Stress & Well-being at Work: Chapter 6

Question 1

stress - can be good or bad

Answer 1

unconscious preparation to fight or flee that a person experiences when faced with any demand
- increase level of work stress

Question 2

stressor

Answer 2

person or event that triggers the stress response

Question 3

distress or strain

Answer 3

adverse psychological, physical, behavioural, and organizational consequences that may occur as a result of stressful events

Question 4

homeostasis approach to stress

Answer 4

body was designed with natural defence mechanisms to keep it in homeostasis

Question 5

cognitive appraisal (perception) approach to stress

Answer 5

individuals differ in their appraisal of events and people

Question 6

person-fit appraoch to stress

Answer 6

• good person–environment fit occurs when a person’s skills and abilities match a clearly defined, consistent set of role expectations
• stress occurs when the role expectations are confusing and/or conflict with a person’s skills and abilities

Question 7

psychoanalytic approach to stress

Answer 7

• ego-ideal:
  the embodiment of a person’s perfect self
• self-image:
  how the person really sees him- or herself, both positively and negatively

Question 8

work stress

Answer 8

caused both by factors in the work environment and by nonwork (external) pressures that “spill over” into the workplace.

Question 9

work demands

Answer 9

• task demands
• role demands
• interpersonal demands
  -physical demands

Question 10

nonwork demands

Answer 10

• home demands
• personal demands (workaholism is included)

Question 11

Linking Stress Sources to Negative Consequences

Answer 11

Job Demand-Control-Support Model
Effort–Reward Imbalance Model

Question 12

Job Demand-Control-Support Model

Answer 12

asserts that high demands (work or nonwork), low control, and low support all contribute to strain

Question 13

Effort–Reward Imbalance Model (ERI)

Answer 13

• reciprocity model
• says people look for a balance between what they put out and what they receive in return

Question 14

ERI research demonstrates that…

Answer 14

high effort–reward imbalance = associated with:
- higher risk for depression
- anxiety
- psychotropic drug consumption
- cardiovascular disease
- neck and back injuries

Question 15

personality hardiness

Answer 15

commitment, control, and challenge

Question 16

resilience

Answer 16

• akin to hardiness
• ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever

Question 17

transformational coping

Answer 17

• actively changing an event into something less subjectively stressful by viewing it in a broader life perspective
• by altering the course and outcome of the event through action, and/or by achieving a greater understanding of the process

Question 18

self-reliance

Answer 18

personality attribute related to how people form and maintain supportive attachments with others

Question 19

counter dependence

Answer 19

• unhealthy, insecure pattern of behaviour that leads to separation in relationships with other people
• will go to great lengths to avoid asking for help

Question 20

overdependence

Answer 20

people respond to stressful and threatening situations by clinging to other people in any way possible

Question 21

preventive stress management

Answer 21

organizational approach about people and organizations taking joint responsibility for promoting health and preventing distress and strain

Question 22

primary prevention

Answer 22

intended to reduce, modify, or eliminate the demand or stressor causing stress

Question 23

secondary prevention

Answer 23

intended to alter or modify the individual’s or the organization’s response to a demand or stressor

Question 24

tertiary prevention

Answer 24

intended to heal individual or organizational symptoms of distress and strain

Question 25

individual prevention

Answer 25

• positive thinking
• time management
• leisure time activities
• physical exercise
• relaxation time
• diet
• opening up
• professional help

Question 26

positive thinking

Answer 26

optimistic, nonnegative thinking style used by people to explain the good and bad events in their lives to themselves

Question 27

pessimism

Answer 27

alternative explanatory style to optimism leading to depression, physical health problems, and low levels of achievement

Question 28

time management