Introduction on Stress Managemetn Dissertaton

INTRODUCTION

- Brief about Stress

- Stress (what is it – Definition)

- Stress Management

o Concept

o Importance

o Technique of stress management

- General Principles of Stress by Richard Lazarus

- Eustress and Distress

o Concept

o Cycle

- Sources of stress

o Rita Agrawal

o Encarta – 2008

- Categories of Potential Stressors

- Effect of Stress

o Negative

o Positive

- Managing Stress

- Organizational Cope up mechanism with Stress

INTRODUCTION

In The Modern Competitive World Of Industry , Trade Finance , Banking Management &

Information Where Breath – taking Changes are Taking place , Tension Stalks every individual

worth his adrenalin. The 17th Century has been called the age of Enlighten, 18 th Century has been

called the age of Reason, 19th Century has been called the age of Progress, and 20th Century has been

called the age of Anxiety and Stress.

Thus It is not Surprising that interest in Stress has been rising with the Advancement of present

century. In the past, men were mainly concerned for their Physical Survival. They worried about the

sources of their next Meal , Shelter & about not being Killed today. The modern man worries

about the problems of a more psychosocial Nature. But all individual do not undergo the experience

of Stress even if they undertake Tension producing activities.

Stress is becoming an increasingly global phenomenon affecting all countries , all professions and

all categories of workers , families and society in general.

Stress takes heavy toll of the person’s health and his capacity to adjust with others. The modern

life is full of stressors. The job life contains many stressors. Some of the stressors are intrinsic to

the job life; some relate to the structure of the job and so on. There are stressors in the personal

and the social life of an individual. In a nut shell stress is ubiquitous these days.

Stress has become chronic. As a result an individual faces many psychological as well as

psychosomatic disorders. In the last few years’ evidence has accumulated from around the world

to show that the most common cause of destructive ill health is stress at work. Researchers have

not only built up evidence showing links between industrial stresses in general and ill health but

have even accumulated evidence showing that it is possible to link specific occupations with

specific types of stress induced disease. No one is immune. The man or women on the shop floor

is just vulnerable as the man or women on the board of directors.

It is these environmental changes that have made stress more pronounced. These days stress is

ubiquitous. None can escape stress. But one can cope up with stress by different ways. The

concept of Human Resource Management (HRM) is increasingly becoming a most vital function

of modern manager. Human Resources take active role in the modern economic scenario of any

country. The abundant physical recourses alone cannot benefic the growth of the country without

Human Resource component, which transforms physical resources in to productive resources.

Human resources management is concerned with the “People dimensions in management” This

human element if handle properly by the manager, two plus two can equal five. Or else it can be

three. It is therefore necessary for the manager not only to understand human behavior properly

but also to harness that understanding for the good of the organization.

Managerial behavior includes not only the tasks of getting things done through others but also

why and how an individual behaves as he does. The specific questions that are from the subject

matter of O.B. are related to individual, interpersonal, small group & inter group behavior,

interaction of formal organization and the informal groups and organization as a system.

In the modern competitive world of industry, trade finance, banking management and

information technology where breath tacking changes are taking place, tension stalks every

individual worth his adrenalin. Business and executive life becomes a never-ending race against

time, technology and target; this rate race creates tension, which leads to dissatisfaction and

frustration. Eventually it manifests itself as psychological, Physiological stress and mental and

emotional drain.

Most of us are aware that employee stress is an increasing problem in organizations. We hear

about postal workers killing co-worker and supervisors and then we learn job related tensions

were a major cause. Friends tells us they are stressed out from greater workloads and having to

work longer hours because of downsizing at their company.

We read surveys where employees complain about the stress created in trying to balance work

and family responsibilities.

Factor such as increasing competition corporate restructuring and Downsizings have compelled

employees to work longer hours to meet their deadlines. Organization also tries to generate more

output from fewer people in a shorter span of time. This trend pressurizes employees leading to

negative consequences such a burnout, high turnover, aggregation and stress. Work stress has

become the latest corporate catchword and is a reason for genuine concern. Forbes magazine

estimates that the American industries will lose 300 $ billion per annum due to absenteeism,

health cost, and stress management programs. Some of the symptoms of stress are headaches,

obesity, insomnia and depression. These symptoms have an effect on employee performance.

