The particular demands that cause people to experience stress are called strains.
Stress is defined as a psychological response to demands that possess certain stakes for the person and that tax or exceed the person's capacity or resources. The demands that cause people to experience stress are called stressors.
Stress: The psychological response to demands when there is something at stake for the individual, and where coping with these demands would tax or exceed the individual’s capacity or resources.
Kwame, Rosalinda, and Sven work at Security First Trust and National Reserve, a medium-sized bank with 240 branches in eight states. Kwame works as a teller. Rosalinda works as one of five regional supervisors, each of whom is expected to supervise a team of tellers. Kwame recently received instructions from his supervisor that all tellers will be evaluated on the number of people they assist at their window per day. Serving more customers means higher performance effectiveness. However, Kwame is also expected to follow the bank's number-one goal of customer satisfaction. Rosalinda is facing her own challenges. Two of the regional supervisors suddenly left the bank for other opportunities, resulting in a significant increase in work responsibility and time pressure for Rosalinda and the remaining two supervisors. Just two days before the two regional supervisors quit, the bank hired Sven as a supervisor trainee. With the bank suddenly short-handed, Sven was asked to take up all the responsibilities of a regional supervisor. He has been given very few instructions or guidelines about how things are supposed to be done. Instead, the bank expects him to learn on the job. Sven is encountering stress resulting from
- work complexity.
- role conflict.
- role ambiguity.
- negative life events.
- daily hassles.
Role ambiguity refers to a lack of information about what needs to be done in a role, as well as unpredictability regarding the consequences of performance in that role. Sven has been asked to take over as regional supervisor and learn on the job. Because Sven is new to the job, it would be hard for him to take over all the responsibility.
Role Ambiguity: When an individual has a lack of direction and information about what needs to be done.
People with the Type A Behavior Pattern are typically
- aggressive and competitive.
- thoughtful and cooperative.
- methodical and precise.
- lazy and unproductive.
- cautious and insecure.
"Type A" people tend to be impatient, hard-driving, competitive, controlling, aggressive, and even hostile.
Type A Behavior Pattern: People who tend to experience more stressors, appraise more demands as stressful, and be prone to experiencing more strains.
Which of these refers to the help people receive that addresses the stressful demand directly?
- instrumental support
- physiological support
- emotional support
- psychological support
- internal support
One type of social support is called instrumental support, which refers to the help people receive that can be used to address the stressful demand directly. For example, if a person is overloaded with work, a coworker could provide instrumental support by taking over some of the work or offering suggestions about how to do the work more efficiently.
Instrumental Support: The help people receive from others that can be used to address a stressful demand directly.
Charene is a product development manager for Unique Automotive Accessories. When she was first hired, she proved herself to be one of the most productive new employees. Lately, Charene's supervisor, Ivan, has noticed that her productivity is slipping from its previous high point. Whenever Ivan stays late at the office, he sees that Charene is always at her desk, eating take-out, and she is always the first to arrive in the morning. He also observes that her e-mail replies are often time-stamped on the weekend. Ivan decides to hire Charene an assistant to ease her workload and improve her work-life balance. Ivan's approach to alleviating Charene's stressors is an example of
- burnout.
- cognitive coping.
- emotional support.
- instrumental support.
- organizational cohesion.
One type of social support is called instrumental support, which refers to the help people receive that can be used to address the stressful demand directly. For example, if a person is overloaded with work, a coworker could provide instrumental support by taking over some of the work or offering suggestions about how to do the work more efficiently.
Instrumental Support: The help people receive from others that can be used to address a stressful demand directly.
Akono is an associate with Wealth Management Partners in Texas. Among various other work commitments, Akono has to compile the annual financial statement for Broadband Express, an important client. It is a job with heavy workload and a short turnaround deadline. Anaya, Akono's colleague, observed this stressful situation and volunteered to assist Akono in meeting the deadline. The support received by Akono can be best described as ________ support.
- marginal
- physiological
- emotional
- adaptive
- instrumental
One type of social support is called instrumental support, which refers to the help people receive that can be used to address the stressful demand directly. For example, if a person is overloaded with work, a coworker could provide instrumental support by taking over some of the work or offering suggestions about how to do the work more efficiently.
