H&S Chapter 7
Four-compset strategy to reduce work related psycolosail disorders
1. A focus on organizational change 2. A focus on information 3. A focus on information 4. A focus on surveillance
Type A Behaviour
Action-emotion complex Chronic, incessant struggle to achieve increasingly more in increasingly less time
Four categories of stressors
Acute Chronic Daily Catastrophic
Behavioural
Behavioural strain reactions take a variety of forms. Individuals under increased stress may develop nervous habits (e.g., nail biting or nervous tics) Other behavioural strain reactions include avoidance of certain situations, or a reduction in individual involvement, either because of a lack of interest or as a means of reducing time demands
General Adaptation Syndrome
Body's way of gearing up for fight or flight (i.e., to confront or run away from a predator)
Workplace Stress
Costs Canadian economy $12 billion to 33 billion annually Absenteeism and presenteeism costs stemming from work-life conflict is about $6 billion annually What is stress? Can discuss in terms of the Psychosocial Model of Health Highlights the importance of both the social environment and psychological factors
General classes of moderators in the stress process:
Enduring properties of the individual (i.e., personality characteristics) Social context (i.e., social support, individual relationships)
Preventive Stress Management
Health of an organization and its employees are interdependent Encourages the reduction of stressors in the workplace as well as the recognition and management of occupational stress and strain
Tertiary Interventions
Help those individuals who have not been able to manage workplace stress effectively and are experiencing symptoms of strain
Injustice at Work
In organizational justice research, "fairness" is not treated as a one-dimensional construct Researchers focus on three categories of fairness judgments: Fairness of outcomes, or distributive justice Fairness of processes, or procedural justice Fairness of interpersonal treatment, or interactional justice all three types of injustice have been associated with increased work stress and strain
Technology
Increasing role of technology affects the psychological as well as the physical well-being of workers
Stress
Individual's internal response to, or evaluation of, stressors Characterized by negative feelings of arousal
Work-Family Conflict
Inter-role conflict in which the role pressures experienced in the work and family domains are incompatible
Identifying psychosocial hazards:
Learn to identify stressors Survey the employees Look for telltale signs of stress Be attuned to individual employees
Technology-related factors have been implicated as psychosocial stressors:
Malfunctions Isolation Privacy Increased job demands Increased expectations for continuous learning
Secondary Interventions
Minimizing negative consequences once a person is feeling stress
Stress Moderators
Moderators (factors) affect people's evaluations of stressors and how they react to them (i.e,. degree of stress experienced)
Chronic Stressors
No specific time onset Short or long duration Repeats frequently Low or high intensity Job insecurity Nagging worry that their job is at risk
Stressor
Objectively verifiable event that occurs outside the individual that has the potential to cause stress
Negative Affectivity
Persistent individual differences in the experience of negative emotion
The Individual—Personality
Personality is the relatively stable set of characteristics, responses, thoughts, and behaviours of a given individual
Psychological
Psychological strain reactions typically include either a disturbance in affect (e.g., mood) or a disturbance in cognition (e.g., concentration). Feeling irritable, anxious, overwhelmed, moody, depressed, and angry are all common affective strain reactions. Indeed, we often describe these moods as "feeling stressed out." Disturbances in mood resulting from stress range from short-lived periods of feeling blue, down, or irritable to longer term and more serious diagnoses of psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Primary Interventions
Reduction or removal of actual stressors
Physical
Some physical symptoms of strain (e.g., stomach upsets, headaches) may seem quite trivial, but considerable evidence now suggests that stress is implicated in more serious physical conditions Most prominently, coronary heart disease (CHD) has been consistently linked to increased stress; so has high blood pressure (hypertension), strokes, ulcers, asthma, and even some forms of cancer
The Social Context—Social Support
Sources of support can reduce a person's vulnerability to stressors Support providers are a buffer against stress May include supervisors, coworkers, family members
Catastrophic Stressors or Disasters
Specific onset Occur infrequently High intensity Long or short duration Distinction between acute and catastrophic relates to intensity of the stressor Direct threat to life, loss of life, or major property damage September 11, 2001, event is a catastrophic stressor for those directly involved and long-term consequences for those individuals who live with fear of terrorism
Daily Stressors
Specific onset Short duration Low in intensity Infrequent For example, dealing with a broken piece of office equipment
Acute Stressors
Specific time onset (i.e., you know exactly when it began) Short duration and high intensity Low frequency Traffic accident is an acute stressor Performance review meeting or a conflict with a supervisor may be an acute stressor
Organizational
Stress researchers interested in organizations have identified some of the most common organizational outcomes of stress, including: Increased absenteeism Decreased performance Disturbances of interpersonal relationships at work An increased likelihood of looking for alternative employment
27% of Canadian workers report being quite a bit or extremely stressed. T/F
True
Each year 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental health problem T/F
True
Moderator
Variable that changes the relationship between two other variables Some aggravate or increase the effects of stressors Others can protect individual from adverse effects of stressors
Risk Factor
Variable that increases the negative effects of stress
Buffer
Variable that protects people from the negative effects of stress
Family to Work Conflict
Work-family conflict in which family demands interfere with the fulfillment of work responsibilities
Work to Family Conflict
Work-family conflict in which work demands interfere with the fulfillment of family responsibilities
Managing Psychosocial Hazards
Work-related stressors, stress, and strain have substantial negative consequences for both employees and organizations
NIOSH model identifies major categories of workplace stressors:
Workload and work pace Role stressors Career concerns Work scheduling Interpersonal relations Job content and control
Procedural justice:
the perceived fairness of decision-makijng processes
Interactional justice:
the perceived fairness of interpersonal treatement
Distributive justice:
the perceived fairness of outcomes
Strain:
the result of stress; it is classified into four categories of reactions: Psychological, Organizational, Physical, behavioural