Concept of stress

The concept of stress was first introduced in the life science by Hans’s selye in 1936. It is

concept borrowed from the natural science where it was equated with “Force, Pressure or strain”.

Ever since there have been innumerable articles, studies & experiments on stress & of course

varying definition.

Definitions

STRESS - A process in which characteristics of the workplace or the job itself cause employees

to experience discomfort or ill health.

Stressor - situation characteristics or condition.

STRESS WHAT IS IT?

According to Stephen Robbins “Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is

confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand related to what he or she desires and for

which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important”.

According to Selye and Levi,” stress as a non-specific, conventional and phylogenetic basic

response pattern, the primary function of which is to prepare the body for physical activity such

as resistance of flight [Call as Eustress]. If however the subject lacks the means of restarting

either to fight or flight of relieving the stress reaction. Stress gives rise to distress which

manifests in the form of psychosomatic symptoms or disorders. Stress can be understood as a

state of imbalance between demands made on us from outside sources, it involves our

capabilities to meet these demand when the expected consequences from meeting or not meeting

the demand are significantly different.

Stress is associated with constraints and demands. The formal prevent you for doing what you

desire. The letter refers to the loose of something desire so when you take a test at school or you

undergo your annual performance review at work you feel stress because you confront

opportunities, constraints and demands. A good performance review may lead to a promotion,

greater responsibility, and higher salary. But a poor review may prevent you from getting the

promotion. And extremely poor review might even result in your being fired.

To conditions are necessary for potential stress to become actual stress there must be uncertainty

over the outcome and the outcome must be important. Regardless of the conditions, it is only

when there is doubt and uncertainly regarding whether the opportunity will be seized, the

constraint removed or the loss avoided that there is stress. That is stress is highest for those

individuals who perceive that they are uncertain as to whether they will win or loss and lowest

for those individuals who think that winning or losing is an unimportant outcome, there is no

stress. If keeping your job or earning a promotion doesn’t hold any importance to you, you have

no reason to feel stress over having to undergo a performance review.

Whilst there is little disagreement about the prevalence of stress there is considerable debate

about what the word (stress) actually refers to. In ordinary conversation we seem to be willing to

apply the word to both cause and effect. In other words, the common sense view of stress is that

it is a combination of external stressors and our response in the early and highly influential

research of Selye (1936). Stress is as the result of an interaction between an individual‘s

emotional, intellectual, social, and physical resources and the demands on him or her.

Marshall & Cooper (1981) argue that ‗stress‘ is a different phenomenon form ‗pressure‘. Stress

is something more than mere pressure. It carries strong overtones of the breakdown of normal

human performance. In an earlier work, Cooper & Marshall, (1978), the same two authors

concluded that ‗stress is essentially individually defined and must be understood with reference

to characteristics of both the individual and his environment, as it is the outcome of the two‘

The following are the various definitions of the term stress:

A. Stress is the excitement, feeling of anxiety, and/or physical tension that occurs when the

demands placed on an individual are thought to exceed his ability to cope. This most common

view of stress is often called distress or negative stress. The physical or psychological demands

from the environment that cause this condition are called stressors. (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2004)

B. Holmes & Rahe,(1967) defined stress as a stimulus event that presents unusual demands.

C. It is defined by Ganster and Murphy (2000) as a form of ‗strain‘ provoked in response to

situational demands labeled ‗stressors‘ which occur when jobs are simultaneously high in

demands and low in control.

D. Is an adaptive response, mediated by individual differences and/or psychological processes,

that is, a consequence of any external (environment) action, situation, or event that places

excessive psychological and/or physical demands on a person.

(Weihrich and Koontz, 1993)

E. Stress is the mental or physical condition that results from a perceived threat of danger

(physical or emotional) and the pressure to remove it. (Leslie & Lloyd, 1977)

F. Selye (1976) define stress as the bodily response we make to the troublesome event.

G. Stress is any circumstances or transactions with the environment that threaten or are perceived

to threaten our well-being and thereby tax our adaptive capacities.

(Weiten, 1986)

H. An adaptive response, moderated by individual differences, that is a consequence of any

action, situation, or event and that places special demands on a person.

(Ivancevich, Konopaske and Matteson, 1987)

I. Stress (psychology), an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people

experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well-being.