Instrumentality: The belief that successful performance will result in the attainment of some outcomes.
Which of the following is an example of a Type A Behavior Pattern?
- Enrique keeps to himself at office parties, preferring to read a book or wear earbuds rather than talk to anyone.
- Natalia comes in late and leaves early, often without asking for permission or notifying her supervisor in advance.
- During weekly meetings, Sharona talks over other people and is always in a hurry to get back to her desk and get back to work.
- Frederica is an excellent team player, and she never takes credit for her efforts, preferring to see the outcome as the product of a group effort.
- Kristoffer is a slow and methodical worker, and he can always be counted on to get his work done with a high degree of accuracy, if not always on time.
"Type A" people tend to be impatient, hard-driving, competitive, controlling, aggressive, and even hostile.
Type A Behavior Pattern: People who tend to experience more stressors, appraise more demands as stressful, and be prone to experiencing more strains.
Which of the following situations demonstrates the connection between hindrance stressors and organizational commitment?
- Xander deals with his frustration over his boss showing favoritism to other members of his team by going for runs at lunch.
- Hilary's manager constantly makes unreasonable demands that force her to work long hours, and as a result she is looking for another job.
- When Oberon learned that a lazy coworker had been given a big raise, Oberon decided to work harder in order to earn a similar raise for himself.
- Frida's company cuts costs by not replacing old, worn out equipment, so she is forced to ignore the problems in order to focus on getting her work done.
- The psychological pressure Sheila felt as an accountant during tax season led her to form a support group with other people in her department who felt the same way.
Hindrance stressors have a strong negative relationship with organizational commitment. People who work at jobs that they know are causing them to feel constantly sick and exhausted will likely be dissatisfied with their jobs and feel less desire to stay with the organization and more desire to consider alternatives.
Hindrance Stressors: Stressors that tend to be appraised as thwarting progress toward growth and achievement.
Hindrance stressors have a ________ relationship with organizational commitment.
- weak positive
- strong negative
- strong positive
- moderate negative
- moderate positive
Hindrance stressors have a strong negative effect on organizational commitment. People who experience higher levels of hindrance stressors tend to feel lower levels of affective commitment and lower levels of normative commitment. Effects on continuance commitment are weaker.
Hindrance Stressors: Stressors that tend to be appraised as thwarting progress toward growth and achievement.
George is a stockbroker in a leading brokerage firm. Recently, he has been assigned several additional tasks. He begins to consume alcohol to cope with the increasing workload. George also becomes demanding and overly critical of his coworkers and his family. In this example, George is exhibiting ________ strain.
- virtual
- Type A
- hindrance
- behavioral
- instrumental
Behavioral strains are unhealthy behaviors such as grinding one's teeth at night, being overly critical and bossy, excessive smoking, compulsive gum chewing, overuse of alcohol, and compulsive eating.
Behavioral Coping: Physical activities used to deal with a stressful situation.
Which of the following statements is True about the effects of stressors?
- Hindrance stressors have a strong negative effect on job performance.
- Hindrance stressors have a moderate negative effect on organizational commitment.
- Challenge stressors have a strong negative relationship with job performance.
- Employees who experience higher levels of challenge stressors also tend to have lower levels of job performance.
- Challenge stressors have a moderate positive relationship with organizational commitment.
Challenge stressors have a weak relationship with job performance and a moderate relationship with organizational commitment. However, in contrast to the results for hindrance stressors, the relationships are positive rather than negative.
Challenge Stressors: Stressors that tend to be appraised as opportunities for growth and achievement.
By providing ________, organizations aim to increase job-related competencies and skills that help employees to cope with stressful demands.
- hindrance stressors
- benign job demands
- training interventions
- emotional support
- transactional theories
Organizations provide resources to employees through training interventions aimed at increasing job-related competencies and skills. Training that increases employee competencies and skills is also beneficial to the extent that it promotes a sense that the demands are more controllable.
Stress: The psychological response to demands when there is something at stake for the individual, and where coping with these demands would tax or exceed the individual’s capacity or resources.
A compressed workweek, telecommuting, on-site child care and flextime are all examples of
- training interventions.
- supportive practices.
- challenge stressors.
- primary appraisals.
- job sharing.
