Conflict and Stress Flashcards
conflict management styles
- dispositional
- situational
Dispositional
Individuals usually have a “preferred” style
Situational
- there are some situations where the style may be more or less effective
- Be sure to assess the situation in order to determine the effectiveness of the style.
Conflict Dynamics
- Desire to win becomes more important than the solution
- Concealing information
- (-)ve stereotypes of others and boosting of self-image exacerbated
- Increase group cohesiveness
- Reduced between-group interaction
- Aggressive people, skilled at engaging in conflict, may emerge as leaders
- Result: conflict takes on a life of its own. It becomes a prob itself.
Group Identification and Intergroup Bias
- The identification with a particular group or class of people.
- People develop a more positive view of their own “in-group” and a less positive view of the “out-group.”
- Self-esteem is a critical factor.
- Attributing positive behavior to your own group should contribute to your self-esteem.
Benefits of Conflict
- There are some potential benefits of organizational conflict.
- Conflict can be functional when it improves decision making and promotes necessary organizational change.
Constructive Conflict
- is most likely to promote good decisions and positive organizational change.
- the parties to the conflict agree that its benefits outweigh the costs.
Conflict Stimulation
- A strategy of increasing conflict to motivate change.
- managing conflict well can spark creativity and stimulate innovation
How does a manager guage the need for conflict?
- Some signals
- ‘Friendly rut’
- Lack of interaction, even when needed.
Conflict suppression
Denial of differences/exaggerating agreement
uneasiness associated with conflict is associated with
- Lack of understanding of the causes and forms of conflict
- Lack of confidence in one’s ability to manage it effectively.
Stress
Psychological reaction to the demands inherent in a stressor that have the potential to make a person feel tense or anxious.
Substantial societal cost burden due to the impact of work stress on productivity loss and damaged health.
Stressors
environmental events or conditions that have the potential to induce stress
Challenge Stressors
Associated with workload, pressure to complete tasks, time urgency.
Hindrance Stressors
Stressors that keep you from reaching your goals (red tape, office politics, confusion over responsibilities, etc.)
Stress reactions
are the behavioral, psychological, and physiological consequences of stress.
Passive reactions:
Over which the individual has little direct control.
Active reactions:
try to cope with the stressor itself or reduce anxiety generated.
Role of Personality
Personality can impact
Stress perception of stressors
Types of stress reactions
3 Key Personality Traits
- Locus of Control
- Type A behaviour pattern
- negative affectivity
3 Key Personality Traits
- Locus of Control
- Type A behaviour pattern
- negative affectivity
Locus of Control
- Externals more likely to feel anxious if stressor present.
- Use simple stress reducing strategies.
- Internals confront stressor directly.
Type A Behaviour Pattern
- Aggressiveness, ambitiousness, competitiveness, hostility, impatience, and a sense of time urgency.
- Type A people report heavier workloads, longer work hours, and more conflicting work demands.
- Likely to exhibit elevated blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and modified blood chemistry.
- Workaholism –related to Type As
Negative Affectivity
- is the propensity to view the world, including oneself and other people, in a negative light.
- Pessimistic, downbeat, hypersensitive to stressors, more likely to perceive stressors.
- Report more stressors in the work environment and feel more subjective stress.
- Use passive, indirect coping styles to avoid real sources of stress.
- They are particularly likely to feel stressed in response to the demands of a heavy workload
Strain
a negative response to stress
Types of Responses
- Physiological
- Psychological
- Behavioural
Physiological responses:
high blood pressure, susceptibility to disease, gastrointestinal problems, etc.
Psychological responses:
anxiety, depression, exhaustion, etc.
Behavioral responses:
poor performance, aggression, substance abuse, absenteeism, turnover, etc.
Burnout
A syndrome typified by emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and low self-efficacy
Sources of Stress at Various Points in the Organization
- boundary roles
- all employees
- operative employees
- executives and managers
- role overload
Boundary Roles
Role conflict
Emotional labour
All employees
Job insecurity and change, role ambiguity, interpersonal conflict, work-family conflict, sexual harassment, bullying
Operative employees
Poor physcial conditions, poor job design
Executives and Managers
Heavy, continuing workload
Heavy responsibility
Role Overload
- One must perform too many tasks in too short of a time period or work too many hours.
- Managerial open-ended nature of work.
- Responsible for future of others. Impact of decisions.
- Work-life balance.
Boundary Spanning
- Boundary roles are positions in which organizational members are required to interact with members of other organizations or with the public.
- High in service jobs –emotional labour.
Stress and Resources
Resources play a large role in how stress is experienced
Resources
objects, conditions, personal characteristics (e.g., self-esteem), energy, self-esteem, supervisor support etc.
- things that we value
Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory
- Explains responses to stress.
- Individual try to obtain and protect anything that has value.
- Depletion leads to stress.
Stress is a reaction to:
- Perceived threat of net loss of resources
- Actual net loss of resources
- Lack of resource gain following investment/significant effort.
Job Resources Model
Work environment can be described in terms of demands and resources.
Job demands
are physical, psychological, social, or organizational features of a job that require sustained physical or psychological effort that in turn can result in physiological or psychological costs.
Common job demands include work overload, time pressure, role ambiguity, and role conflict.
Job resources
refer to features of a job that are functional in that they help achieve work goals, reduce job demands, and stimulate personal growth, learning, and development.
Job resources can come from the organization (e.g., pay), interpersonal and social relations (e.g., supervisor support), organization of work (e.g., role clarity), and the task itself (e.g., performance feedback).
Two processes for Job Resource Model
- Job demand stressors leading to strain
- Job resources leading to motivation (similar to job characteristics theory)
Individual strategies for dealing with stress
Better Time Management
Physical Activity
Finding Time for Relaxation
Building Social Support
Organizational strategies:
- Job redesign
- Family-friendly human resource policies
- Stress management programs
- Work-life balance, fitness, and wellness programs
