Chapter Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter you should be able to:

1. Define and describe the nature of stress.

2. Identify basic individual differences related to stress.
3. Identify and describe common causes of stress.
4. Discuss the central consequences of stress.
5. Describe various ways that stress can be managed.
6. Discuss work-life linkages and their relation to stress.

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 The Nature of Stress

• Stress Defined
–A person’s adaptive response to a stimulus that
places excessive psychological or physical demands
on that person
• The Stress Process (Selye)
–General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
• Identifies three stages of response to a stressor: alarm,
resistance, exhaustion
• Sources of stress:
– Eustress: pleasurable stress accompanying positive events
– Distress: unpleasant stress accompanying negative events

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 Individual Differences and Stress

• Type A Personality Profile

–Extremely competitive, highly committed to work, have
a strong sense of time urgency
• Type B Personality Profile
–Less competitive, less committed to work, have a
weaker sense of time urgency
• Hardiness
–A person’s ability to cope with stress
• Optimism
–The extent to which a person sees life in relatively
positive or negative terms
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 Causes and Consequences of Stress

• Most Common Causes of Stress

–Organizational stressors
–Life stressors
• Most Common Consequences of Stress
–Individual consequences
–Organizational consequences
–Burnout

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FIGURE 7.2
Causes and
Consequences
of Stress

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 Organizational Stressors: The Workplace

• Workplace Stress Factors

–Task Demands
• Associated with the specific job a person performs
–Physical Demands
• Associated with the job’s physical setting and requirements
–Role Demands
• Associated with the expected behaviors of a particular
position in a group or organization
–Interpersonal Demands
• Group pressures, leadership, personality conflicts

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 Organizational Stressors: Role Demands
• Role
–A set of expected behaviors associated with a
particular position in a group or organization.
• Role Stress
–Role ambiguity due to unclear roles
–Role conflict due to:
• Interrole conflict
• Intrarole conflict
• Intersender conflict
–Role overload due to role expectations exceeding an
individual’s capabilities

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Table 7.1 Most and Least Stressful Jobs
Top Most Stressful Jobs Top Least Stressful Jobs
1. Surgeon 1. Actuary

2. Commercial airline pilot 2. Dietitian

3. Photojournalist 3. Computer systems analyst

4. Advertising account executive 4. Statistician

5. Real estate agent 5. Astronomer

6. Physician (general practice) 6. Mathematician

7. Reporter (newspaper) 7. Historian

8. Physician Assistant 8. Software engineer

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 External Causes of Stress
• Life Stressors
–Events that take place outside the organization
• Life change
– Any meaningful change in a person’s personal or work
situation
• Life trauma
– Any upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his or her
attitudes, emotions or behaviors

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Table 7.2 Life Changes and Life Change Units

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 Consequences of Stress

• Individual • Organizational
Consequences Consequences
–Behavioral –Performance
–Psychological –Withdrawal
–Medical –Attitudes
–Burnout

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FIGURE 7.4 Individual and Organizational Coping Strategies

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 Managing Stress in the Workplace:
Individual Coping Strategies

Exercise

Time
Relaxation
Management

Role Support
Management Groups

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 Managing Stress in the Workplace (cont’d)

• Organizational Coping Strategies

–Institutional Programs
• Design of jobs and work schedules
• Fostering a healthy work culture
• Supervision
–Collateral Programs
• Organizational programs specifically created to help
employees deal with stress
– Stress management, health promotion, employee fitness
programs, career development

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 Work-Life Linkages
• Fundamental Work-Life Relationships
–Interrelationships between a person’s work life and
personal life
• Balancing Work-Life Linkages
–Importance of long-term versus
short-term perspectives
–Significance of evaluating tradeoffs between values

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 Organizational Behavior in Action
• After reading the chapter:
–Which stressors are typical of college students?
–Which of these sources of stress are bad for students?
Which are beneficial?
–Are student personality profiles different from
nonstudents? More Type A’s or Type B’s?
–What could your school do to help scholastically weak
students develop the hardiness to stay in school?

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