Supportive practices such as a compressed workweek, full-time telecommuting, on-site child care, and flextime help employees manage and balance the demands that exist in the different roles they have.
Perceived Organizational Support: The degree to which employees believe that the organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being.
Indira manages a team of people in the accounting department at Financial Partners, LLP. The company has been in buyout talks with a large competitor for the past few months. As the merger deal nears completion, Indira started noticing a change in her team's conduct. One of the collection agents, Malcolm, is taking longer lunches and often returns reeking of alcohol. She observed Akobo, the accounts receivable supervisor, uncharacteristically lashing out at vendors on the phone. Her own assistant, Marjorie, started nervously tapping her feet and pulling at her hair during meetings. Indira is worried about her team and their well-being. According to the protocols of assessment, which of the following actions will help Indira best understanding her team's issues?
- hiring an expert to observe her team as they work and to report on the status of each member
- reading through her team's e-mail correspondence to search for clues about their shift in behavior
- bringing in a masseuse at lunch time once a week to give free massages to the team members who want them
- instituting a program through which high-performing employees mentor lower-performing team members, regardless of seniority
- considering what might be causing the issues and having her team members fill out questionnaires asking about the sources of their anxieties
The first step in managing stress is to assess the level and sources of stress in the workplace. Although there are many ways to accomplish this type of evaluation, often referred to as a stress audit, managers can begin by asking themselves questions about the nature of the jobs in their organization to estimate whether high stress levels may be a problem. The first category of questions might involve the degree to which the organization is going through changes that would likely increase uncertainty among employees. As an example, a merger between two companies might increase employees' uncertainty about their job security and possible career paths. A second category of questions might center on the work itself. These questions typically focus on the level and types of stressors experienced by the employees.
Team: Two or more people who work interdependently over some time period to accomplish common goals related to some task-oriented purpose.
As an alternative to managing stressors, many organizations teach employees to use ________ to counteract the effects of stressors by engaging in activities that slow the heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure.
- heuristics
- relaxation techniques
- emotional suppression
- primary performance appraisal
- transactional analysis
Relaxation techniques teach people how to counteract the effects of stressors by engaging in activities that slow the heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure.
Pressure: An influence tactic in which the requestor attempts to use coercive power through threats and demands.
Which of these techniques attempt(s) to help people appraise and cope with stressors in a more rational manner?
- self-hypnosis techniques
- relaxation techniques
- catharsis
- cognitive-behavioral techniques
- free association
Cognitive-behavioral techniques attempt to help people appraise and cope with stressors in a more rational manner.
Cognitive Abilities: Capabilities related to the use of knowledge to make decisions and solve problems.
Veronica is feeling stressed and has asked her manager if there are any supportive practices available to help her. Her manager suggests that since Veronica is interested in environmental issues, she should take advantage of a program that would enable her to take six months away from the company to work on the local "reclaim the bay" initiative. Veronica's manager is offering her
- a sabbatical.
- a vacation.
- flextime.
- a compressed workweek.
- a stress challenge.
Some organizations help their employees cope with stress by offering them the opportunity to take a sabbatical-paid or unpaid time off to engage in alternative activities.
Stress: The psychological response to demands when there is something at stake for the individual, and where coping with these demands would tax or exceed the individual’s capacity or resources.
A majority of all ________ are attributable to stress-related causes.
- firings
- doctor visits
- violent outbursts
- health-care costs
- work-related injuries
Estimates are that between 60 and 90 percent of all doctor visits can be attributed to stress-related causes.
Stressors: Demands that cause the stress response.
Some highly motivated individuals come to work even though they are suffering from the physiological, psychological, or behavioral strain caused by stress. This phenomenon, known as ________, can result in reductions in productivity even greater than those resulting from employees who avoid work due to the effects of stress.
- presenteeism
- insubordination
- stress resistance
- workplace defiance
- organizational commitment
Presenteeism refers to the situation in which employees come to work even though they are suffering physiological, psychological, or behavioral strain. This can result in prolonged illness, the spread of illness, and a downward spiral of impaired performance, which can have even worse effects on productivity than absenteeism.
Strain: Negative consequences of the stress response.
