Week 7 - Interpersonal and Job Stress

Question 1

Define both perceived social support and received social support.

Answer 1

Perceived: the social resources that a person perceives to be available for them (how supported a person feels)

Received: the social resources that are actually provided to an individual

Recieved are not always welcomed and are most beneficial when invisible, subtle, and indirect (mixed blessing)

Question 2

Differentiate between the structure of one’s social support and the function of one’s social support.

Answer 2

Structural social support: the quantity of social support one has
Functional social support: the quality of social support one has

Question 3

Which model of social support is the most prominent in the field? Describe it.

Answer 3

Stress buffering model of social support.

It holds that social support is a moderator for stress and only protects people against the negative consequences of stress in highly stressful situations.

Question 4

Which model of social support holds that social support benefits well-being regardless of how much stress one is experiencing (both high stress and low stress situations)?

Answer 4

Main effect model of social support

Question 5

Define social strain. What are the three things social strain is characterized by?

Answer 5

Social strain: interactions within a network of relationships that a source of stress due to draining resources or unhelpful assistance from them.

Characterized by conflict, drama, and hostility

Question 6

What is the term that describes a destructive pattern of interaction in which on person makes a type of demand on the relationship, leading the other to withdraw from the interaction? What are the 4 steps involved in it?

Answer 6

Demand-withdrawal pattern
1. Person 1 complains/criticizes Person 2
2. Person 2 becomes defensive
3. Person 2 feels contempt towards Person 1
4. person 2 withdraws emotionally and physically (stonewalling)

these four steps are called the four horsemen of the apocalypse (CDCS)

Question 7

Describe what game playing is.

Answer 7

Game playing: a power and control tactic that involves:
1. the use of deception to get a goal
2. a person being “pulled in” to drama unknowingly
3. increased stress dur to high drama and dishonest ways of dealing with conflict

Question 8

Dissatisfied couples tend to attribute one another’s negative behaviours to (?) while satisfied couples tend to attribute one another’s negative behaviours to (?).

Answer 8

Internal stable attributions; external unstable attributions

Question 9

What are four high drama approaches to interpersonal conflict?

Answer 9

1. Negative reciprocity
2. Demand-withdraw patterns
3. game playing
4. attributing internal stbale causes to partner’s negative actions, but attributing external unstable causes to partner’s positive actions

Question 10

What are five low drama approaches to interpersonal conflict?

Answer 10

1. seeking similarities with a partner
2. experiencing empathy for one another
3. expressing positive reciprocity
4. clearly communicating
5. accepting responsibility

Question 11

When under stress, women (?) more so than men.

Answer 11

tend-and-befriend.

Question 12

Why do women tend-and-befriend more than men?

Answer 12

because of sex socialization factors that encourage emotional support seeking for women, but discourage it in men.

Question 13

Name one way that men and women are given advantages regarding their cultural sex roles during times of stress.

Answer 13

women: since they tend-and-befriend, they strengthen their social support
men: have an increased feeling of control and confidence to overcome their challenges

Question 14

What are the five models of job stress?

Answer 14

1. Organizational Role model
2. Person-environment fit model
3. job demands-control model
4. Effort-reward imbalance model
5. organizational injustice model

Question 15

In the organizational role model, what are three things that may cause a person to feel job stress?

Answer 15

1. Role Conflict: two/more role demands that are incompatible with one another
2. Role ambiguity: the roles, responsibilities, and duties in one’s job is not clearly defined
3. Role overload: workload is too great due to quantitative or qualitative overload

Quantitative overload: insufficient resources to complete work tasks
Qualitative overlad: person does not have the required competencies to complete tasks

Question 16

Which model of job stress suggests that experiencing high psychological demands + minimal control = strain? What is another term for this model?

Answer 16

Job Demands-control model, also known as the Job strain model

Job strain: harmful conseuqences that results from exposure to job stressors

Question 17

Which model of job stress holds that workplace stress occurs when there is a poor match (or misfit) between a worker and their work environment? What determines whether there is a misfit?

Answer 17

Person-Environment fit model

Determining whether there is a misfit is subjective, and occurs when worker perceives that:
1. their abilities don’t match the demands of the environment
2. their needs are not being met by work environment

Question 18

Which model of job stress holds that high-cost, low-gain work effects cause stress?

Answer 18

Effort-reward model

Question 19

Which model for job stress holds that stress occurs when an organization’s interpersonal transacctions are perceived as unfair?

Answer 19

Organizational Injustice Model

Question 20

Name four time management strategies.

Answer 20

1. keeping daily time log
2. establishing goals and prioritizing work
3. set boundaries to manage physical workspace
4. scheduling relaxation time

Question 21

Describe primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies for work stress. Include their scope, tarhget, and underlying assumpion.

Answer 21

Primary: minimize sources of stress
- Scope: preventative
- Target: alter work environments and structures
- Underlying Assumption: the most effective approach to manage stress is to remove stressors

Secondary: teach stress management skills
- Scope: prevantative/reactive
- Target: individual
- Underlying assumption: may not be able to remove stressors, so it is best to focus on individual’s reactions to stressors

Tertiary: rehabilitate people who have developed mental/physical health conditions due to work stress
- scope: treatment
- Target: individual
- underlying assumption: we should treat problems once they have occurred