5. Sources of Stress_ Workplace Stress

Understanding Stress

Acute vs Chronic Stress

  • Acute Stress: Short-term stress; immediate reaction to a perceived threat.

  • Chronic Stress: Long-term stress; occurs over an extended period, often due to ongoing life challenges.

Body's Reaction

  • Sympathomedullary Activation (SAM): Immediate response; activates the fight or flight response.

  • Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal System (HPA): Slower response; releases cortisol for long-term stress adaptation.

Prospective Study

  • Definition: A study that monitors individuals over time to see how certain factors (e.g., stressors) affect them.

  • Example: Bosma et al. (1997) tracked civil servants for work-related stress and its health impacts.

Sources of Stress

Workplace Stress

  • Key Factors: Workload, environmental factors, and work control.

Physiology of Stress

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

  • Stages: Alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

HPA Axis and SAM Pathway

  • Importance of cortisol in stress response and its effects on the body.

Stress and Illness

  • Immunosuppression: Stress can weaken immune response.

  • Cardiovascular Disorders: Linked to high stress levels.

Measuring Stress

  • Self-report scales:

    • Social Readjustment Ratings Scale

    • Hassles and Uplifts Scale

  • Physiological measures: Skin conductance response.

Individual Differences in Stress

Personality Types

  • Type A, Type B, and Type C personalities influence stress responses.

Hardiness

  • Defined by commitment, challenge, and control in stressful situations.

Coping Strategies

  • Drug Therapies: Benzodiazepines and beta blockers.

  • Stress Inoculation Therapy: Prepares individuals to cope with stress.

  • Biofeedback: Teaches control over physiological processes.

Social Support

  • Types: Instrumental, emotional, esteem support; pivotal in managing stress.

Job Demands-Control Model (Karasek, 1979)

  • Work overload leads to health issues unless counterbalanced by employee control.

  • Implication: Increased control can mitigate negative effects of job demands.

Case Studies

Bosma et al. (1997)

  • Study: Prospective study on civil servants measuring workload and control's impact on health; found that lack of control led to higher CHD symptoms.

Johansson et al. (1978)

  • Natural Experiment: Compared stress levels of finishers (high demand, low control) to cleaners (low demand, high control) in a sawmill.

  • Findings: Finishers had higher stress and illness rates.

Evaluation of Research

Cultural Similarities

  • Liu et al. (2007): Workload stress perceived similarly in US and China.

  • Gyorkos et al. (2012): Job control has different impacts in individualistic vs collectivist cultures.

Stressor Impact

  • Importance of perception of stressors over the stressors themselves in health outcomes.

Simplistic Model Critique

  • The job demands-control model may oversimplify complex workplace dynamics.

Self-Efficacy and Stress

  • Low self-efficacy can lead to increased stress for those with high control.

Validity of Studies

  • High external validity vs potential confounding variables in naturally assigned roles affecting results.

Examination Structure

Question Types

  • Strategies for outlining evaluations.

    • Outline and evaluate (16 marks).

    • Discuss two sources of stress (16 marks).

    • General discussion on stress sources (16 marks).