Kwame, Rosalinda, and Sven work at Security First Trust and National Reserve, a medium-sized bank with 240 branches in eight states. Kwame works as a teller. Rosalinda works as one of five regional supervisors, each of whom is expected to supervise a team of tellers. Kwame recently received instructions from his supervisor that all tellers will be evaluated on the number of people they assist at their window per day. Serving more customers means higher performance effectiveness. However, Kwame is also expected to follow the bank's number-one goal of customer satisfaction. Rosalinda is facing her own challenges. Two of the regional supervisors suddenly left the bank for other opportunities, resulting in a significant increase in work responsibility and time pressure for Rosalinda and the remaining two supervisors. Just two days before the two regional supervisors quit, the bank hired Sven as a supervisor trainee. With the bank suddenly short-handed, Sven was asked to take up all the responsibilities of a regional supervisor. He has been given very few instructions or guidelines about how things are supposed to be done. Instead, the bank expects him to learn on the job. Kwame, unable to meet both types of expectations associated with his role, is facing
- role complexity.
- role conflict.
- role ambiguity.
- work responsibility.
- work enrichment.
Role conflict refers to conflicting expectations that other people may have of us. Kwame is facing a conflict between the focus on customer satisfaction and the need for effectiveness, measured by the number of customers attended to.
Role Conflict: When others have conflicting expectations of what an individual needs to do.
Depression, anxiety, and anger reflect ________ strain.
- physiological
- psychological
- behavioral
- nonwork
- cognitive
Psychological strains that result from stressors include depression, anxiety, anger, hostility, reduced self-confidence, irritability, inability to think clearly, forgetfulness, lack of creativity, memory loss, and a loss of sense of humor.
Psychological Contracts: Employee beliefs about what employees owe the organization and what the organization owes them.
Which if the following is an example of instrumental support?
- Talisa complains about her boss to a co-worker in the break room.
- Horatio's husband listens to him complain about his workday over dinner.
- Odell invites each of his team members to open up to him about their grievances.
- Jenny offers to answer phones to give the receptionist a chance to get caught up on his filing.
- Uriel stops at the gym at the end of his shift to work out his frustrations by sparring with a boxing partner.
Instrumental support refers to the help people receive that can be used to address the stressful demand directly. Emotional support refers to the help people receive in addressing the emotional distress that accompanies stressful demands.
Instrumental Support: The help people receive from others that can be used to address a stressful demand directly.
________ is the emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that results from having to cope with stressful demands on an ongoing basis.
- Burnout
- Type A behavior pattern
- Type B behavior pattern
- A stressor
- A benign job demand
Burnout is defined as the emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that results from having to cope with stressful demands on an ongoing basis.
Burnout: The emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion from coping with stressful demands on a continuing basis.
Raoul owns a furniture moving company. During late spring, especially when the local colleges go on summer break and students move out of the dorms, he finds himself overloaded with work, which often makes him feel irritable and anxious. To calm himself, he often takes time out to go swimming. In this example, the coping strategy that Raoul uses can be classified as
- primary appraisal.
- cognitive coping.
- emotion-focused coping.
- Type A coping behavior.
- Type B coping behavior.
In contrast to problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping refers to the various ways in which people manage their own emotional reactions to stressful demands.
Emotion-Focused Coping: Behaviors and cognitions of an individual intended to help manage emotional reactions to stressful demands.
Looking for the positive in the negative, and avoiding, distancing, and ignoring are examples of
- problem-focused cognitive coping strategies.
- problem-focused behavior coping strategies.
- emotion-focused cognitive coping strategies.
- primary cognitive coping strategies.
- primary behavior coping strategies.
Emotion-focused coping refers to the various ways in which people manage their own emotional reactions to stressful demands. Cognitive coping refers to the thoughts that are involved in trying to deal with a stressful situation.
Emotion-Focused Coping: Behaviors and cognitions of an individual intended to help manage emotional reactions to stressful demands.
