Overview
Stress affects individual well-being and has the potential to affect the extent to which individuals and
organizations achieve their goals and perform at a high level. Stress is bound up with workers’ personal lives;
thus the study of stress also entails exploring the nature of work-life linkages.
People experience stress when they fact opportunities or threats that they perceive as important and
also perceive they might not be able to handle or deal with effectively. An opportunity is something
that has the potential to benefit a person. A threat is something that has the potential to harm a person.
Stress is a highly personal experience influenced by an individual’s personality, abilities, and
perceptions; what is stressful for one person might not be stressful for another.
Stress can have physiological, psychological, and behavioral consequences. The relationship between
stress and physiological consequences is complicated, and the most serious physiological
consequences (for example, cardiovascular disease and heart attack) result only after considerably
high levels of stress have been experienced for a prolonged period of time. Psychological
consequences of stress include negative feelings, moods, and emotions; negative attitudes; and
burnout. Potential behavioral consequences of stress include job performance, strained interpersonal
relations, absenteeism, and turnover.
Workers who are responsible for helping others sometimes experience burnout. The three key signs
of burnout are feelings of low personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization.
A certain level of stress is positive in that it can result in high levels of job performance. When stress
levels are excessively high, negative stress is experienced, and performance suffers. Other potential
behavioral consequences of high stress include strained interpersonal relations, absenteeism, and
turnover.
Potential stresses can arise from workers’ personal lives, job responsibilities, membership in work
groups and organizations, and work-life linkages. Stresses from workers’ personal lives include major
and minor life events. Job-related stresses include role conflict, role ambiguity, overload, under-load,
challenging assignments, and promotions, and conditions that impact workers’ economic well-being.
Group- and organization-related stresses include misunderstandings, conflicts and interpersonal
disagreements, uncomfortable working conditions, and dangerous or unsafe working conditions.
Stresses arising out of work-life linkages result when work roles conflict with people’s personal lives.
Consequences of Stress
organizations achieve their goals and perform at a high level. Stress is bound up with workers’ personal lives;
thus the study of stress also entails exploring the nature of work-life linkages.
People experience stress when they fact opportunities or threats that they perceive as important and
also perceive they might not be able to handle or deal with effectively. An opportunity is something
that has the potential to benefit a person. A threat is something that has the potential to harm a person.
Stress is a highly personal experience influenced by an individual’s personality, abilities, and
perceptions; what is stressful for one person might not be stressful for another.
Stress can have physiological, psychological, and behavioral consequences. The relationship between
stress and physiological consequences is complicated, and the most serious physiological
consequences (for example, cardiovascular disease and heart attack) result only after considerably
high levels of stress have been experienced for a prolonged period of time. Psychological
consequences of stress include negative feelings, moods, and emotions; negative attitudes; and
burnout. Potential behavioral consequences of stress include job performance, strained interpersonal
relations, absenteeism, and turnover.
Workers who are responsible for helping others sometimes experience burnout. The three key signs
of burnout are feelings of low personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization.
A certain level of stress is positive in that it can result in high levels of job performance. When stress
levels are excessively high, negative stress is experienced, and performance suffers. Other potential
behavioral consequences of high stress include strained interpersonal relations, absenteeism, and
turnover.
Potential stresses can arise from workers’ personal lives, job responsibilities, membership in work
groups and organizations, and work-life linkages. Stresses from workers’ personal lives include major
and minor life events. Job-related stresses include role conflict, role ambiguity, overload, under-load,
challenging assignments, and promotions, and conditions that impact workers’ economic well-being.
Group- and organization-related stresses include misunderstandings, conflicts and interpersonal
disagreements, uncomfortable working conditions, and dangerous or unsafe working conditions.
Stresses arising out of work-life linkages result when work roles conflict with people’s personal lives.
Consequences of Stress
Stress shows itself in a number of ways—physiological, psychological, and behavioral symptoms.
1. Physiological symptoms:
• Most of the early concern with stress was directed at physiological symptoms due to the fact
that specialists in the health and medical sciences researched the topic.
• Physiological symptoms have the least direct relevance to students of OB.
2. Psychological symptoms:
Job-related stress can cause job-related dissatisfaction.
• Job dissatisfaction is “the simplest and most obvious psychological effect” of stress.
• Multiple and conflicting demands—lack of clarity as to the incumbent’s duties, authority, and
responsibilities—increase stress and dissatisfaction.
• The less control people have over the pace of their work, the greater the stress and
dissatisfaction.
3. Behavioral symptoms:
• Behaviorally related stress symptoms include changes in productivity, absence, and turnover, as
well as changes in eating habits, increased smoking or consumption of alcohol, rapid speech,
fidgeting, and sleep disorders.
• The stress-performance relationship is shown in Exhibit 19-11.
a. The logic underlying the inverted U is that low to moderate levels of stress stimulate
the body and increase its ability to react.
b. Individuals then often perform their tasks better, more intensely, or more rapidly.
c. But too much stress places unattainable demands or constraints on a person, which
result in lower performance.
d. Even moderate levels of stress can have a negative influence on performance over the
long term as the continued intensity of the stress wears down the individual and saps
his/her energy resources.
• In spite of the popularity and intuitive appeal of the inverted-U model, it doesn’t get a lot of
empirical support.
Recognizing Stress
• Short-term physical symptoms
• Long-term physical symptoms
1. Physiological symptoms:
• Most of the early concern with stress was directed at physiological symptoms due to the fact
that specialists in the health and medical sciences researched the topic.
• Physiological symptoms have the least direct relevance to students of OB.
2. Psychological symptoms:
Job-related stress can cause job-related dissatisfaction.
• Job dissatisfaction is “the simplest and most obvious psychological effect” of stress.
