CHAPTER-SIX

Work-related Stress and Stress Management

6.1 What is Stress?
Stress is an adaptive response to situations that is perceived as challenging or threatening to the
person’s well-being. As we shall see, stress is the person’s reaction to the situation, not the
situation itself. Moreover, we experience stress, when we believe that something will interfere in
our well-being, that is, with our innate derives and need fulfillment.
Stress has both physiological as well as psychological dimensions. Psychologically, people
perceive situation and interpret as threatening or challenging. This cognitive appraisal leads to a
set of physiological responses such as high blood pressure, sweaty hands and faster
heartbeat..etc. We often hear about stress as negative consequences of modern living. People are
stressed from overwork, job insecurity, and information overload and the increasing pace of life.
This-events produce distress-the degree of physiological, psychological and behavioral
deviations from healthy functioning. There is also a positive side of stress, called Eustress that
refers to the healthy, positive, constructive outcome of stressful events and the stress response.
Eustress is the stress experience in moderation, enough to activate and motivate people so that
they can achieve goals, change their environment and succeed in life challenges. In other words,
we need some stress to strive. However, most research focuses on stress because of it is a
significant concern in organizational concern. Employees frequently experience enough stress to
hurt their job performance and increase their risk of mental and physical health problems,
consequently our discussion will focus more on distress than eustress.
6.2. Understanding Causes of Stress and its Consequences
Stressors; the cause of stress, include any environmental conditions that place a physical or
emotional demand on a person. There are numerous stressors in organizational settings and other
life activities. Exhibit 6.1 shows the four main types of work-related stressors; interpersonal, role
related, task control, organizational and physical environment stressors.

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Exhibit 6.1 Causes and Consequences of Stress

1. Interpersonal stressors Individual difference Consequences of distress

 Perception Physiological
- Sexual harassment
 Job experience  Heart disease
- Work place violence  Ulcers
- Bullying  Social support
 High blood pressure
2. Role related stressors  Belief in locus of  Headache
- Role conflict control  Sleep disturbance
- Role ambiguity  Self-efficacy  More illness
- Work overload  Hostility Psychological
 Job dissatisfaction
3. Task control stressors
 Depression
4. Organizational/physical Experienced  Anxiety
environment stressors Stress  Exhaustion
- Excessive noise  Moodiness
- Poor lighting  Burnout
- Safety hazards Behavioral
 Lower job
performance/productivity
 More accidents
 Faulty decisions
 Higher absenteeism/turnover
 Workplace aggression
Non-work
stressors

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I. Interpersonal Stressors

 Sexual harassment is a significant interpersonal stressor. Sexual harassment involves

unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical
harassment of a sexual nature. It can take many forms, from suggestive comments to
unwanted touching or assault. It creates a hostile or intimidating environment, especially in
workplace settings. Being subjected to sexual harassment on the job or in school is extremely
stressful. It threatens one's sense of safety, dignity and control over their own body and
boundaries. This loss of autonomy and feeling violated is psychologically distressing. It
damages interpersonal relationships and dynamics at work or school due to tensions, power
imbalances, and loss of respect created by the harassment situation. Long-term effects can
include issues with trust, intimacy, mental health problems like PTSD, anxiety, and
depression due to the trauma of experiencing harassment.

 Workplace violence is another significant interpersonal stressor. It involves threats,

intimidation, or acts of physical assault or abuse that occur at places of work. This
includes threats made via phone, email, or other means. Even experiencing or witnessing
less severe acts like yelling, bullying, or other aggressive behaviors can be very stressful
due to feelings of threat, intimidation, and loss of safety. Workplace violence undermines
trust between coworkers and confidence in protective policies/leadership at the company.
This loss of security and control is a major source of stress. Job performance and
motivation can decline due to high stress levels interfering with focus, concentration, and
decision making. Relationships and team dynamics at work may become strained or
damaged depending on how the violent event was handled.
 Workplace bullying - It involves repeated, unreasonable actions of individuals (or
groups) directed towards an employee or group of employees that are intended to
intimidate, degrade, humiliate, or undermine. Common bullying behaviors include verbal
abuse, spreading rumors, excessive criticism/monitoring of work, humiliation, isolation,
and sabotage of a person's work. Bullying leads to feelings of threat, loss of dignity, lack
of control or support in the workplace. It undermines one's sense of safety and respect. Job
performance and commitment to the organization can decline significantly due to stress
impairing focus and decision-making. Like other workplace stressors, bullying can
negatively impact work relationships, team cohesion and overall morale.

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II. Role-related stressors
Role related stressors include conditions where employees have difficulty of understanding,
reconciling or performing the various roles in their lives. Three types of role related stressors are;
 Role ambiguity - When it is unclear what is expected in a work role and there is lack of
guidelines, procedures, or feedback. This causes uncertainty and anxiety.
 Role conflict - When job demands or expectations are incompatible with each other, such as
conflicting priorities from different managers. This leads to feeling torn or unable to meet all
role functions.
 Role overload - Having too many responsibilities or too high workload to reasonably
accomplish. This causes stress due to taking on more than is possible to handle well.

