Stress Flashcards
What is the stress model?
_____ → _____ → _____
↑
_____
Stressors → Stress → Consequences
↑
Moderators
What is a moderator?
Something that moderates the affect of something else
What is fight or flight?
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.
Define stress response.
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.
What is the first of the four mind-body changes that are triggered by the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine (hormone) system?
Redirect blood to the brain and late muscle groups and away from the skin, internal organs and extremities
What is the second of the four mind-body changes that are triggered by the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine (hormone) system?
Increased alertness by way of improved vision, hearing, and other sensory processes through activation of brainstem (pupil dilation)
What is the third of the four mind-body changes that are triggered by the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine (hormone) system?
Release glucose (blood sugar) and fatty acids into the bloodstream to sustain the body during the stressful event/ increase BP and heart rate.
What is the last of the four mind-body changes that are triggered by the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine (hormone) system?
Depression of the immune system, as well as restorative emergent processes such as digestion.
(decreased digestion activity, hyperventilation (increased breathing)
What is a stressor?
Things that cause the stress to occur (person or event that triggers the stress response)
What are the three task demands?
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
What is quantitative overload?
Too much to do/too many tasks (#1 complaint of American workers)
What is qualitative overload?
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)
What is quantitative underload?
Not having enough work to do
What is qualitative underload?
You have more skills than what is necessary (overqualified)
What are the 2 role demands?
1) Role conflict: interrole and intrarole conflict
2) Role ambiquity
What is role conflict and what are the two subconflicts?
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
What is role ambiguity?
Unclear expectations of what you’re supposed to do
What are the three interpersonal demands?
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
What are the three physical demands?
1) Work environment
2) Travel - jet lag
3) Prolonged computer terminal work
What are the two non-work demands?
- 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)
What are the 5 categories of stressors?
1) Task demands
2) Role demands
3) Interpersonal demands
4) Physical demands
5) Non-work demands
What are the 5 consequences of stress?
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
Define eustress and give two characteristics.
- Euphoria + stress: positive effects of stress; sometimes stress motivates you more (benefit)
1) “up” for activity; more alert, think faster
2) Energy boost
Give three examples of psychological disorders.
1) Depression: sleeping too much/not enough
2) Burnout: ex. of professions - school teacher, police officer, firefighter
3) Psychosomatic: physical problems with psych source
List 5 illnesses caused from stress.
1) Cardiovascular: heart attack/stroke
2) Migraine headaches
3) Ulcers
4) Diabetes
5) Cancer
List 3 behavioral problems caused by stress.
1) Aggression in workplace: becoming more and more common
2) Substance abuse
3) Accident proneness
List 3 organizational problems related to stress and give examples of what they mean.
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)
Define individual moderators and list 3 characteristics.
Moderators change how stress translates into consequences
1) Gender effects
2) Personality - Type A
3) Cultural effects
Give examples of gender effects.
- Female babies do better in the womb than male babies
- Women live longer- hormones, constant stress
What is the difference between situational causes and chemical causes?
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)
Personality - Type A: these behaviors make you more or less what?
Susceptible to stress
What are the characteristics of personality - type A?
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)
What is the underlying problem in personality - type A?
Hostility
What is personality - type B?
- Complete opposite of type A
- A type B working in a type A environment often doesn’t work or last long
Give examples of cultural effects.
- Parents influence on child (China)
- Americans are individualistic
- Asians are group oriented
What are the two categories of stress management?
1) Organizational
2) Individual
What are the 5 categories of organizational stress management?
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
What are the 5 categories of individual stress management?
1) Time management
2) Physical activities
3) Relaxation training
4) Talking with others
5) Professional help
