Understanding Stress: Its Causes, Consequences, and Coping Mechanisms - Prof. Jonelle Roth, Study notes of Introduction to Business Management

Download Understanding Stress: Its Causes, Consequences, and Coping Mechanisms - Prof. Jonelle Roth and more Study notes Introduction to Business Management in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Chapter 5: Stress Dr. Jonelle Roth MGT 325 2 Stress • Stress is defined as a psychological response to demands for which there is something at stake and coping with those demands taxes or exceeds a person’s capacity or resources. 5 Types of Stressors • Hindrance stressors — stressful demands that are perceived as hindering progress toward personal accomplishments or goal attainment. • Challenge stressors — stressful demands that are perceived as opportunities for learning, growth, and achievement. 6 Work Hindrance Stressors, Cont’d • Role overload occurs when the number of demanding roles a person holds is so high that the person simply cannot perform some or all of the roles very effectively. • Daily hassles reflects the relatively minor day-to-day demands that get in the way of accomplishing the things that we really want to accomplish. 7 Work Challenge Stressors • Time pressure refers to a strong sense that the amount of time you have to do a task is just not quite enough. • Work complexity refers to the degree to which the requirements of the work, in terms of knowledge, skills, and abilities, tax or exceed the capabilities of the person who is responsible for performing the work. 10 Nonwork Challenge Stressors • Family time demands reflect the time that a person commits to participate in an array of family activities and responsibilities. – Traveling, hosting parties • Personal development – Participation in formal education programs, music lessons • Positive life events – Marriage, pregnancy 11 Stressful Life Events Life Event Stress Score Death of a spouse 100 Divorce 73 Jail term 63 Marriage 50 Vacations 13 Minor violations of the law 11 12 How Do People Cope with Stressors? • Coping refers to the behaviors and thoughts that people use to manage both the stressful demands that they face and the emotions associated with those stressful demands. – Problem-focused coping refers to behaviors and cognitions intended to manage the stressful situation itself. – Emotion-focused coping refers to the various ways in which people manage their own emotional reactions to stressful demands. General Adaptation Syndrome | ae ~~, Level of Normal | | Resistance sr 1 ON | I Alarm Stage of Stage of Reaction Resistance Exhaustion 15  16 Negative Consequences of Stress • Physiological strains • Psychological strains • Behavioral strains 17 Individual Differences in the Stress Process • Type A Behavior Pattern – Have a strong sense of time urgency and tend to be impatient, hard-driving, competitive, controlling, aggressive, and even hostile. – May have a direct influence on the level of stressors that a person confronts. – Influences the stress process itself. – Directly linked to coronary heart disease and other physiological, psychological, and behavioral strains. Relationship between Stress and.Job.Performance x a a Performance —> o = low —— Stress ————> High 20  21 Effects of Strains on Performance and Commitment • Strains have a moderate negative effect on job performance. • Strains have a strong negative effect on Organizational Commitment. 22 Stress Management • Provide resources to employees – Training interventions aimed at increasing job- related competencies and skills. – Supportive practices help employees manage and balance the demands that exist in the different roles they have. • Flextime, telecommuting, compressed work week • Reduce strains – Relaxation techniques – Cognitive–behavioral techniques • Attempt to help people appraise and cope with stressors in a more rational manner – Health and wellness programs