chapter 18 - stress and health in organizations

Question 1

how to beat burnout

Answer 1

Financial rewards may reduce a little
Emotional rewards are good
Reassurance is key
Managing a sense of community
Principle: empowering individuals to perform their jobs effectively in a safe and supportive environment

Question 2

Describe how the stress process unfolds in the workplace - What area of your life causes you the most stress?

Answer 2

money
work
housing costs
job stability
the economy

causes most stress on top

Question 3

stress

Answer 3

Stress - we define as a generally unpleasant perception and appraisal of stressors

Stressful events and situations stress you out and you feel the impact of stress behaviorally, psychologically and physically

Stress is a part of a process – during this process, many factors come into play

Question 4

stressors

Answer 4

Stressors - refer to conditions or events that an individual perceives as challenging or threatening

Question 5

strain

Answer 5

As a result of stress, an individual experiences strain or the psychological, physiological and behavioral consequences of stress

Strain encompasses the consequences of the experience of stress

Question 6

two types of stressors

Answer 6

challenge and hindrance stressors

Question 7

challenge stressors

Answer 7

Researchers have argued that challenge stressors - or stressors associated with workload, pressure to complete tasks and time urgency

leads to strain

Challenge stressors lead to more motivation, engagement, and performance than hindrance stressors

Question 8

hindrance stressors

Answer 8

hindrance stressors – or stressors that keep you from reaching your goals (for example, red tape, office politics, confusion over job responsibilities).

leads to increased strain levels

On the other hand, hindrance stressors appear to negatively affect safety compliance and participation, employee engagement, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, performance, and withdrawal than do challenge stressors. Social situations have been traditionally viewed as hindrance stressors

Question 9

environmental stressors

Answer 9

Two types of environmental uncertainty are worth mentioning: economic and political uncertainty

Changes in the business cycle create economic uncertainties

Political uncertainties result when political threats and changes induce stress

Question 10

organizational stressors

Answer 10

Task demands

Degree of autonomy, task variety, working conditions and the physical work layout

Role demands - relate to pressures placed on a person asa function of their particular role in the organization

Role overload and role ambiguity

Question 11

personal stressors

Answer 11

Family issues and personal economic issues

Personal economic problems of overextended financial resources create stress and siphon attention away from work

Question 12

strain (further explained)

Answer 12

Stress manifests as strain in many ways, such as high blood pressure, ulcers, irritability, difficulty making routine decisions, changes in appetite, accident proneness etc.

Question 13

physiological strain

Answer 13

Backaches, headaches, eye strain, sleep disturbances, dizziness, fatigue, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal problems and even cardiovascular disease

Question 14

psychological strain

Answer 14

Job dissatisfaction is an obvious cause of stress

Stress shows itself in other psychological states – for instance, tension, anxiety, irritability and boredom

Jobs that provide a low level of variety, significance, autonomy, feedback and identity appear to cause stress and reduce satisfaction and involvement in the job

Question 15

behavioral strain

Answer 15

Behavior-related stress symptoms include reductions in productivity; increases in absences, safety incidents and turnover; changes in eating habits increased smoking or consumption of alcohol etc.

Question 16

eustress

Answer 16

“This form of stress has been labeled as eustress (from Greek root eu, meaning “good”), or a healthy, positive, and constructive appraisal of stressors.”

high performance from medium stress

Question 17

how sleep affects physical health at work

Answer 17

sleep:
- Sleep quality has a moderately negative impact on job attitudes and psychological health and mood at work
- Sleep deprivation has a substantial impact on memory, cognitive task performance and more general job outcomes for both managers and employees, like task performance, attendance, safety behavior and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs).
- Compounding job demands can lead to a steady decrease in sleep quality over the workweek, leaving you drained by the end of the week

to fix:
- Physical activity, recovery experiences with social support groups and possibly even wearing blue light-blocking glasses can help

Question 18

how sleep affects physical health at illness and injury

Answer 18

“OB professionals refer to working while ill or injured as presenteeism”

