OB Exam 2 Stress

Psychological stress strain

Depression, anxiety, anger

Providing resources for stress

Organizations can provide resources to employees through training interventions aimed at increasing job-related competencies and skills. Another way is by the organization offering supportive practices to help balance demands (E.g. trauma team after robbery). Flexible hours is also good.

Behavioral stress strain

Patterns of negative behaviors associated with other strains grinding one teeth at night, being overly bossy, overuse of alcohol.

Behavioral coping method

Physical activites used to deal with stressful situations. Method of coping

Physiological stress strain

Stressors occur in 4 systems of the body. 1. reduce immune system effectiveness. 2. harm the cardiovascular system. 3. Problems to the body's musculoskeletal system. 4. Cause gastrointestinal system problems

Cognitive coping method

Thoughts used to deal with stressful situations. Employees who are confronted with daily hassles might try to convince themselves that the hassles are not that bad. Method of coping.

work complexity

degree to which knowledge, skill, and ability requirements of work exceed capabilities of the person. Managers report that being stretched beyond their capacity is well worth the associated discomfort. Work challenge stressors.

Instrumental social support

help people receive from others that can be used to address a stressful demand directly

Reducing Strains

on way of reducing stress is relaxation techniques. Another is cognitive-behavioral techniques (attempt to help people appraise and cope with stressors in a rational manner). A third way involves health and wellness programs (AA meetings for employees)

Time Pressure

sense that the amount of time you have to do a task is not enough. Time pressure demands tend to be viewed as something worth striving for. Work challenge stressor.

Work-family conflict

special form of role conflict in which demands of a work role hinder fulfillment of demands of a family role or vice versa. Non-work hindrance stressor.

Hindrance stressors

stressful demands that people perceive as negatively impacting their progress toward goal attainment. Trigger negative emotions. Have a weak negative relationship with job performance, strong negative relationship with OC.

Challenge stressors

stressful demands that people perceive as opportunities for learning, growth, and development. Often trigger positive emotions. Weak relationship with job performance and a moderate relationship with OC.

Family time demands

travelling, hosting parties, making home improvements, etc. Non-work challenge stressors.

Financial uncertainty

uncertainty about potential for loss of livelihood, savings, or ability to pay expenses. Non-work hindrance stressor.

Strains

negative consequences of the stress response

Transnational theory of stress

A theory that explains how stressful demands are perceived and appraised, as well as how people respond to the perceptions and appraisals

Secondary Appraisal

According to the Transactional theory of stress after people appraise a stressful demand they ask themselves "what can I do?" to deal with the situation. These questions are your secondary appraisal.

Type A Behaviour Pattern characteristics

Aggressiveness, impatience. linked to coronary heart disease.

Stress audit

assessment of the sources of stress in the workplace

Daily Hassles

minor day-to-day demands that get in the way of what we really want to accomplish. Work Hindrance stressor.

Personal development

music lessons, volunteer work, formal education programs, etc. Non-work challenge stressors.

Work responsibility

nature of the obligations that a person has toward others. Work challenge stressors.

Role Ambiguity

Lack of info about what needs to be done in a role. Often experienced by new employees. Work Hindrance Stressor

Role Overload

An excess of demands on an employee, preventing them from working effectively. More prevalent than role conflict and ambiguity. Work Hindrance Stressor

Role Conflict

Conflicting expectations that others may have on us. WORK HINDRANCE STRESSORS

Burnout

Emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that results from having to cope with stressful demands on an ongoing basis.

Social support

Factor that affects the way people manage stress. help people receive from others when confronted with stressful demands. Reduces harmful consequences of the stressor to that individual.

Reducing the level of stressors

General course of action is managing stressors 2 ways. 1. Try eliminating the stressful demands (E.g job sharing) 2. Giving employees sabbaticals. Best for hindrance stressors

Benign job demands

Job demands that tend not to be appraised as stressful.

emotion-focused coping

Manage emotional reactions to stressful demands. Focus of coping. The demand or problem that initially triggered the appraisal process remains

Problem-focused coping

Manage the stressful situation itself. Focus of coping. Focus effort on meeting the demand rather than trying to avoid it.

Assessing the level of stress

Many different ways to go about assessing, often refereed to as a stress audit. To start manager asks himself 3 questions. 1. Degree to which the organization is going through change that would likely increase uncertainty among employees. 2. Center on work itself (what stressors employees have). 3. Relationship between employees and organization.

Postive life events

addition of a new family member, graduating from school, etc. Non-work challenge stressors.

Job sharing

Two people share a single job as though they were a single performing unit.

Primary Appraisal

When people first encounter stressors, the process of primary appraisal is triggered

Type of Stressors

Work+Hindrance= Role conflict, ambiguity, overload, daily hassles. Work+Challenge= Time pressure, Work complexity and responsibility. Non-work+Hindrance= Work-Family conflict, negative event, Financial uncertainty. Non-work+Challenge= Family time demands, personal development, positive events.

Examples of how people cope

Working harder: behavioural method, problem focused Seeking support: behavioural method, emotion focused Self-motivation: cognitive method, problem focused Avoiding: cognitive method, emotion focused

Stress

a psychological response to demands when there is something at stake for the individual and when coping with these demands would tax the individual's resources. Different people experience different levels of stress when confronted with the same situation.

Type A Behavior Pattern

a type of behaviour exhibited by people who tend to experience more stressors, appraise more demands as stressful, and to be prone to experiencing more strains than others

Presenteeism

attending scheduled work when one's capacity to perform is significantly diminished by illness or other factors. Because of the satisfaction they get from their job.

Coping

behaviors and thoughts that people use to manage both the stressful demands they face and the emotions associated with those stressful demands. Split into 4 categories in 2 dimensions. The first dimensions refers to the method of coping (behavioral versus cognitive), Second dimension refers to the focus of coping (problem solving vs regulation of emotions)

Stressors

demands that cause the stress response

Negative life event

divorce, death of a family member, etc. Non-work hindrance stressor.

Emotional support

empathy and understanding received from others that can be used to alleviate emotional distress