CH 5: Stress
behavioral coping
set of physical activities that are used to deal with a stressful situation
stress
a psychological response to demands that possess certain stakes for the person and that tax or exceed the person's capacity or resources
steps in stress management
1. assess level and source of stress 2. reduce stressors - consider alternative courses of action 3. provide resources 4. reducing strains
ways to manage stressors
1. eliminate or significantly reduce stressful demands 2. sabbaticals
ways to reduce strains
1. relaxation techniques 2. cognitive behavioral techniques 3. health and wellness programs / employee assistance programs
types of resources
1. training interventions 2. supportive practices
Ted has always been a hard-driving, competitive individual. He talks fast, walks fast, eats fast, and gets angry fast. Ted would likely be described as exhibiting the Type ___ Behavior Pattern.
A
health and wellness programs
Employee assistance programs that help workers with personal problems such as alcoholism and other addictions
Which of the following are organizational practices designed to reduce strains on employees? (Choose every correct answer.) Type D behavioral programs Health and wellness programs Employee assistance programs Stress audit programs
Health and wellness programs Employee assistance programs
physiological strains
Result from stressors occur in at least four systems of the human body (harm physical body)
recovery
The degree to which energies used for coping with work demands are restored from a period of rest or relief from work.
social support
The help people receive from others when they are confronted with stressful demands
In her job as an annuity specialist at a financial services firm, Raquel regularly fields calls from clients who want to make withdrawals or reallocations. Since she perceives these duties to be routine, how would she categorize these less stressful duties?
benign job demands
Jason is frustrated with the group project that is due in his organizational behavior class. His team hasn't met to discuss who is going to do which portion of the project and no deadlines have been set. Jason is experiencing role Blank______ with this project.
ambiguity
cognitive behavioral techniques
attempt to help people appraise and cope with stressors in a more rational manner
influences of stress process
behavior pattern type, recovery, social support
coping strategies
behavioral or cognitive method & problem- or emotion-focused
coping
behaviors and thoughts used to manage stressful demands and the emotions associated with the stressful demands
People consider Blank______ job demands less stressful.
benign
types of social support
instrumental and emotional
secondary appraisal
center on the issue of how people cope with the various stressors they face "What should I do?"
Which of the following are supportive practices that help employees manage and balance their role demands? compressed workweeks primary appraisals flextime stress audits telecommuting
compressed workweeks flextime telecommuting
Which of the following behavior characteristics are exhibited by individuals with the Type A Behavior Pattern? not competitive constant sense of urgency hard-driving and competitive easy-going and laid back
constant sense of urgency hard-driving and competitive
What is the term for the actions and beliefs people use to face stress and the emotions caused by stress?
coping
How do hindrance stressors affect job performance?
create negative feelings about the job
stressors
demands that cause people to experience stress
What is the first step in managing stress?
determining the amount of stress in an organization and its causes
transactional theory of stress
explains how stressors are perceived and appraised, as well as how people respond to those perceptions and appraisals 1. stressors 2. primary appraisal 3. secondary appraisal
sabbitical
gives employees opportunity to take time off from work to engage in an alternative activity
What is the term for employer practices that are intended to help employees with personal problems, such as alcohol and drug dependencies, financial problems, or marital difficulties?
health and wellness programs
supportive practices
help employees manage and balance the demands that exist in the different roles they have (ex: Flextime, childcare, telecommuting)
People who experience higher levels of Blank______ stressors tend to have lower levels of organizational commitment.
hindrance
What is the name for the type of stressors that prevent people from achieving personal success or goals?
hindrance
types of stressors
hindrance or challenge & work or nonwork
training interventions
increasing job-related competencies and skills
benign job demands
job demands that tend not to be appraised as stressful
Bev and Noah are librarians at Summit Elementary School. Bev works on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Noah works on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They divide the single librarian position, salary, and employee benefits proportionately. What is the name for this type of arrangement?
job sharing
stress audit
managers assess the level and sources of stress in the workplace
strains
negative consequences that occur when demands tax or exceed a person's capacity or resources
Hindrance stressors most often trigger Blank______ emotions, whereas challenge stressors most often trigger Blank______ emotions.
negative; positive
positive life events
nonwork challenge stressor
personal development
nonwork challenge stressor participation in activities outside of work that foster growth and learning (ex: formal education programs, music lessons, sports training, hobby related self education, local government, volunteer work)
family time demands
nonwork challenge stressor the time that a person commits to participate in an array of family activities and responsibilities
financial uncertainty
nonwork hindrance stressor conditions that create uncertainties with regard to the loss of livelihood, savings, or the ability to pay expenses
work family conflict
nonwork hindrance stressor role conflict - demands of a work role hinder the fulfillment of the demands of a family role (or vice versa)
negative life events
nonwork hindrance stressors
According to the transactional theory of stress, which of the following would be considered a work hindrance stressor? no day-to-day interruptions in your schedule the death of a close family member a relatively high level of work responsibility not receiving guidelines needed to complete tasks
not receiving guidelines needed to complete tasks
primary appraisal
occurs as people evaluate the significance and the meaning of the stressor they're confronting consider whether a demand causes them to feel stressed if it does - consider implications of the stressor in terms of personal goals & well-being
What term is used to describe a paid or unpaid leave of absence provided for study and research, travel, community service, or personal renewal?
