Week Twelve

Question 1

stress

Answer 1

• An adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to a person’s wellbeing

Question 2

Yerkes- Dodson Curve.

Answer 2

Stress is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can enhance performance and motivation: Yerkes- Dodson Curve.
Low stress can be indicative of low performance, however, high stress can also equal low performance. it is important that to achieve optimal results stress stays to a moderate level.

Question 3

stressors

Answer 3

environmental conditions that place physical or emotional demands on a person

Question 4

Challenge stressors

Answer 4

(stressful aspects of tasks that have potential gains)

	- high workload
	- responsibility
	- time pressure
	- difficult tasks
		- Can be difficult but often something positive will result. 
		- Positive results can lead to organisational commitment and job satisfaction. 
		- Negative results can lead to turnover and withdrawal.

Question 5

hindrance stressors

Answer 5

• (aspects that interfere with goal achievement)
  -workplace politics
  -faulty equipment
  -“red tape”
  
  • Positive hindrance stressors can lead to turnover etc.
    Negative can lead to org commitment and satisfaction.

Question 6

general adaption syndrome

Answer 6

stages of stress:
alarm- initial reaction
resistance- utilise physical and psychological defences
exhaustion- collapse of defences

Question 7

demand-control model

Answer 7

• Job demands: extent of workload and time pressure
• Job control: extent of autonomy and discretion
  High-strain jobs (high demands, low control) are most stressful
  -higher depression
  -high exhaustion
  -lower job satisfaction

Question 8

sources of stress at work

Answer 8

Environmental
-technological change
-physical conditions (noise, heat light)
Organisational
-harassment
-task control
-work overload
Personal
-family problems
-economic problems

Question 9

consequences of stress

Answer 9

Behavioural
-productivity
-absenteeism
-turnover
Psychological
-depression
-anxiety
-job burnout
Physiological
-cardiovascular
-gastrointestinal
biochemical

Question 10

common workplace stressors

Answer 10

• Harassment (psychological, sexual)
• Repeated, hostile, unwanted conduct or comments
• Attacks on a person’s dignity, psychology or body
Work overload
• Technology
○ Increased expectations for being contactable (and responding)
○ Aspirations and consumerism
○ Typically more work = more money; more money = more stuff!
○ “Ideal worker” norm
Long hours in office
= “committed worker

• Low Task Control
  ○ Low control over how work is done
  ○ Low control over pace of work
  ○ Low control over time of work

Question 11

individual differences/moderators

Answer 11

• Internal v. External Locus of Control
○ Internal: personal outcomes are a result of one’s own effort
○ External: personal outcomes are beyond one’ s control
○ When experiencing the same stressors, internal LOC people perceive lower stress
• Big five (OCEAN) personality factors
○ Neuroticism predicts higher self-reported stress and more intense reactions to stressors
- health of person
- minimise its presence. Seeking support from others, reframing the stressor in a more positive light, blaming others for the stressor and denying the stressor’s existence are some other coping mechanisms.
Extroverts also tend to experience lower stress than do introverts.

Question 12

short term consequences of stress

Answer 12

- Some symptoms of short-term stress
	• Persistent worrying
	• Doubting one’s ability
	• Sleep disturbances 
	• Feeling sick in the stomach 
	• Headache
	• Moodiness (particularly with friends, and family)

Question 13

long term consequences

Answer 13

Some consequences of chronic stress
• Behavioural
• Impaired performance
• Counterproductive behaviour
○ Absenteeism, sabotage, dishonesty/theft
• Psychological
• Impaired concentration, memory
• Anxiety, depression
• Job Burnout (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996)
○ Emotional exhaustion: cannot deal with emotional work demands
□ “I feel emotionally drained in my work”
○ Depersonalisation: failing to engage with others, cynicism
□ “I’m afraid that this job is making me uncaring”
○ Personal accomplishment: feel incompetent and unsuccessful
□ “I have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job [reversed]

Question 14

consequences of chronic stress

Answer 14

• Physiological
	• Cardiovascular
		○ Increased blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol
	• Gastrointestinal
		○ Digestive problems, ulcers
	• Biochemical
		○ Increased “stress” hormones (e.g., cortisol)
• long-term physiological effects
	• heart disease, weaker immune systems

Question 15

management of stress

Answer 15

• Primary interventions: reduce the stressor
• Secondary interventions: improve people’s responses to inevitable stress.
• Tertiary interventions: reduce the damaging consequences of stress.

Question 16

primary interventions

Answer 16

• Work redesign
  • Redesign work to remove stressor
  • Increase autonomy
• Cognitive restructuring (change perceptions of stressors)
  • Highlight challenge aspects rather than hindrance aspects
  Strategies for breaking tasks down into manageable components

Question 17

secondary interventions

Answer 17

• General health and wellbeing
  • Exercise
  • Diet
• Emotion-focused coping
  • Emotional/Appraisal social support: sympathy and caring for emotional needs and building self-esteem
  • Avoiding, minimising, or distancing self from stressor
  • Mindfulness, meditation, relaxation (reduces blood pressure, heart rate).
  • Problem-focused coping
  • Instrumental/Informational social support: direct practical help to manage stressor/problem
  • Training in conflict resolution or time-management skills
  • Stress inoculation- exposing people to the stress so that they are trained and thus are less anxious next time they deal with it.
  1. Education: Understanding your typical reactions to stressors
  2. Rehearsing: learning coping skills, e.g. time management, relaxation
  3. Application: applying these skills in realistic simulations

Question 18

tertiary interventions

Answer 18

• Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
  • Personal life counselling
  ○ Relationships, family, financial issues
  • Alcohol, drug abuse, gambling programs
  • Support for dealing with harassment, bullying, and discrimination

Question 19

what can organisations do

Answer 19

4 interrelated elements (Hall et al., 2010):
• Level of senior management support (commitment to stress prevention)
• Priority given to psychological health over productivity goals
• Extent and effectiveness of org. communication
• Scope of org. participation/involvement relating to psychological health and safety.

* Improved personnel selection and job placement
* Training
* Use of realistic goal setting
* Job redesign
* Offering employee sabbaticals
* Establish corporate wellness programs

Question 20

what can you do at work?

Answer 20

• Be realistic: set practical goals
• Establish limits for time and effort you want to exert
• Learn to say NO without feeling guilty
• Learn to delegate responsibility where possible
• Learn (and use) time management techniques
• Learn strategies to overcome procrastination
• Establish clear priorities
• Establish a balance between work, home and friends

Question 21

what can you do outside work

Answer 21

• Increase or maintain physical exercise
• Maintain a healthy diet
• Relaxation training
• Expand (or use) social support networks

Question 22

resilience

Answer 22

• Employees experience different stress levels because they have different levels of resilience, including self- confidence and optimism.

Question 23

improving resilience

Answer 23

• Regular exercise and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an effective stress-management strategy because it controls the consequences of stress.
  
  • Social support occurs when co-workers, supervisors, family members, friends and others provide emotional andfor informational support to buffer an individual’s stress experience. It potentially improves the person’s resilience (particularly optimism and self-confidence) because support makes people feel valued and worthy.