Stress

Question 1

What is the stress model?

_____ → _____ → _____
↑
_____

Answer 1

Stressors → Stress → Consequences
↑
Moderators

Question 2

What is a moderator?

Answer 2

Something that moderates the affect of something else

Question 3

What is fight or flight?

Answer 3

How to deal with a temporary crisis (our body’s response to stress); is a physiological reaction that either prepares our bodies to stay and fight or flea the situation.

Ex. almost get hit by a car; hyperventilate, vomit, etc.

Question 4

Define stress response.

Answer 4

Begins with the release of chemical messengers, primarily adrenaline, into the bloodstream. These messengers activate the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine (hormone system). These two systems work together and trigger four mind-body changes to prepare the person or fight or flight.

Question 5

What is the first of the four mind-body changes that are triggered by the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine (hormone) system?

Answer 5

Redirect blood to the brain and late muscle groups and away from the skin, internal organs and extremities

Question 6

What is the second of the four mind-body changes that are triggered by the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine (hormone) system?

Answer 6

Increased alertness by way of improved vision, hearing, and other sensory processes through activation of brainstem (pupil dilation)

Question 7

What is the third of the four mind-body changes that are triggered by the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine (hormone) system?

Answer 7

Release glucose (blood sugar) and fatty acids into the bloodstream to sustain the body during the stressful event/ increase BP and heart rate.

Question 8

What is the last of the four mind-body changes that are triggered by the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine (hormone) system?

Answer 8

Depression of the immune system, as well as restorative emergent processes such as digestion.

(decreased digestion activity, hyperventilation (increased breathing)

Question 9

What is a stressor?

Answer 9

Things that cause the stress to occur (person or event that triggers the stress response)

Question 10

What are the three task demands?

Answer 10

1) Change in workplace: new owner, new organizational culture, new routine
2) Lack of control: timing, decisions, (accountable for things, but you aren’t in control
3) Work load: quantitative overload, qualitative overload, quantitative underload, qualitative underload

Question 11

What is quantitative overload?

Answer 11

Too much to do/too many tasks (#1 complaint of American workers)

Question 12

What is qualitative overload?

Answer 12

Job requires higher skill level than you possess to do it; don’t have the abilities required; ex. New graduate entering work force has a lot to learn (lacking skills)

Question 13

What is quantitative underload?

Answer 13

Not having enough work to do

Question 14

What is qualitative underload?

Answer 14

You have more skills than what is necessary (overqualified)

Question 15

What are the 2 role demands?

Answer 15

1) Role conflict: interrole and intrarole conflict

2) Role ambiquity

Question 16

What is role conflict and what are the two subconflicts?

Answer 16

Role conflict: conflicting expectation

• interrole conflict: conflicting expecations between roles; everyone has multiple roles, but sometimes they class with one another
• intrarole conflict: conflicting expectations within one role; roles differ for different people

Question 17

What is role ambiguity?

Answer 17

Unclear expectations of what you’re supposed to do

Question 18

What are the three interpersonal demands?

Answer 18

1) Abrasive persons: very difficult to work with someone who is always angry or taking it out o other people
2) Sexual harassment: large majority of all women claim harassment of some sort
3) Leader style inappropriate for organization

Question 19

What are the three physical demands?

Answer 19

1) Work environment
2) Travel - jet lag
3) Prolonged computer terminal work

Question 20

What are the two non-work demands?

Answer 20

• home and personal demands
  1) Demands on time
  2) Life events theory: anything out of the ordinary can be stressful (ex. bankruptcy, jail time, promotion)

Question 21

What are the 5 categories of stressors?

Answer 21

1) Task demands
2) Role demands
3) Interpersonal demands
4) Physical demands
5) Non-work demands

Question 22

What are the 5 consequences of stress?

Answer 22

1) Eustress
2) Psychological disorders: cost of stress to the individual
3) Illness: cause or contributing factor of stress (enhance situations where you’re already at high risk “puts you over the edge”); cost of stress to the individual
4) Behavioral problems: cost of stress to the individual
5) Organizational problems: cost of stress to the organization

Question 23

Define eustress and give two characteristics.

Answer 23

• Euphoria + stress: positive effects of stress; sometimes stress motivates you more (benefit)
  1) “up” for activity; more alert, think faster
  2) Energy boost

Question 24

Give three examples of psychological disorders.

Answer 24

1) Depression: sleeping too much/not enough
2) Burnout: ex. of professions - school teacher, police officer, firefighter
3) Psychosomatic: physical problems with psych source

Question 25

List 5 illnesses caused from stress.

Answer 25

1) Cardiovascular: heart attack/stroke
2) Migraine headaches
3) Ulcers
4) Diabetes
5) Cancer

Question 26

List 3 behavioral problems caused by stress.

Answer 26

1) Aggression in workplace: becoming more and more common
2) Substance abuse
3) Accident proneness

Question 27

List 3 organizational problems related to stress and give examples of what they mean.

Answer 27

1) Participation: absenteeism, lateness, work sabotage, strikes, and turnover
2) Performance decrements: loss of productivity/creativity, lower quality of production
3) Compensation for stress: liability awards (keep costs down to help alleviate stress)

Question 28

Define individual moderators and list 3 characteristics.

Answer 28

Moderators change how stress translates into consequences

1) Gender effects
2) Personality - Type A
3) Cultural effects

Question 29

Give examples of gender effects.

Answer 29

• Female babies do better in the womb than male babies

- Women live longer- hormones, constant stress

Question 30

What is the difference between situational causes and chemical causes?

Answer 30

Situational causes:

• Women jobs: nurse/teacher/homemaker/wife (HR dept.), dealing with people and nurturing; stress is constant in all of these jobs (somewhat adapt to it)
• Male jobs: finance, accounting, engineering (roller coaster stress life (don’t really adapt)

Chemical causes:
-Women: estrogen (live longer, better, fewer biological problems)

Question 31

Personality - Type A: these behaviors make you more or less what?

Answer 31

Susceptible to stress

Question 32

What are the characteristics of personality - type A?

Answer 32

Time urgency, numbers oriented (numbers define success), polyphasic activities (doing several things at one time - aka multitasking), hostility (ex. people finish other people’s sentences because they aren’t talking fast enough)

Question 33

What is the underlying problem in personality - type A?

Answer 33

Hostility

Question 34

What is personality - type B?

Answer 34

• Complete opposite of type A

- A type B working in a type A environment often doesn’t work or last long

Question 35

Give examples of cultural effects.

Answer 35

• Parents influence on child (China)
• Americans are individualistic
• Asians are group oriented

Question 36

What are the two categories of stress management?

Answer 36

1) Organizational

2) Individual

Question 37

What are the 5 categories of organizational stress management?

Answer 37

1) Job redesign: remove physical stress, increase worker control
2) Role negotiation: reduce conflict, ambiguity (ex. woman with family trying to hammer out deal with boss; trying to get work done in time to pick up kids from school)
3) Social support systems: family, coworkers
4) Gym: on site, support membership
5) Physical: psych support programs

Question 38

What are the 5 categories of individual stress management?

Answer 38

1) Time management
2) Physical activities
3) Relaxation training
4) Talking with others
5) Professional help