III. Task-control stressors

Degree of task control as a stressor is associated with a person’s level of responsibility. For
example, assembly line workers have low task control but tend to experience low stress because
they also have low responsibility for those tasks. In contrast sport coaches are under immense
pressure to win games (high responsibility), yet they have little control over what happens on
playing field (low task control).
Task-control stressors refer to stress that arises from a lack of control or autonomy over one's
tasks and job duties.
Some key task-control stressors include:
 Lack of decision-making input - Not having a say in decisions that impact your work can be
disempowering and lead to stress.
 Close supervision - Having a manager that micromanages your every task and decision
leaves little room for independence and judgment.
 Restrictive rules/procedures - Jobs with very rigid rules and protocols that don't allow for
flexibility or discretion in handling tasks can frustrate workers.
 Repetitive/boring tasks - Jobs with tasks that provide little mental stimulation or variety on a
daily basis can cause stress, especially over the long-term.
 Strict deadlines - Feeling a lack of control over workload or ability to determine reasonable
deadlines for complex projects.
 Lack of learning/development - Jobs that don't allow workers to learn new skills or be
challenged through development can cause stress.

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IV. Organizational and physical environment stressors
Organizational and physical environment stressors come in many forms downsizing (reducing
the number of employees) is extremely stressful to those who leave their jobs. However, layoff
survivors also experience stress because of the reduced job security, choose of change, additional
workloads, and guilt of having a job as others lose theirs.
The following factors can be labelled as organizational stressors;
 Poor communication/lack of feedback
 Unclear company policies/procedures
 Frequent restructuring/changes
 Unrealistic performance expectations
 Unfair treatment or favoritism
 Lack of support from management
 Low job security/threat of downsizing
 Inadequate resources to do the job
Some stressors are also found in the physical work environment which includes:
 Loud noise/excessive noise levels
 Poor air quality/ventilation
 Extreme temperatures/weather
 Bright or inadequate lighting
 Lack of privacy
 Crowded workspaces
 Safety/health hazards
 Long commutes/transportation issues
Some stressors span both categories, like inadequate staffing levels which affect the work
environment but are also an organizational factor. Overall, these stressors arise from issues with
the workplace systems, resources, policies and physical conditions that hamper productivity and
employee well-being. They reflect poor organizational support if left unaddressed.
Non-work stressors
The stress model shown in exhibit 6.1 has a two-way arrow, indicating that stressors from work
spill over into non-work and vice versa. There are three types of those work-non-work stressors:
time based, train based and role-based conflict.

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 Time based conflict - is the difficulty of balancing work with family and non-work
activities, affecting employees with strong family values and more acutely for women in
dual-career families.
 Strain based conflict - occurs when stress from one domain spills over the others.
Relationship problem, financial difficulties, and lose of a loved one usually top the list of
non-work stressors. New responsibilities such as marriage, birth of child and a mortgage are
also stressful to most of us. Stress at work also spills over to an employee’s personal life and
often becomes the foundations of stressful relation with family and friends. In support of this,
one study found that fathers who experience stress at work engage in dysfunctional parenting
behaviors, which then lead to their children’s behavior problems in school.
 Role behavior conflict - occurs when people expected to enact different work and non-work
roles. People who act logically and impersonally at work have difficulty switching to more
compassionate behavioral style in their personal lives.

Consequences of Distress
As we learned from the general adaptation syndrome, chronic stress diminishes the individual’s
résistance, resulting in adverse consequence both for employees and the organization. Some of
more the common outcomes or symptoms of work- related stress were listed earlier and are
discussed here.
a) Physiological Consequences
Stress takes its toll on the human body. As we noted earlier, people are more susceptible to
disease when they are under pressure from stress. For example, studies have found that medical
students who are anxious about their exams are more susceptible to colds and other illness.
b) Psychological consequences - Probably the most common psychological symptom of work
related stress is lower job satisfaction, which represents a person’s evaluation of his/her work
and job context. Employees with a high level of stress also tend to be moody and depressed.
Emotional fatigue is another psychological consequence and is related to job burnout.
 Job burnout - refers to the process of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and
reduced personal accomplishments resulting from prolonged exposure to stress. It is a
complex process that includes the dynamics of stress, coping strategies’ and stress
consequences. Burnout is caused by excessive demands made on people who serve or
frequently interact with others.

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c) Behavioral consequences- when stress becomes distress, job performance falls and
workplace accidents are more common. High stress level impairs our ability to remember
information, make effective decision, and take appropriate action. You have been probably
experienced this in an exam or emergency work situations. You forget important information,
make mistakes, and otherwise “draw a blank” under intense pressure.