(Auerbach et al, 2007 / Encarta 2008)

J. In physics, stress refers to the external force applied to an object – for example, a bridge

girder. The response is ―strain‖, which is the impact the force has on the girder.

K. Stress is defined as a nonspecific response of the body to a stimulus or event (stressor).

Under a general model of the stress response, when an individual experiences a stressor, the

stressor will lead to a physiological response, one that can be measured by several indicators,

such as elevated heart rate. In related literature, the term ―stress‖ is used to refer to this

physiological response. Stressors vary in form and can include extreme temperature or lighting,

time pressure, lack of sleep, and exposure to threat or danger, among others. All stressors,

however, tend to produce similar physiological responses within the body.

(Selye, 1956)

Transactional model of stress championed by Richard Lazarus and his colleagues (Holroyd &

Lazarus, 1982; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) - A theory that proposes that the experience of stress

depends on one‘s subjective appraisal of events. Thus, stress is neither a stimulus nor a response

but a stimulus-response transaction.

Lazarus emphasizes that the experience of stress is highly personal & subjective, depending on

how people appraise the events they encounter.

From the above definitions of the term stress, stress means different things to different people.

From a layperson‘s perspective, stress can be described as feeling tense, anxious, or worried. The

term stress itself has been defined in literally hundreds of ways in the literature. Virtually all of

the definitions can be placed into one of the two categories, however; stress can be defined as

either a stimulus or a response.

A stimulus definition treats stress as some characteristic or event that may result in a disruptive

consequence. In a response definition, stress is seen partially to some stimulus, called a stressor.

A stressor is a potentially harmful or threatening external event or situation. In a response

definition, stress is the consequence of the interaction between an environmental stimulus (a

stressor) and the individual‘s response. That is, stress is the result of a unique interaction

between stimulus conditions in the environment and the individual‘s predisposition to respond in

a particular way.

In a nutshell it is useful to view stress as the response a person makes and to identify stimulus

conditions (actions, situations, events) as stressors. Stress is the consequence of the interaction

between and environmental stimulus (stressor) and the individual‘s response.

Stress Management

Stress management is the amelioration of stress and especially chronic stress often for the

purpose of improving everyday functioning.

Stress produces numerous symptoms which vary according to persons, situations, and severity.

These can include physical health decline as well as depression.

Important of Stress Management

Stress - if you feel it regularly, you are not alone. According to the American Psychological

Association, as many as one-third of Americans experience extreme stress more often than notice

and almost half of Americans have felt an increase in their stress levels since 2005. Work and

money tend to be the primary cause for most, and current economical crisis is simply not

helping. If you are among those of us wrestling with such stresses, may I suggest that developing

a few good stress management techniques may be well worth your time!

Stress often contributes to a variety of problems in our lives from marital and family, to a host of

health issues whether we realize it or not. Hence stress management could not be more important

for us, and those we love. Good stress management begins with identifying the sources of our

stress, and understanding how it is we experience it. Everyone is different; what might stress one

person may not be the same cause of stress for another.

There are some stress management techniques however, that are not so good. Many of these

unhealthy coping tools often carry side effects and rarely give more than an allusion of real stress

relief. So if, for example, we tend to eat when stressed, we should consider opting for healthier

meals followed by a relaxing walk. If we tend to bottle up our feelings, it would be in our best

interest to be communicating and interacting with family and friends regularly. Meditation is

another effective stress management tool that has been proven to genuinely help reduce stress as

well.

Most Americans simply work too hard and too much. While we cannot control everything about

our work schedule however, it may be time to make any changes we can. Do we take all the

vacation time we are allotted? If not, it is time to do so. Does our company offer any kind of

stress management programs? We should use them! Are we given any personal days? We should

take them! Additionally, we should look for ways to use our time better, so that we can manage

our stress more effectively. We will be of no help to anyone if we become sick or overly

irritable. But think how much more of life we would enjoy, and how much more of life would

enjoy us, if we were not so stressed out all the time.

So much of stress management is about becoming resilient: being able to handle anything that

comes our way, physically and mentally. With that, stress will always be knocking at our door

and simply will not go away on its own. We can do nothing! But is that what we really want? I

dare say that an ounce of good stress management will be worth its wait in gold and the time we

give to such practices will not be regretted! 