• Multiple and conflicting demands—lack of clarity as to the incumbent’s duties, authority, and
responsibilities—increase stress and dissatisfaction.
• The less control people have over the pace of their work, the greater the stress and
dissatisfaction.
3. Behavioral symptoms:
• Behaviorally related stress symptoms include changes in productivity, absence, and turnover, as
well as changes in eating habits, increased smoking or consumption of alcohol, rapid speech,
fidgeting, and sleep disorders.
• The stress-performance relationship is shown in Exhibit 19-11.
a. The logic underlying the inverted U is that low to moderate levels of stress stimulate
the body and increase its ability to react.
b. Individuals then often perform their tasks better, more intensely, or more rapidly.
c. But too much stress places unattainable demands or constraints on a person, which
result in lower performance.
d. Even moderate levels of stress can have a negative influence on performance over the
long term as the continued intensity of the stress wears down the individual and saps
his/her energy resources.
• In spite of the popularity and intuitive appeal of the inverted-U model, it doesn’t get a lot of
empirical support.
Recognizing Stress
• Short-term physical symptoms
• Long-term physical symptoms
• Internal symptoms
• Behavioral symptoms
Short-Term Physical Symptoms
• Faster heart beat
• Increased sweating
• Cool skin
• Cold hands and feet
• Feelings of nausea, or 'Butterflies in stomach'
• Rapid Breathing
• Tense Muscles
• Dry Mouth
• A desire to urinate
• Diarrhea
Long-term Physical Symptoms
• Change in appetite
• Frequent colds
• Illnesses such as:
• Asthma
• Back pain
• Digestive problems
• Headaches
• Aches and pains
• Feelings of intense and long-term tiredness
Internal Symptoms
• Worry or anxiety
• Confusion, and an inability to concentrate or make decisions
• Feeling ill
• Feeling out of control or overwhelmed by events
• Mood changes:
–Depression
–Frustration
–Hostility
• Helplessness
• Restlessness
• Being more lethargic
• Difficulty sleeping
• Drinking more alcohol and smoking more
• Changing eating habits
• Relying more on medication
Behavioral Symptoms
• Talking too fast or too loud
• Fiddling and twitching, nail biting, grinding teeth, drumming fingers,
pacing, etc.
• Bad moods
• Being irritable
• Defensiveness
Managing Stress
High or low levels of stress sustained over long periods of time, can lead to reduced employee
performance and, thus, require action by management.
1. Individual approaches:
• Effective individual strategies include implementing time management techniques, increasing
physical exercise, relaxation training, and expanding the social support network.
• Practicing time management principles such as:
a. making daily lists of activities to be accomplished
b. prioritizing activities by importance and urgency
c. scheduling activities according to the priorities set
d. knowing your daily cycle and handling the most demanding parts of your job during
the high part of your cycle when you are most alert and productive
• Noncompetitive physical exercise has long been recommended as a way to deal with excessive
stress levels.
• Individuals can teach themselves to reduce tension through relaxation techniques such as
meditation, hypnosis, and biofeedback.
• Having friends, family, or work colleagues to talk to provides an outlet for excessive stress.
2. Organizational approaches
• Strategies that management might want to consider include:
a. improved personnel selection and job placement
b. use of realistic goal setting, redesigning of jobs
c. training
d. increased employee involvement
e. improved organizational communication
f. establishment of corporate wellness programs
Stress Management
“Stress Management Procedures for helping people cope with or reduce
stress already being experienced”
Stress Prevention
“Focusing on controlling or eliminating stressors that might provoke the
stress response”
Dealing with Long-Term Stress
•Fatigue and exhaustion
–Go to bed earlier
–Take a good break (vacation)
–Change work commitments if possible
–Time management strategies
•Handling depression
–Deep depression is a clinical illness and should be handled professionally
–Otherwise
•Positive thinking
•Talk to people and get support
•Get away from situation causing stress
•Lack of self-confidence
–Set personal goals
–List your shortcomings and deal with them
–List the things that worry you and see if it is really important to worry about them at all.
performance and, thus, require action by management.
1. Individual approaches:
• Effective individual strategies include implementing time management techniques, increasing
physical exercise, relaxation training, and expanding the social support network.
• Practicing time management principles such as:
a. making daily lists of activities to be accomplished
b. prioritizing activities by importance and urgency
c. scheduling activities according to the priorities set
d. knowing your daily cycle and handling the most demanding parts of your job during
the high part of your cycle when you are most alert and productive
• Noncompetitive physical exercise has long been recommended as a way to deal with excessive
stress levels.
• Individuals can teach themselves to reduce tension through relaxation techniques such as
meditation, hypnosis, and biofeedback.
• Having friends, family, or work colleagues to talk to provides an outlet for excessive stress.
2. Organizational approaches
• Strategies that management might want to consider include:
a. improved personnel selection and job placement
b. use of realistic goal setting, redesigning of jobs
c. training
d. increased employee involvement
e. improved organizational communication
f. establishment of corporate wellness programs
Stress Management
“Stress Management Procedures for helping people cope with or reduce
stress already being experienced”
Stress Prevention
“Focusing on controlling or eliminating stressors that might provoke the
stress response”
Dealing with Long-Term Stress
•Fatigue and exhaustion
–Go to bed earlier
–Take a good break (vacation)
–Change work commitments if possible
–Time management strategies
•Handling depression
–Deep depression is a clinical illness and should be handled professionally
–Otherwise
•Positive thinking
•Talk to people and get support
•Get away from situation causing stress
•Lack of self-confidence
–Set personal goals
–List your shortcomings and deal with them
–List the things that worry you and see if it is really important to worry about them at all.
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