Ch 4: Part 2 - Stress

1. Ch 4: Part 2 - Stress Feb 13th, 2007

2. Stress • Stress – pattern of emotional states and physio reactions in response to stressors • Strain – accumulated effects of stress (physical symptoms, perf effects) • Key is cognitive appraisal of potential stressors (Lazarus & Folkman) • Primary appraisal – • Secondary appraisal –

3. Lazarus & Folkman’s model Appraisal Stressor Stress Reaction Coping

4. Work-related stressors • Some occupational differences • Decision-makers, constant monitoring, unstructured tasks, etc. • Work/non-work conflict • Dual career households; work-family stress (role conflict) • Role ambiguity – uncertainty about how to complete a job

5. Work-related stressors (cont.) • Overload – average #hrs/week hasn’t changed since 70’s, but more outliers • Karoshi – Japanese term for ‘death by overwork’ • Officially recognized as fatal illness by Japanese in 1989 • How large is its effect?

6. Cottle Reading: Stress & Technology • What are her main points? • Does a constant need to be in touch at work create stress for us? • Do ‘family-friendly’ policies make sense? Or create more stress?

7. Sexual Harassment • Viewed as a stressor • See book for legal definition • Legal categories: • Hostile environment – examples? • Quid pro quo – examples? • Extremely negative effects on job outcomes, mental health, and health outcomes

8. Harassment (cont.) • Impact of climate tolerant of harassment • Negative effects of harassment on bystanders • Results from Schneider et al. (1997) study? • Ethnic harassment components • Verbal slurs, exclusion due to ethnicity • Similar negative effects as sexual harassment • Schneider et al. (2000) study - who had the worst job-related and psychological outcomes?

9. Non-work stressors • Holmes & Rahe’s Stressful Life Events scale: • Neg & pos changes in life affect vulnerability to illness • How is the measure linked to illness likelihood? • Can we develop a similar stressful events scale based on job events/changes? • Daily hassles – minor irritations that accumulate

10. Effects of Stress • Recent evidence indicates negative effects on task perf, even w/mild stressors • But…depends on primary appraisal of ‘stressors’ as threat or challenge • How so?

11. Burnout & Boundary Roles • Boundary roles – positions that require interaction with members of other orgs &/or public • What types of stressors do they report? • Maslach – burnout likely in these roles: • “emotional exhaustion, depersonalization occurring among those working w/people” • 3 burnout dimensions: • Emotional exhaustion • Depersonalization • Reduced personal efficacy • Stagelike process – how does it evolve?

12. Stress Management • Develop resiliency • Physiological techniques • Time management • Flex-time programs • Employee Assistance Programs (EAP’s) • See book for more details on this…

13. Coping Research • Lazarus & Folkman (1980s) – problem-focused vs. emotion focused coping • Prob-focused: efforts directed at solving or managing the problem • Examples? • Emot-focused: manage emotions resulting from stress • Examples? • Coping processes aren’t inherently good or bad • Folkman & Moskowitz (2000) – propose a new focus on positive affect co-occurring during stressful periods w/neg affect. • May be adaptive – re-focus resources, increase problem-solving (Isen), prevent depression during chronic stress • Research indicates links between personality & coping preferences – how so?

14. Coping (cont.) • New research directions – • Future-oriented proactive coping • Social aspects of coping • Use of religious coping