Question 19

how sleep affects physical health at personal and work risk factors

Answer 19

One review of nearly three hundred studies suggests that what we do in the workplace is just as much of a risk factor for illness as is second hand smoke

Question 20

Recognize how maladaptive mental health conditions can manifest as a consequence of stressors at work - Three primary areas of mental health in the workforce

Answer 20

Job insecurity as a stressor
Workaholism behaviors
The experience of psychological distress at work, including burnout and depression

Question 21

job insecurity

Answer 21

Employees experience job insecurity when they perceive that their jobs are at risk or that their employment is not stable

• Job insecurity is a highly emotional perception that greatly affects employees’ mental health, affecting sleep, depressive symptoms and burnout
• Although job insecurity can reflect increased demands on the job, it is more likely signaled by a lack of social and structural resources, such as fair interpersonal treatment and communication, leader-member exchange and support and trust from coworkers, most often in environments when unemployment is high

Question 22

workaholism

Answer 22

“One possible response to job insecurity is workaholism (although it can also be because people really love their jobs and feel a calling to work excessively). Workaholism involves feeling compelled to work due to internal pressures, thinking about work even when not working, and going above and beyond what is reasonably expected (to one’s own detriment).”

Question 23

burnout

Answer 23

Many employees at some point in their careers experience burnout, a work-related mental health syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment.

Question 24

emotional exhaustion

Answer 24

Emotional exhaustion refers to feeling overextended and emotionally depleted

Question 25

depersonalization

Answer 25

Depersonalization refers to maladaptively coping with the job through callousness and distancing.

Question 26

reduced personal acocmplishment

Answer 26

Reduced personal accomplishment means losing a sense of productivity or contribution on the job

Question 27

Compare the four major stress and health theories - The four health and stress theories

Answer 27

1. Conservation of resources
2. Demand-control-support
3. Job demands-resources
4. Effort-reward-imbalance

Question 28

the four health and stress theories - 1. conversation of resources theory

Answer 28

suggests that employees strive to obtain, foster, retain and protect the resources and things they value

Resources are factors within an individual’s control that can be expended toward fulfilling desires, attaining goals or meeting task demands

“Research has been supportive of COR theory. Diminished job control and social support have been linked with burnout, suggesting that a loss of resources leads to strain in the form of burnout.”

Question 29

the four health and stress theories - 2. effort reward imbalance model

Answer 29

Suggests that employees will experience strain when they put in a great deal of effort for little reward. In turn, employees are motivated to resolve this discrepancy by either 1. Putting in less effort or 2. Working to maximize or increase the reward

“research found that job security and a sense of competence were related to health to a degree greater than salary.”

“As another issue, at what point does the imbalance between effort and reward become meaningful or compelling enough to cause changes in the stress experience?”

Question 30

the four health and stress theories - 3. job demand-control-support model

Answer 30

Suggests strain is a function of three factors: demands, control and support

1. Demands are the responsibilities, pressures, obligations and uncertainties that individuals face in the workplace.
2. Control, similar to autonomy discussed in previous chapter refers to the degree to which employees have discretion over how to do their jobs
3. Support is essentially perceptions of assistance provided by the organizations, supervisor and coworkers.

The main tenant behind the JDCS model is that any negative effects of demands on strain can be offset or buffered by control and support

“Research on the initial JDCS model has not been very supportive of the theory in general.However, the “buffering” tenant of the theory has been supported in prior work,and demands and control have both been linked separately to the increase and decrease in mortality odds, respectively.”

Question 31

the four health and stress theories - 4. job demand-resources model

Answer 31

“When you undergo your annual performance review at work, you feel stressed because you confront challenges and hindrance demands. A good performance review may lead to a promotion, greater responsibilities, and a higher salary.”

Combines elements of COR theory and the JDCS to suggest that demands and resources both contribute to performance through their distinctive effects on strain (ex: burnout) and engagement

“The JDR is one of the most popular stress and health theories to date, and research tends to support its utility. Both demands and resources lead to strain (e.g., burnout) as expected.However, the relationship between demands and engagement does not tend to be as strong as the other relationships in the model, as sometimes challenging demands “

Question 32

allostasis

Answer 32

part of the job demands-resources model

“By allostasis, we work to find stability by changing our behaviors and attitudes. It all depends on the allostatic load, or the cumulative effect of stressors on us, given the resources we draw upon.”

