. (2008) Major job losses forecast for all of England. Regeneration & Renewal 7th November, http://www.regen.net/news/EmailThisArticle/ 859991/. Health & Safety Commission (2000) Securing Health Together: A long term occu- pational health strategy for England, Scotland and Wales. London: Health and Safety Executive. Health and Safety Executive (2005) Psychosocial Working Conditions in Great Britain 2005. London: HSE. Health and Safety Executive (2006) Stress-Related and Psychological Disorders. London: HSE. Health and Safety Executive (2007a) Violence at Work. London: HSE. Health and Safety Executive (2007b) Self-Reported Work-Related Illness and Work- place Injuries in 2005/06: Results from the Labour Force Survey. Caerphilly: HSE Information Services. Health and Safety Executive (2007c) Self-Reported Work-Related Illness or Work- place Injury. London: HSE. Heintzman, P. & Mannell, R. C. (2003) Spiritual functions of leisure and spiritual well-being: Coping with time pressure. Leisure Sciences 25: 207–30. References 173 Hemp, P. (2004) Presenteeism: At work – but out of it. Harvard Business Review 49–58. Hill, D., Lucy, D., Tyers, C. & James, L. (2007) What works at work? Review of evi- dence assessing the effectiveness of workplace interventions to prevent and manage common health problems. Leeds: Corporate Document Services, pp. 1–87. Hobfoll, S. E. (1989) Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist 44: 513–24. Hobfoll, S. E. (1998) Stress, Culture and Community: The psychology and philosophy of stress.

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  Stress and Quality of Working Life

  • Ana Maria Rossi, James A. Meurs, Pamela L. Perrewé(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Information Age Publishing

    (Publisher)

  Both organizations and national economies experience huge costs as a re- sult of stress and mental health disorders. For example, it is estimated that stress costs the U.S. economy $300 billion annually with similarly astronomi- cal estimates derived from the United Kingdom, Canada ($50 billion annu- ally, Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2012) and the European Union (135 million euro annually for depression, McDaid, 2011). Given these figures, it is not surprizing that a great deal of research has accumulated on the causes of stress and numerous taxonomies of stressors exist (for a review see Kelloway & Day, 2005). Although such taxonomies are useful in identifying possible sources of diStress in the Workplace, the focus on stressors as aversive experiences has created a paradox in the stress literature. The paradox emerges because individuals frequently agree to expose themselves to enhanced levels of workplace stress. For example, although we know that workload is a stressor we also know that many in- dividuals have a seeming inability to say “No,” and as a result take on an enhanced workload. I suggest that any theory of stress must be able to ex- plain this paradox, accounting for both the aversive nature of stress and individual motivation to take on stressful tasks. Contemporary accounts of the stress process resolve this paradox by rec- ognizing that the workplace exposes individuals to both stressors (i.e., de- mands) and resources (e.g.., Bakker & Demerouti, 2007). Demands require physical and/or psychological effort from employees, and are associated with both physical (e.g., fatigue) and psychological (e.g., burnout) con- sequences. Employees also experience resources—aspects of the job that help them deal with demands, and promote personal growth and well-be- ing (Bakker & Dermerouti, 2007).

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  Psychological Stress in the Workplace (Psychology Revivals)

  • Terry Beehr(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Taylor & Francis

    (Publisher)

  Kahn and Byosiere, 1992 ). Strains are states that are harmful and usually aversive to the individuals experiencing them. In the present language, the strains to individuals are the outcomes that define Stress in the Workplace and they are usually states associated with ill health, broadly defined. These outcomes can be divided into three categories: psychological, physical or physiological, and behavioral. These correspond roughly to (poor) mental health, (poor) physical health, and behaviors likely to be deleterious to one’s own health and well-being.