Workplace aggression is more than interpersonal stressors. It is also an increasingly worrisome

consequence of stress. Aggression represents the “fight”(instead of flight) reaction to stress. In
its mildest form, employees engage in verbal conflict. They “fly off the handle” and are less
likely to empathize with co-workers. Occasionally, the combination of an individual’s
background and workplace stressors escalates this conflict in to more dangerous level of
workplace hostility.
6.3 Managing Work-related Stress
Stress management is crucial, but many people deny it until it's too late. Effective stress
management often involves multiple strategies, and it's essential to determine which one is best
for the situation.
A) Remove the stressor; Exhibit 6.2 outlines various stress management strategies, with some
suggesting that companies should eliminate unnecessary stress to prevent job burnout.
Empowering employees and minimizing task-related stressors through effective selection and
placement can help reduce stress and improve job satisfaction.

Remove the Stressors

Receive Social Withdraw from

Support the Stressor
Stress Management
Control Stress Strategies Change the Stress
Consequences Perception

Exhibit 6.2. Stress Management Strategies

 Another recommendation is to change the corporate culture and reward system. So they
support a work-life balance and no longer reinforced dysfunctional work holism.

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  Noise and safety risks are stressful, so improving this condition would also go a long way
to minimize stress in the workplace.
 Workplace violence and bullying can be minimized by carefully selecting employees and
having clear guidelines of behavior and feedback to those who violate this standard.
 We can also minimize workplace violence by learning to identify early warning signs of
aggression in customer and co-worker, and by developing interpersonal skills that
dissipate aggression.
 Family-friendly and work-life initiatives; Companies have introduced a variety of
strategies to help employees experience a better balance between their work and personal
lives.
The most common work-life balance initiatives are;
 Flexible work time - some firms are flexible on the hours, days and amount of time
employees’ work.
 Job-sharing - Job-sharing involves splitting a career position between two individuals,
reducing stress and allowing for overlapping work hours to coordinate activities.
 Telecommuting - Telecommuting (working from home) reduces commute time and stress,
allowing for family obligations and promoting healthier stress levels for those who enjoy
social interaction.
 Childcare support - child care support reduces stress because employees are less rushed
to drop off children and less worried during the day about how well they are doing.
 Personal leave programs - Employees with strong work-life values offer extended
maternity, paternity and personal leaves to care for a new family or take advantage of
personal experience.
B) Withdraw from the stressor
Removing the stressor may be the ideal solution but it is often not feasible. An alternative
strategy is to permanently or temporarily remove employees from the stressor. Permanent
withdrawal occurs when employees are transferred to job that better fit their competencies and
values. Temporary withdrawal strategies on the other hand are the most frequent way that
employees manage stress. Day offs and vacations represent somewhat longer temporary
withdrawals from stressful situation.
C) Change the stress perception
Employees often experience different levels of stress in the same situation because they perceive
it differently. Consequently, stress can be minimized by changing the perception of the situation.

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This does not involve ignoring risk or other stressors rather; we can strengthen our self-efficacy
and self-esteem so that job challenges are not perceived as threatening.
D) Control the consequences of stress
Coping with workplace stress also involves controlling its consequences. For this reason many
companies have fitness centers where employees can keep in shape. Research indicates that
physical exercise reduces the physiological consequences of stress by helping employees lower
their respiration, muscle tension, heart rate and stomach acidity. Along with fitness and
relaxation/meditation, many firms are shifted to the broader approach of wellness programs.
These programs educate and support employees in better nutrition and fitness, regular sleep, and
other good health habits. Many large employers also offer employee assistance program (EAP)-
counseling service that help employees overcome personal or organizational stressors and adopt
more effective coping mechanisms. Most EAPs are “broad brush” programs that counsel
employees on any work and personal problems.
E) Receive social support
Social support from co-workers, supervisors, family, friends and others are one of the more
effective stress management practices. Social support refers to providing either emotional or
informational support to buffer the stress experience.
Social support reduces stress in at least three ways. First, employees can improve their
perceptions that they are valued and worthy. This in turn, increases their self-esteem and
perceives ability to cope with the stress. (e.g. I can handle the crisis because my colleague have
confidence in me). Second, social support provides information to help employees interrupt,
comprehend and possibly remove the stressor. Finally, emotional support from others can
directly help to buffer the stress experience. Social support is an important way to cope with
stress that everyone can practice by maintaining friend ships. This involves helping others when
they need little support from the stressors of life. Organizations can facilitate social support by
providing opportunities social interaction among employees as well as their families.
6.5. Implications for Performance and Satisfaction
Stress has implications on performance and satisfaction. Stress can be helpful or harmful to job
performance, depending on its level. When there is no stress, job challenges are absent and
performance tends to be low. As stress increases, performance tends to increase, because stress
helps a person call up resources to meet job requirements. Constructive stress is a healthy
stimulus that encourages employees to respond to challenges.

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Eventually, stress reaches a plateau that corresponds approximately with a person’s top day-to-
day performance capability. At this point additional stress tends to produce no more
improvement. If stress becomes too great, it turns in to a destructive force.
Performance begins to decline at some point because excess stress can lead to better
performance, excessively high stress can lower performance. The effect of stress on satisfaction
is negative always.

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