1. Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 5-1 Chapter Copyright © 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin 5 Stress

2. Slide 5-2 Learning Goals  What is stress, and how is it different than stressors and strains?  What are the four main types of stressors?  How do individuals cope with stress?  How does the Type A Behavior Pattern influence the stress process?  How does stress affect job performance and organizational commitment?  What steps can organizations take to manage employee stress?

3. Slide 5-3 Stress  Stress  Stressors  Strains

4. Slide 5-4 Jobs Rated from Least Stressful (1) to Most Stressful (250) Least Stressful Jobs Stress Level Most Stressful Jobs Stress Level 1. Musical Instrument Repairer 18.77245. Surgeon99.46 8. Librarian21.40246. Taxi Driver100.49 12. Janitor22.44248. Senior corporate exec108.62 18. Barber23.62249. Firefighter110.93 32. Pharmacist25.87250. U.S. President176.55 Adapted from Table 5-1

5. Slide 5-5 Discussion Questions  Should the most stressful jobs also be paid the most? Why do you think this isn’t the case?  How does the job you currently occupy rank on the stress scale? What aspects of that job are the most stressful?

6. Slide 5-6 Why Are Some Employees More “Stressed” than Others?  Transactional Theory of Stress  When people first encounter stressors, the process of primary appraisal is triggered. It occurs as people evaluate the significance and the meaning of the stressors they are confronting.  Job demands that tend not to be appraised as stressful are called benign job demands.

7. Slide 5-7 Transactional Theory of Stress Figure 5-1

8. Slide 5-8 Types of Stressors  Hindrance stressors  Challenge stressors

9. Slide 5-9 Work Hindrance Stressors  Role conflict  Role ambiguity  Role overload  Daily hassles

10. Slide 5-10 Work Challenge Stressors  Time pressure  Work complexity  Work responsibility

11. Slide 5-11 Nonwork Hindrance Stressors  Work–family conflict  Negative life events  Financial uncertainty

12. Slide 5-12 Nonwork Challenge Stressors  Family time demands  Personal development  Positive life events

13. Slide 5-13 Stressful Life Events Life EventStress Score Death of a spouse100 Divorce73 Jail term63 Marriage50 Vacations13 Minor violations of the law11 Adapted from Table 5-2

14. Slide 5-14 Discussion Questions  Do you think these types of events are stressful to all people equally?  Why are events that are positive in nature (e.g. marriage and vacations) also stressful?

15. Slide 5-15 How Do People Cope with Stressors?  Coping  Behavioral coping  Cognitive coping  Problem-focused coping  Emotion-focused coping

16. Slide 5-16 Examples of Coping Strategies Table 5-3

17. Slide 5-17 Coping Strategies  How do people choose a particular coping strategy?  The set of beliefs that people have about how well different coping strategies can address different demands.  The degree to which people believe that a particular strategy gives them some degree of control over the stressor or how they feel about it.

18. Slide 5-18 The Experience of Strain  Physiological strains  Psychological strains  Behavioral strains

19. Slide 5-19 Examples of Strain Figure 5-2

20. Slide 5-20 Accounting for Individuals 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.

21. Slide 5-21 Discussion Questions  Should companies go out of their way to hire or avoid Type A personalities?  Would you prefer to be a part of a group consisting solely of Type A or Type B members? How might a mix help group functioning?

22. Slide 5-22 Accounting for Individuals in the Stress Process, Cont’d  Social support refers to the help that people receive when they are confronted with stressful demands.  Instrumental support  Emotional support

23. Slide 5-23 Why Are Some Employees More “Stressed” than Others? Figure 5-3

24. Slide 5-24 How Important is Stress?  Hindrance stressors have a moderately negative relationship with job performance.  Hindrance stressors have a strong negative relationship with organizational commitment.

25. Slide 5-25 Effects of Strains on Performance and Commitment Figure 5-4

26. Slide 5-26 Application: Stress Management  Assessment  Stress audit  Reducing stressors  Organizations could try to eliminate or significantly reduce stressful demands.

27. Slide 5-27 Stress Management, Cont’d  Providing resources  Training interventions  Supportive practices  Reduce strains  Relaxation techniques  Cognitive–behavioral techniques  Health and wellness programs

28. Slide 5-28 Examples of Supportive Practices Used by Organizations Table 5-4

29. Slide 5-29 Takeaways  Stress refers to the psychological response to demands when there is something at stake for the individual and coping with these demands would tax or exceed the individual’s capacity or resources. Stressors are the demands that cause the stress response, and strains are the negative consequences of the stress response.  Stressors come in two general forms: challenge stressors, which are perceived as opportunities for growth and achievement, and hindrance stressors, which are perceived as hurdles to goal achievement. These two stressors can be found in both work and nonwork domains.

30. Slide 5-30 Takeaways, Cont’d  Coping with stress involves thoughts and behaviors that address one of two goals: addressing the stressful demand or decreasing the emotional discomfort associated with the demand.  Individual differences in the Type A Behavior Pattern affect how people experience stress in three ways. Type A people tend to experience more stressors, appraise more demands as stressful, and be prone to experiencing more strains.

31. Slide 5-31 Takeaways, Cont’d  The effects of stress depend on the type of stressor. Hindrance stressors have a weak negative relationship with job performance and a strong negative relationship with organizational commitment. In contrast, challenge stressors have a weak positive relationship with job performance and a moderate positive relationship with organizational commitment.

32. Slide 5-32 Takeaways, Cont’d  Because of the high costs associated with employee stress, organizations assess and manage stress using a number of different of practices. In general, these practices focus on reducing or eliminating stressors, providing resources that employees can use to cope with stressors, or trying to reduce the strains.