  Beehr and Newman (1978) named several psychological health consequences or psychological strains that had been studied in conjunction with the kind of occupational stress of interest here, but they were able to cite very few instances of published empirical relationships between occupational stressors and physical health consequences and behavioral strains. Much research has been done since that time, but the pattern of emphasis on psychological strains in relation to social psychological Stress in the Workplace has persisted. No doubt many I/O psychologists think of the difficulty of measuring physical reactions to work in terms similar to Scott’s (1966) quote at the beginning of the chapter.

  Psychological Strains

  A meta-analysis focusing on the two classic role stressors, role conflict and role ambiguity, illustrates the emphasis of workplace stress researchers on psychological strains very well. Eleven of the fifteen outcomes examined were psychological or emotional strains (Jackson and Schüler, 1985). In addition, as noted by Jex and Beehr (1991), the relationships between the types of work stressors that organizational psychologists study and psychological strains are stronger than the relationships between these stressors and other types of strains.

  Individual outcomes such as anxiety, depression, and dissatisfaction are often associated with occupational stressors (Beehr, 1985a ). Somatic complaints could be considered a physical or physiological strain, but even they are often measured by self-reports of aches and pains rather than anything more objective and concrete (Jex and Beehr, 1991). Furthermore, similar items are often found in anxiety scales (e.g. Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale; Taylor, 1953

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  Work Without Boundaries

  Psychological Perspectives on the New Working Life

  • Michael Allvin, Gunnar Aronsson, Tom Hagström, Gunn Johansson, Ulf Lundberg(Authors)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  The ability of the body to cope with intensive acute stress is quite adequate for a limited duration of time. One example is childbirth when stress hormones may increase tenfold or more compared to the usual level. For a healthy young woman a situation like this will not normally entail any risk of permanent health problems. Even in circumstances of purely mental challenges, such as public speaking before a large audience, the adrenaline values may rise to many times the base level. Normal office work usually raises the adrenaline level by approximately 50 to 100 percent compared to the corresponding resting level. This increase is modest compared to what takes place in the event of childbirth. However, the important difference is that the stress load at work is a daily occurrence, endured week after week, month after month, whereas childbirth is relatively short of duration and only takes place once or a few times in life. No individual would survive these extraordinarily high stress levels for an extended period of time. Supporting evidence also points to a long-term or chronic stress load being more of a problem today than short-term intensive stress, presuming that the short but intense period of stress is followed by a period of rest. Typical signs of emerging serious stress-related health problems are the occurrence of a number of symptoms at the same time, such as impaired performance, lack of motivation and problems to concentrate and stay focused, memory problems, diffuse pain in the body, sleeping problems, frequent or long-lasting infections, chest pain, palpitations, oversensitivity, and dizziness.

  In this passage, we have discussed various stress models relating to the development of society and work life. The purpose of this has not been merely to give an introduction to stress as a concept and area of research, but also to show how the concept is constantly shaped and reshaped in connection with the historical and social context in which it is being used. The various stress models are therefore attempts at explaining and solving the problems society is facing. It also means that any one theory is not necessarily more right or true than the next. Rather, the theories are adapted to different realities. Explanations for stress and ill health appearing in bureaucratic organizations in the 1960s and 1970s focused on the organizational limitations of the actual workplace. In the 1990s, when differences in employment conditions increased and became more individual, conditions outside the workplace, personal abilities, and their relation to work came to play a greater role. Siegrist (1996) introduced the term “status control” in order to cover the intended external conditions, while Johnson and Hall (1988) discussed the need for developing a conceptual system, placing the interplay of individual and environment in a wider social context. These are the conditions addressed by the effort-reward-imbalance model. The more the economic, organizational, and technical development – with its growing element of market forces and demands always to be active and available – appears necessary, the more the focus of the problem is being shifted from the design of the environment to the individual's abilities to cope with the demands she is facing. Hereby, the allostatic model also comes to contribute to the explanation. The different stress models complement rather than substitute one another. In contrast to the shifting definitions of the concept of stress, the bodily responses to stress have remained the same for thousands of years in humans and animals.

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