sabbatical
Primary appraisal answers the question "Is this stressful?" and ____ appraisal poses the question "What should be done?"
secondary
After his company announced that it plans to cut 30% of the workforce within the next 90 days, Deon begins to experience chronic headaches and insomnia. These are Blank______ strains caused by stressors.
physiological
High blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, headaches, and heart disease are examples of Blank______ strains caused by stressors.
physiological
types of strains
physiological, psychological, and behavioral
examples of cognitive methods of coping strategies
problem-focused: strategizing, motivating, changing priorities emotion-focused: avoiding, distancing, and ignoring; looking for positive in the negative; reappraising
examples of behavioral methods of coping strategies
problem-focused: working harder, seeking assistance, acquiring additional resources emotion-focused: engaging in alt. activities, seeking support, venting anger
relaxation tecniques
progressive muscle relaxation, misc. calming activities
job sharing
reduce role overload and work family conflict two people share the responsibilities of a single job, as if the two people were performing as a single unit
psychological strains
result from stressors and include depression, anxiety, anger, hostility, reduced self-confidence, irritability, inability to think clearly, forgetfulness, burnout, lack of creativity, memory loss, loss of sense of humor.
Laura is a new physician in a busy clinic. She wants to spend enough time with her patients to understand their health concerns, but the clinic schedules too many patients every day to be able to spend more than fifteen minutes with each one. Laura is frustrated with this state of events. What is she experiencing?
role conflict
What is the term for the negative consequences associated with stress?
strains
Deon just learned that his company is going to announce layoffs by the end of the month. He is completely overwhelmed by this news and doesn't know how he's going to meet his financial responsibilities if he loses his job. What is Deon experiencing?
stress
High-level executives and managers often feel physical and mental effects due to the Blank______ caused by their demanding jobs
stress
Psychologists use the term ____ to describe a state of mental or emotional tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.
stress
In a Blank______ Blank______, managers study the positions in their workplaces to determine if stress is negatively impacting employees.
stress audit
hindrance stressors
stressful demands that people tend to perceive as hindering their progress toward personal accomplishments or goal attainment trigger negative emotions
challenge stressors
stressful demands that people tend to perceive as opportunities for learning, growth, and achievement trigger positive emotions
type A behavior pattern
strong sense of time urgency and tend to be impatient, hard-driving, competitive, controlling, aggressive, and even hostile
What are major factors in determining why employees experience differing levels of stress? the amount of social support the employee receives the size of the organization the nature of the stressors the personality type of the employee
the amount of social support the employee receives the nature of the stressors the personality type of the employee
burnout
the emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that results from having to cope with stressful demands on an ongoing basis (psychological strain)
emotional social support
the help people receive in addressing the emotional distress that accompanies stressful demands
instrumental social support
the help people receive that can be used to address the stressful demand directly
cognitive coping
the thoughts that are involved in trying to deal with a stressful situation
emotion-focused coping
the various ways in which people manage their own emotional reactions to stressful demands
Hospitals may offer stress management programs for its employees to help them recognize sources of stress and teach them stress-reduction skills. What is the name for this type of program?
training intervention
True or false: Employees can have different reactions to identical stressors as the result of a number of factors, such as perception, appraisal, and the degree of social support they receive.
true
behavioral strains
unhealthy behaviors such as grinding one's teeth at night, being overly critical and bossy, excessive smoking, compulsive gum chewing, overuse of alcohol, and compulsive eating
effects of challenge stressors on OB
weak, positive correlation to job performance moderate, positive correlation to organizational commitment
work complexity
work challenge stressor the degree to which the requirements of the work, in terms of knowledge, skills, and abilities, tax or exceed the capabilities of the person who is responsible for performing the work
work responsibility
work challenge stressor the nature of the obligations that a person has toward others
time pressure
work challenge stressor a strong sense that the amount of time you have to do a task is just not quite enough
role ambiguity
work hindrance stressor absence of role clarity, or the lack of info, about what needs to be done and unpredictability regarding consequences of performance in that role
role conflict
work hindrance stressor conflicting expectations that other people may have of us
role overload
work hindrance stressor number of demanding roles a person holds is so high that the person simply cannot perform some or all of the roles effectively
daily hassles
work hindrance stressor the relatively minor day-to-day demands that get in the way of accomplishing the things that we really want to accomplish