As manager of the accounting department at the Low Price Warehouse, Babette noticed that the cohesion of the collections team was rather low. Each team member was assigned a section of the alphabet, A-D, E-G, etc., and was responsible for calling only those customers within that particular range. In terms of division of labor, this worked well, but it also kept her employees in their own specific bubbles, resulting in few interactions between team members. To address this, Babette instituted mandatory Friday afternoon meetings where she would provide coffee and brownies, and employees would pair up, and each person would present the other's weekly report to the entire group. She felt this would give the entire team a sense of what others were working on and would encourage healthy competition once everyone knew what everyone else's stats were. As soon as she began holding the meetings, one of her best employees, Jermaine, began leaving the office just before the meetings began. He always turned his reports into her before he left, and they were always accurate and well written, but he never showed up at the meetings. When Babette talked to Jermaine about his absences, he sheepishly explained that he had a fear of talking in front of groups. Applying the concepts behind secondary appraisal, how should Babette deal with Jermaine's avoidance issue?
- require Jermaine to attend the meetings or be given a formal reprimand
- arrange for Jermaine to attend an intensive class on effective public speaking
- discontinue the meetings to make sure Jermaine is not uncomfortable around his colleagues
- make meeting attendance voluntary and hope that Jermaine will attend when he feels less pressure to do so
- allow Jermaine to continue to skip the meetings because in every other way his work performance is exceptional
Secondary appraisal involves asking, "What should I do?" and "What can I do?" in response to a stressful situation. Behavioral coping involves the set of physical activities that are used to deal with a stressful situation. An example of behavioral coping is an employee who has several daily hassles who avoids work by coming in late, leaving early, or even staying home. Problem-focused behavioral coping involves seeking assistance or acquiring additional resources to help manage the feelings of stress.
Secondary Appraisal: When people determine how to cope with the various stressors they face.
________ refer(s) to the lack of information regarding what needs to be done in a role, as well as unpredictability regarding the consequences of performance in that role.
- Time pressure
- Daily hassles
- Role overload
- Role ambiguity
- Role conflict
Role ambiguity refers to a lack of information about what needs to be done in a role, as well as unpredictability regarding the consequences of performance in that role.
Role Ambiguity: When an individual has a lack of direction and information about what needs to be done.
Meilla is the vice president of marketing at a medical supply company. In a typical work week, she is required to attend three departmental meetings, prepare progress reports, sit in on job interviews for other departments, have one-on-one meetings with each of her five managers, and travel to a satellite location where mock-ups of new products are photographed for catalogs. Most weeks, Meilla puts in more than 70 hours at the office, and she often responds to e-mails while watching movies at home on the weekends. Despite this, she finds herself falling behind. Meilla's experience is an example of
- a lack of information about what needs to be done to accomplish her tasks.
- competing expectations from different departments about her job duties.
- the number of role demands placed on her being too high.
- the requirements of the job exceeding her capabilities.
- having too many nonwork obligations.
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 effectively.
Role: The behavior a person is generally expected to display in a given context.
Which of the following reflect(s) the relatively minor routine demands that get in the way of accomplishing the things that we really want to accomplish?
- family time demands
- daily hassles
- personal development
- positive life events
- negative life events
Daily hassles refer to the relatively minor day-to-day demands that get in the way of accomplishing the things that we really want to accomplish. Examples of hassles include having to deal with unnecessary paperwork, office equipment malfunctions, annoying interactions with abrasive coworkers, and useless communications.
Daily Hassles: Minor day-to-day demands that interfere with work accomplishment.
________ refers to the nature of the obligations that a person has toward others.
- Job capability
- Time pressure
- Work complexity
- Role conflict
- Work responsibility
Work responsibility refers to the nature of the obligations that a person has toward others. Generally speaking, the level of responsibility in a job is higher when the number, scope, and importance of the obligations in that job are higher.
Work Responsibility: The number and importance of the obligations that an employee has to others.
Due to time pressure and heavy workload, Dan has developed high blood pressure and has started to show forgetfulness at work and home. These are examples of ________ strains.
- physiological and behavioral
- psychological and behavioral
- physiological and psychological
- internal and external
- psychological and cognitive
Physiological strains that result from stressors occur in at least four systems of the human body. Psychological strains that result from stressors include depression, anxiety, anger, hostility, reduced self-confidence, irritability, inability to think clearly, forgetfulness, lack of creativity, memory loss, and a loss of sense of humor.
Time Pressure: The sense that the amount of time allotted to do a job is not quite enough.