Sources Of Stress: Workplace Stress Flashcards
What are the two causes of work place stress?
Lack of control
Workload
What is lack of control?
Not managing your own workload, it is a major source of stress. Many people’s workload and pattern of work, e.g shifts, are decided by other people.
What is workload?
This refers to the issue of overload and is reported as one of the main forms of stress in the workplace. It can include the number of hours an individual spends working. Having too little to do may also lead to individuals suffering from stress at work.
What was marmot et al’s study called?
Whitehall I and II
What was marmot et al’s study about?
Does being of a lower pay grade effect the amount of stress (coronary heart disease)
What happened in Whitehall I study?
Civil servants completed a questionnaire giving information about their job role, lifestyle choices, socioeconomic status and physical health. Clear differences were found between the workers pay grade type and mortality rates. Those workers with lower pay grade had twice the illness rate of workers in the higher pay grade.
What happened in Whitehall II?
Used 7000 make and female participants over a 5 year period also showed those in the lower pay grades were 1.5 times more likely to show signs of heart problems than those in the highest pay grades. Basically a lack of control in the work place particularly for those in the lower pay grade caused people to become stressed and ill.
What was Marmot’s overall conclusion?
A lack of control within the work place is linked to stress related illness
Who conducted research on workplace stress - work overload?
Johansson et al(1978)
What was Johansson et al study?
Studied a group of 28 Swedish sawmill workers
The high risk group (high workload low control) were 14 sawyers, edgers and graders who were compared to a low risk group, they were matched on education and job experience factors.
Johansson recorded daily levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline in the workers on work days and weekends to assess stress as well as obtained self reports of job satisfaction and illness.
What did Johansson find?
The high risk group were found to have higher illness rates and also higher levels of adrenaline in their urine compared to the low risk group. The self report data obtained from the high risk group confirmed that they had greater workload and a lowered sense of control, they also reported a sense of social isolation.
finish the evaluation: individual differences
Lazarus (1995) claims that the study of stressful factors in the workplace misses the point that there are wide individual differences in the way people react to cope with individual stressors. Thus, the research is not generalisable as it doesn’t consider factors such as individual differences.
finish the evaluation: reductionist
doesn’t take into account biological factors such as hereditary issues causing the illness rather than the factor of stress. Thus, the research is reductionist.
finish the evaluation: validity
most of the studies of workplace stress that we have covered here have made use of questionnaires. Dewe(1989), who suggests that traditional questionnaires may distort the importance of some items that may no longer be important while ignoring others that are. Keenan and Neuton found that, in a study of engineers, the use of interviews instead of questionnaires revealed stressors not usually covered by traditional methods. Thus the research is questionable due to its validity.
finish the evaluation: if employers are aware of potential stressors, they can take steps to try to reduce stress in employees
For example, teaching unions have been tackling if issues associated with increased teacher workload. Thus the research is ecologically valid as it can be applied to real life.
