Handling Change and

Stress
ESSF0014 Fundamentals of Lifelong and
Personal Development

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 Stress

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2
Stress: Physiology & Consequences
• Stress
• Internal reaction to any force that threatens to disturb a person’s equilibrium
• Internal reaction usually takes the form of emotional discomfort
• Stressor
• External or internal force that brings about the stress

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Stress: Physiology & Consequences
Physiological changes
Fight-or-flight response
 Experience of stress prompts the adrenal glands to release a flood of hormones that
prepare the body to fight or run when faced with a challenge

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Stress: Physiology & Consequences
Physiological changes
Burnout
 Condition of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion in response to long-term job
stressors

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Sources of Stress in Personal Life
Significant life change
Low self-esteem
Everyday annoyances
Social and family problems

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Sources of Stress in Personal Life
Physical and mental health problems
Financial problems
School-related problems

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Sources of Stress in Personal Life
Personality factors contributing to stress
Type A Behavior and hostility
 Personality characteristics that lead a person into stressful situations
 Type A behavior has two main components
 Tendency to try to accomplish too many things tin too little time
 Free-floating hostility

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Sources of Stress in Personal Life
• Personality factors contributing to stress
• Belief in external locus of control
• Individual’s belief that external forces control their fate
• Belief in internal locus of control
• Individual’s belief that fate is pretty much under a person’s own control

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Sources of Stress in Personal Life
Negative Affectivity
Tendency to experience aversive (intensely disliked) emotional states
Predisposition to experience emotional stress that includes feelings of
nervousness, tension and worry

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 Work Stress

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 Work overload or
Abusive underload
supervision and (techno stress
uncivil coworkers included)
Role conflict and
ambiguity

Adverse
customer
Frequent
interaction and Work
emotional labor Stressors

Job insecurity and

Adverse job loss
environmental
conditions

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Key Sources of Work Stress
Work overload or underload
Role overload
 Burdensome workload that creates stress for a person in two ways
 Person may become fatigued and less able to tolerate annoyances and irritations
 Person subject to unreasonable work demands may feel perpetually behind schedule,
situation that itself creates an uncomfortable, stressful feeling

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Key Sources of Work Stress
Work overload or underload
Techno stress
 Stress caused by information overload as a result of having to cope with ever-
changing technology and the deluge of data stemming from information technology

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Key Sources of Work Stress
Work overload or underload
Role underload
 Disruptive amount of stress that can occur when people experience too little to do
 One benefit is the preservation of energy for family and leisure activities

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Key Sources of Work Stress
Role conflict and role ambiguity
Role Conflict
 Having to choose between two competing demands or expectation
Role Ambiguity
 Condition in which the jobholder receives confusing or poorly defined expectations

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Key Sources of Work Stress
Job insecurity and job loss
Worry
Job search
Relocation
Downsizing
Merger
Financial problems

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Key Sources of Work Stress
Adverse environmental conditions
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
 Repetitive motion disorder most frequently associated with keyboarding and the use
of optical scanners
 Occurs when repetitive flexing and extension of the wrist causes the tendon to swell,
thus trapping and pinching the median nerve

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Key Sources of Work Stress
Adverse customer interaction and emotional labor
Emotional labor
 Process of regulating both feelings and expressions to meet organizational goals
 Surface acting
 Deep acting

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 Managing Stress

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Managing Stress
Dealing with stress by attacking its source
Eliminating or modifying the stressor
Placing the stressful situation in perspective
Gaining control of the situation

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Managing Stress
Receiving social support and organizational support
Support system
 Group of people on whom one can rely for encouragement and comfort
 Happy marriage
 Organizational support

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Managing Stress
Relaxation techniques for handling stress
Relaxation response
 Physical state of deep rest in which one experiences a slower respiration and heart
rate, lowered blood pressure, and lowered metabolism
Meditation
 Systematic method of concentration, reflection or concentrated thinking designed to
suppress the activity of the sympathetic nervous system

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Managing Stress
Stay well
Exercise properly
Rest sufficiently
Maintain healthy diet

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Understanding & Dealing with
Personal Problems

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25
Understanding & Dealing with Personal Problems
Self-defeating behavior
Solicit feedback on your actions
Learn to profit from criticism
Stop denying the existence of problems
Observe discrepancy between ideal life and what exists now
Visualize self-enhancing behavior

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Understanding & Dealing with Personal
Problems
Developing resilience
Ability to withstand pressure and emerge stronger because of an
experience
Being challenged and not breaking down

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Reference/ Sources

• DuBrin A. (2014) Human Relations for Career and Personal

Success: Concepts, Applications, and Skills, 10/e. Pearson

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