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