Chapter 7 Nelson Quick Stress and WellBeing at

Chapter 7 Nelson & Quick Stress and Well-Being at Work

What is Stress? Stress - the unconscious preparation to fight or flee that a person experiences when faced with any demand Stressor - the person or event that triggers the stress response Distress - the adverse psychological, physical, behavioral, and organizational consequences that may arise as a result of stressful events Strain – distress Homeostasis – a steady state of bodily functioning and equilibrium

4 Stress Approaches: 1. Homeostatic/Medical Approach Fight Homeostasis + External environmental demand = Flight

4 Stress Approaches: 2. Cognitive Appraisal Approach w Individuals differ in their appraisal of events & people w What is stressful for one person is not for another w Perception and cognitive appraisal determines what is stressful Problem-focused coping emphasizes managing the stressor Emotion-focused coping emphasizes managing your response

4 Stress Approaches: 3. Person-Environment Fit Approach w No undue stress Good person-environment fit: a person’s skills & abilities match a clearly defined, consistent set of role expectations w Stress, strain, and depression occur when role expectations are confusing and/or conflicting, or when the person’s skills & abilities do not meet the demands of the social role

4 Stress Approaches: 4. Psychoanalytic Approach Ego Ideal - the embodiment of a person’s perfect self Self-Image - how a person sees oneself, both positively & negatively = the difference between ego ideal and self-image

The Stress Response Release of Sympathetic chemical nervous system messengers, & the primarily endocrine adrenaline, (hormone) system into the activated bloodstream • Blood redirected from the skin & internal organs to brain and large muscles • Increased alertness: improved vision, hearing, & other sensory responses • Release of glucose & fatty acids for sustenance • Depression of immune system, digestion, & similar restorative processes

Sources of Stress at Work

Stress Sources at Work

Stress Benefits and Costs

Yerkes-Dodson Law Performance arousal High Low (distress) Optimum (eustress) High (distress) Stress level Boredom from understimulation Optimum stress load Distress from Conditions perceived overstimulation as stressful

Positive Stress/Negative Stress w Stress response itself is neutral w Some stressful activities (aerobic exercise, etc. ) can enhance a person’s ability to manage stressful demands or situations w Stress can provide a needed energy boost w Negative stress results from n a prolonged activation of the stress response n mismanagement of the energy induced by the response n unique personal vulnerabilities

Individual Stress n l l i l a , c s i e d k e o r M st , e s a ) e s s i e d h t c (hear hes, backa c heada Beh avio (sub ral pro viole stance a blems b nce, acci use, dent s) Work-related psychological disorders (depression, burnout, psychosomatic disorders)

Organizational Stress Participative Problems - a cost associated with absenteeism, tardiness, strikes & work stoppages, & turnover Performance Decrement - a cost resulting from poor quality or low quantity of production, grievances, & unscheduled machine downtime & repair Compensation Award - an organizational cost resulting from court awards for job distress

Dealing with Stress Achilles’ heel phenomenon - a person breaks down at his or her weakest point

Are There Gender-Related Stressors? Sexual harassment Early age fatal health problems Long term disabling health problems Violence

Type A Behavior Patterns - a complex of personality and behavior characteristics n sense of time urgency “hurry sickness” n quest for numbers (of achievements) n status insecurity n aggression & hostility expressed in response to frustration & conflict

Personality Hardiness - a personality resistant to distress & characterized by n challenge (versus threat) n commitment (versus alienation) n control (versus powerlessness) Transformational Coping - a way of managing stressful events by changing them into subjectively less stressful events (versus regressive coping passive avoidance of events by decreasing interaction with the environment)

Self-Reliance - a healthy, secure, interdependent pattern of behavior related to how people form and maintain supportive attachments with others Counterdependence - an unhealthy, insecure pattern of behavior that leads to separation in relationships with other people Overdependence - an unhealthy, insecure pattern of behavior that leads to preoccupied attempts to achieve security through relationships.

Preventative Stress Management - an organizational philosophy that holds that people & organizations should take joint responsibility for promoting health and preventing distress & strain Primary Prevention - designed to reduce, modify, or eliminate the demand or stressor causing stress Secondary Prevention - designed to alter or modify the individual’s or the organization’s response to a demand or stressor Tertiary Prevention - designed to heal individual or organizational symptoms of distress & strain

Preventative Stress Maintenance Organizational stressors • Task demands • Role demands • Physical demands • Interpersonal demands Primary prevention stressor directed Health risk factors Stress responses • Individual • Organizational Secondary prevention response directed Asymptomatic disease Distress Individual problems • Behavioral • Medical • Psychological Organizational costs • Direct • Indirect Tertiary prevention symptom directed Symptomatic disease Source: J. D. Quick, R. S. Horn, and J. C. Quick, “Health Consequences of Stress, ” Journal of Organizational Behavior Management 8, no. 2, figure 1 (Fall 1986): 21. Reprinted with permission of Haworth Press, Inc. , 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904. Copyright 1986.

Organizational Stress Prevention w Focuses on people’s work demands w Focuses on ways to reduce distress at work w Most organizational prevention is primary n job redesign n goal setting n role negotiation n social support systems

Job Strain Model Workload Low High Selfdetermination n Passive job w o L -s in a tr High s h i rt a b jo Unresolved strain (ill health) g i H b jo Active job SOURCE: B. Gardell, “Efficiency and Health Hazards in Mechanized Work, ” in J. C. Quick, R. S. Bhagat, J. E. Dalton, and J. D. Quick, eds. , Work Stress: Health Care Systems in the Workplace. Copyright © 1987. Reproduced with permission of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. , Westport, CT.

Social Support at Work & Home Family Spouse Children Parents In-laws Organizational Supervisor Colleagues Subordinates Clients Professional Physicians Psychologists Counselors Lawyers Individual Church/Religious Group Minister/Rabbi Friends Support groups Clubs Business associations Social clubs Athletic groups SOURCE: From J. C. Quick J. D. Quick, D. L. Nelson and J. J. Hurrell, Jr. , in Preventive Stress Management in Organizations, 1997, p. 198. Copyright© 1997 by The American Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission.

Individual Preventive Stress Management