Question 33

work-life boundaries

Answer 33

Work-life boundaries are also called borders
“boundaries are complicated because people have preferences for how integrated they want their work and home lives to be and how willing they are to “move” across domains (e.g., taking time off to deal with personal issues).

Question 34

boundary management

Answer 34

Employees engage in boundary management, they enact strategies or tactics to negotiate the time, space and roles they play in each of the domains

These tactics can come in one of three forms: physical, behavioral and psychological

Question 35

work-life spillover

Answer 35

Work–life spillover occurs when our psychological responses to one domain (e.g., our positive or negative moods) are carried over into another domain and impact it in some way” → the spillover we experience crosses over to other people

Question 36

work-life conflict (important)

Answer 36

“It can negatively affect job attitudes and performance. It can even lead to more objective work outcomes, negatively impacting manager performance ratings and upward mobility (e.g., promotions).It can negatively affect home life by leading to poor life, leisure, family, and marital strain, and strain causes conflict”

Question 37

work-life enrichment (important)

Answer 37

“Work–family spillover also has a positive side. Jeff Bezos, Amazon chair and former CEO, once noted that if he was happy at home, he would bring tremendous energy with him into the office. Furthermore, if he was happy at work, he would also bring tremendous energy with him into his home life.”

Question 38

work-life initiatives include..

Answer 38

time based strategies
information-based strategies
money-based strategies
direct services
culture-change strategies

“Flexible and supportive policies, such as keeping workloads reasonable, reducing work-related travel, and offering onsite high-quality child care, are examples of practices that can help in this endeavor”

Not surprisingly, people differ in their preference for scheduling options and benefits.

Question 39

individual approaches to managing stress at work

Answer 39

• Developing time management skills
• Focusing on mental wellness and physical fitness
• Building resilience
  **Resilience involves resistance to the adverse effects of stress and strain
• Practicing relaxation and mindfulness
  **“Another technique, mindfulness—receptively paying attention to and being aware of the present moment, events, and experiences—has become popular in organizations.”
• Seeking social support
  “Expanding your social support network enables you to find someone to hear your problems and offer a more objective perspective on a stressful situation (i.e., emotional support) or help you with some of your workload (i.e., instrumental support)”

Question 40

organizational approaches to managing stress at work

Answer 40

• Resdesigning jobs
  **Enabling a remote work option
• Offering recovery experiences
• Wellness programs
  **“Our final suggestion is organizationally supported employee assistance programs (EAPs), work–life programs, or wellness programs. (Note that many have argued that these programs should be integrated and considered under the same umbrella, although there are some differences.)”

Question 41

list and explain the 4 health and stress theories

Answer 41

1. conservation of resources theory
   suggests that employees strive to obtain, foster, retain and protect the resources and things they value
2. effort-reward imbalance model
   Suggests that employees will experience strain when they put in a great deal of effort for little reward. In turn, employees are motivated to resolve this discrepancy by either 1. Putting in less effort or 2. Working to maximize or increase the reward
3. demand-control-support model
   - . Demands are the responsibilities, pressures, obligations and uncertainties that individuals face in the workplace.
   - . Control, similar to autonomy discussed in previous chapter refers to the degree to which employees have discretion over how to do their jobs
   - . Support is essentially perceptions of assistance provided by the organizations, supervisor and coworkers.
   - The main tenant behind the JDCS model is that any negative effects of demands on strain can be offset or buffered by control and support
4. job demands-resources model
   “When you undergo your annual performance review at work, you feel stressed because you confront challenges and hindrance demands. A good performance review may lead to a promotion, greater responsibilities, and a higher salary.”

Combines elements of COR theory and the JDCS to suggest that demands and resources both contribute to performance through their distinctive effects on strain (ex: burnout) and engagement