Comprehensive Stress Management

Thirteenth Edition

Chapter 16
Occupational
Stress

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 Chapter Outline
• What is occupational stress?
• Occupational stress cycle
• Why is occupational stress of concern?
• Gender and occupational stress
• Disease and occupational stress
• Occupational stressors
• The workaholic
• Burnout
• Women and work outside the home
• Working in the home
• Interventions
• Managing occupational stress
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 Occupational Stress - Introduction
• Occupational stress is caused due to:
– Sources of stress at work
– Individual characteristics
– Extra organizational stressors

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 Figure 6.1 - Occupational Stress
Model

Source: Cary L. Cooper and Judi Marshall, “Occupational Sources of Stress: A Review of
the Literature Relating to Coronary Heart Disease and Mental Ill Health,” in Journal of
Occupational Psychology 49(1976) 11–28. Reproduced with permission of Blackwell
Publishing Ltd.
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 Occupational Stressors in Different
Contexts (1 of 2)
• Sociocultural
– Racism, sexism, and political changes
• Organizational
– Hiring policies, layoffs, and relocation
• Work setting
– Supervision, coworkers, and ergonomics
• Interpersonal
– Divorce, death, and parenthood
• Psychological
– Mental illness, poor self-image, and addictions

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 Occupational Stressors in Different
Contexts (2 of 2)
• Biological
– Disease, disability, and pregnancy
• Physical/environmental
– Poor air, noise exposure, and poor lighting
• Concerns regarding occupational stress
– Work stress costs businesses billions of dollars
per year
– Source of unhappiness for individuals
– Increased medical costs and hospitalization
– Fewer vacations taken by employees
– Technological advancements increase stress

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 Figure 16.3 - Increased Risk as a
Result of Stressful Work places

Source: Adapted from The Business Case for a Healthy Workplace, 2011 with
permission of Workplace Safety & Prevention Services, Mississauga, Canada.

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 Gender and Occupational Stress
(1 of 2)
• Stressors affecting women
– Career blocks
– Sexual harassment
– Male-dominated climate
– Performance pressure
– Gender stereotyping
– Isolation
– Lack of role models

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 Gender and Occupational Stress
(2 of 2)
• Women report higher levels of stress than men
– Use social support to cope with occupational
stressors
– Occupational stress experienced by male
workers relates to the power structure within
their organization

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 Physiological Effects of Occupational
Stress
• Hypertension
• Serum cholesterol
• Cardiovascular disease
• Musculoskeletal disorders
• Common cold, injury, and illness
• Ineffective immune system
• Ingestion of alcohol

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Diseases Caused Due to Occupational
Stress
• Coronary artery disease
• Obesity
• Psychosomatic symptoms

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 Psychological Effects of Occupational
Stress
• Low self-esteem
• Increased job tension
• Low job satisfaction
• Anxiety

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 Occupational Stressors (1 of 2)
• Workers feel stressed at work due to:
– Lack of participation in the decision-making
process
– Role problems
 Role overload
 Role insufficiency
 Role ambiguity
 Role conflict
– Job dissatisfaction
 Motivational factors affect job satisfaction
– Work environment
 Dangerous tasks, toxic chemicals, and high
noise levels
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 Occupational Stressors (2 of 2)

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 Workaholism
• Immersing oneself excessively in work at the
expense of non work activities
– Workaholic - Identifies oneself more with the
role of a worker rather than an individual
• Effects
– Exhaustion
– Anxiety
– High blood pressure

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 Ways to Combat Workaholism (1 of
2)
• Focusing on the work one likes
• Finding work that one would like to do during
his or her free time
• Using one’s time judiciously
• Building friendships at work
• Scheduling free or open time into one’s work
life
• Learning to say no occasionally
• Creating a pleasant work environment
• Changing the working style and yet making
work fulfilling

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 Ways to Combat Workaholism (2 of
2)

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 Burnout
• Adverse stress reaction to work with
psychological, psychophysiological, and
behavioral components
• Includes three dimensions
– Emotional exhaustion
– Depersonalization
– Lack of personal accomplishment

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 Symptoms of Burnout
• Diminished sense of humor
• Skipping rest and meals
• Increased overtime and physical complaints
• Social withdrawal
• Changed job performance
• Self-medication
• Internal changes

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 Stages of Burnout
• Stage 1 - Honeymoon
– Worker is satisfied with the job
• Stage 2 - Fuel shortage
– Fatigue sets in at work
• Stage 3 - Chronic symptoms
– Work leads to constant exhaustion
• Stage 4 - Crisis
– Worker stops attending work due to illness
• Stage 5 - Hitting the wall
– Physical and psychological problems cause life-
threatening illnesses

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 How to Combat Burnout
• Identifying the value and meaning of one’s job
• Listing all activities that one likes and ranking
them in order of importance
• Creating a support group
• Starting a physical self-care program
• Starting a psychological self-care program
• Doing something silly every day

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 Women and Work Outside the Home
(1 of 2)
• Women are disadvantaged in the world of work
– Make less money than their male counterparts
– Subjected to more sexual harassment
– Minority women earn less than non-minority women
• 54% women are still employed in traditional
women’s roles
– Preschool and kindergarten teachers
– Dental hygienists
– Maids and housekeeping cleaners
– Hairdressers
– Bookkeepers and receptionists
– Secretaries or typists

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 Women and Work Outside the Home
(2 of 2)
• Women cope differently when compared to men
– Adopt an emotion-focused coping style
– Request and receive more social support
• Women and retirement
– Retirement wage gap exists for women
– Lack of life insurance benefits
– Divorced women receive less retirement income

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Family-Friendly Work-Related Policies
• Job sharing
• Flexible work schedules
• Home-based work
• Health promotion programs
• Child and elder care
• Other policies

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 Work-Family Balance
• Satisfaction and good functioning at work
and home with a minimum role conflict
– Workers bring family stress to work and
take work stress home
 Affects productivity, decision-making, and
relationships

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 Theories That Explain Work-Family
Balance Issues
• Spillover theory
– Change in one domain affects other domains
• Compensation theory
– When one domain is troubled, resources go to
the other domain
• Resource drain theory
– Resources devoted to one domain become
unavailable in the other domains
– Sumber daya yang dikhususkan untuk satu
domain menjadi tidak tersedia di domain lain

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 Working in the Home
• Homemakers
– Experience denigration (fitnah) of their role
– Risk the same occupational stressors as men
• Empty-nest syndrome is a potent stressor

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 Life-Situation Interventions
• Not taking work home
• Taking adequate breaks
• Discussing about occupational stress with close
friends
• Establishing a techno-free time

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 Perception Interventions
• Looking for humor in the stressors at work
• Trying to see things for what they really are
• Distinguishing between need and desire
• Separating one’s self-worth from the task
• Employing the appropriate style of coping
based on situations

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 Emotional and Physiological Arousal
Interventions
• Emotional intervention
– Relaxation techniques help overcome emotional
stress
– Being ingenious, assertive, and committed in
the care provided to individuals
• Physiological intervention
– Exercising reduces occupational stress

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 Occupational Stress

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