problem 6 - job stress Flashcards
what is Cannon’s fight or flight reaction theory?
adaptive response to stressful situations exhibited by animals & humans in which they choose to either fight or attempt to escape
- In response to sudden, episodic/acute stress
eustress vs distress
Eustress = type of stress that provides challenges that motivate individuals to work hard & meet their goals
Distress = type of stress resulting from chronically demanding situations that produces neg health outcomes
what is Selye’s general adaptation syndrome?
stress occurs in 3 stages:
1. Alarm = body mobilizes resources to cope w added stress – heart rate increases & stress hormones (e.g., adrenaline & cortisol) are released
2. Resistance = body copes w the og source of stress but resistance to other stressors is lowered
3. Exhaustion stage = overall resistance drops & adverse consequences (e.g., burnout, severe illness, etc) can occur unless stress is reduced
In response to chronic stress
what are strains?
reactions or responses to stressors – strains that can result from chronic or persistent stress are burnout, anxiety & physiological consequences
what are physical/task workplace stressors?
- Uncontrollable noise is particularly stressful & leads to lower task P & decreased motivation
- Demands of a job (e.g., pace of work, workload, hours worked) can cause stress & strain
how does lack of control/predictability cause work stress?
the individual’s perception of control or predictability determines their response to the situation + perceptions are affected by characteristics of the job & work env
- Also related to autonomy
- Interventions that enhance perceptions of control reduce stress & subsequent strains
how does interpersonal conflict cause work stress?
negative interactions w co-workers, supervisors or clients – can distract workers from imp tasks & can have physical health consequences
- Link between interpersonal conflict & subsequent health problems is sig
- Can also cause depression, job dissatisfaction, aggression, theft & sabotage
role stressors
includes role ambiguity, role conflict & role overload – based on idea that most jobs have multiple task requirements & responsibilities (roles)
- A job is likely to be stressful if these roles conflict with one another or are unclear
how does work/family conflict cause stress?
occurs when workers experience conflict between their work roles & roles in their personal life
challenge vs hindrance related stressors
Challenge-related = work demands or circumstances that, although potentially stressful, have potential gains for individuals
Hindrance-related = job demands or circumstances that tend to limit or interfere with an individual’s work achievement
what are behavioral consequences of stress?
Information processing: chronic stress has detrimental effects on memory, reaction times, accuracy & performance of a variety of tasks + ppl under stress have difficulty focusing
Performance: arousal & performance have an inverted-U relationship: indicates that when stress increases, performance also increases up to a certain point
- When stress is too high, performance decreases again
- When you experience very low stress or too much stress, you perform such-optimally
- Average stress leads to higher motivation, energy & attention (eutress)
Counterproductive work behavior: stressors from the work env increase perception of stress, which leads to neg emotions & counterproductive work behaviors
what is burnout?
a chronic workplace stress and state of mental & physical exhaustion
- indicated by exhaustion, cynicism and poor cog functioning – has many neg outcomes
what are situational antecedents of a burnout?
Job demands are more imp predictors of a burnout than a deficiency in job resources – demands are associated w physical & psychic costs
- Demands that are best predictors of burnout: role ambiguity, role conflict, role stress, stressful events, amount of work & work pressure
Resources still hold a consistent neg relationship w burnout (especially cynicism)
- When employees can’t develop themselves, don’t receive feedback & can’t work on several tasks at once = score higher on cynicism measures
what are individual antecedents of a burnout?
- Env factors are generally more imp predictors of burnout than personality, but it still plays a role
- Personality can cause ppl to experience the work env in a certain way, regardless of the objective env
- Low-order personal factors have a significant relationship w burnout: self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, pos/neg affectivity, optimism, proactive personality
what are health related consequences of a burnout?
Employees who are chronically fatigued & cynical about their job report more mental & physical problems
- Predict depressive symptoms & life dissatisfaction
- Bad health most strongly related to the fatiguing part of burnout
what are work related consequences of a burnout?
only emotional exhaustion predict P – high correlation between exhaustion & P
- Depersonalization & personal achievements showed inconsistent relationships
- burnouts predict the duration of absence, not the frequency
what are organizational level interventions that may prevent burnout?
focus on groups of employees
- Optimism demands: lowering restrictive demands & increasing challenging demands
- Increasing job resources: by job redesign & training programs
- Improve personal resources: such as optimism, self-efficacy & feasibility can be taught = training
what are individual level interventions that may prevent burnout?
focused on certain life events that lead to restrictive demands – a personal coach can help to balance demands & resources
- Job craft training
- Strengths use training: how they can set goals and use their strengths to their advantage
- Recovery training: learning what activities can help recovery (relaxation, mindfulness)
what is the job demands resources theory (JDR model)
suggests that all job characteristics can be modeled according to 2 categories: job demands & job resources
There are 2 processes:
- Health impairment process = demands are the most imp predictors of fatigue, psychosomatic health complaints & repeated strain injury
- Motivational process = job resources are the most imp predictors of motivation, work engagement & enjoyment
what is job crafting (JDR model)
physical & cog changes made by individuals to tasks or relationship boundaries – the process of ‘shaping’ your job
- Physical = changes in the shape, scope & number of tasks
- Cog = how the individual views the job
Research showed that ppl who engaged in job crafting = increase job resources = increased work engagement & satisfaction
what is emotional labour?
the regulation of one’s emotions to meet job or org demands
- The stress of managing emotions when jobs require that workers only display certain expressions to clients & customers
Surface acting = managing or faking one’s emotions/expressions
Deep acting = managing one’s feelings, including trying to actually change one’s emotional state to match the emotions required by the job
what is the demand-control model
suggests that the og & primary sources of stress lie within 2 basic characteristics:
- Job demands: associated w pre pending psychological effort
- Job decision latitude: a combination of job control (autonomy) & skill use (the opportunity to enact one’s capabilities)
4 different types of jobs
what are the 4 different types of jobs according the DCM
High strain jobs = high demands & low decision latitude = most likely to show extreme job stress reactions – e.g., call-center operator
Low strain jobs = low demands & high decision latitude = lower than average levels of stress reactions – e.g., wildlife photographer
Active jobs = high demands & high decision latitude = motivation, learning & personal growth + eustress – e.g., physician
Passive jobs = low demands & low decision latitude = skills & abilities may atrophy + learned helplessness – e.g., janitor
what is the demand-control-support model
Improvement/extension on DCM - evolved to include workplace social support: another factor that is useful in preventing demands from causing strain
WSS = helpful interactions w supervisors & coworkers
what is the strain hypothesis (DCSM)
job control & social support can offset the detrimental effects of job demands on health
- Job control & WSS buffer the adverse impact of job demands on health
what is the active learning hypothesis (DCSM)
goes on step further than the strain hypothesis – bcuz control & WSS facilitate coping, they may facilitate one particular form of coping related to better productivity
This is called active coping & refers to coping directed at solving problems caused by high job demands