Techniques of Stress Management

There are several ways of coping with stress. Some techniques of time management may help a

person to control stress. In the face of high demands, effective stress management involves

learning to set limits and to refuse some demands that others make. The following techniques

have been recently dubbed “Destressitizers” by The Journal of the Canadian Medical

Association. A destressitizer is any process by which an individual can relieve stress. Techniques

of stress management will vary according to the theoretical paradigm adhered to, but may

include some of the following:

Autogenic training

Cognitive therapy

Conflict resolution

Exercise

Getting a hobby

Meditation

Deep breathing

Yoga Nidra

Nootropics

Reading novels

Relaxation techniques

Artistic Expression

Fractional relaxation

Progressive relaxation

Spas

Somatics training

Spending time in nature

Stress balls

Natural medicine

Clinically validated alternative treatments

Time management

Listening to certain types of relaxing music, particularly:

New Age music

Classical music

Psychedelic music

Sleep Music

General Principles of Stress by Richard Lazarus

I. Stress may be either physical or psychological: Examples of physical stress include infections,

exposure to excessive heat or cold failure to get adequate sleep, and pain. Examples of

psychological stress include arguing with your spouse, starting a new job, staring at a stack of

bills you are unable to pay, and being lonely.

II. Physical and psychological stress may overlap and interact: although it is convenient to

distinguish between physical and psychological stress, you should not think of these two types of

stress as being altogether independent. They may overlap in that a single event, such as being

wounded in combat, can produce both physical and psychological stress. Furthermore, there is

evidence (Friedman, Ader & Glasgow, 1965) that physical and psychological stressors may

function interactively.

III. The appraisal of stress is not necessarily objective: when under threat, people respond

emotionally and seem particularly prone to deviate from objective and rational modes of thought

(Folkman, Schaefer & Lazarus, 1979).

IV. Stress may be self-imposed: we tend to think of stress as something imposed on us from

without by others and their demands. Surprisingly often, however, it would seem appropriate to

characterize stress as self-imposed. For example, you might put pressure on yourself to get good

grades or to climb the corporate ladder rapidly. These overly high expectations often lead to

perceptions of failure and feelings of disappointment.

V. Our response to stress is complex and multidimensional: stress affects us at several levels. It

tends to produce changes in our emotions, our physiology, and our behavior.

VI. The effects of stress may be cumulative or additive: it had long been suspected that stress has

cumulative effects along the lines of the fabled ―straw that broke the camel‘s back‖. Recent

evidence (Kanner, Coyne, Schaefer & Lazarus, 1981) that little everyday―hassles can add up to

damage one‘s health appears to confirm that suspicion. For example, you might be experiencing

stress of moderate intensity at home, at school and at work. Coping with each source of stress

singly, you might be able to handle things without great difficulty. But collectively, the stress in

these three areas of your life might be overwhelming. Moreover, it appears that the stressful

events do not have to take place at the same time in order to have additive effects. The evidence

suggests that a series of stressful events, following closely on one another, may also have

cumulative effects.

Stress can be an asset:

Stress is not necessarily, bad in and itself. While stress is typically discussed in a negative

context, it also has a positive value. It is an opportunity when the offers potential gain for

example, the superior performer gives in “clutch” situation. Such individuals often use stress

positively to rise to the occasion and perform at or near their maximum.

Eustress and Distress

There are two kinds of stress that are distinguished by “Selye & Levi” Eustress is synonymous

with healthy essential stress. E.g. produce by joy, any kind of positive impulse, sensible

recreational activities sports practice as hobbies, etc. Distress is synonymous with morbigenous

[gloomy or unpleasant] stress has to be control, E.g. continuous mental or physical strain of any

kind danger, frustration, state or tension seemingly without hope. Even high end prolonged

Eustress can turn dangerous due to strong excitation associated with Eustress too.

There are two types of stress cycles like,

Eustress Cycle

Distress Cycle

Eustress Cycle:

If health promoting life style is adopted, different types of stress can give positive response.

There is an increase in self-esteem, self-respect and confidence, improvement in physical health

with resistance to disease as well as improved mental health. One would be able to deal with

future stresses much better; ultimately the individual enjoys increases in his productivity

enjoyment and intimacy.

Distress Cycle:

In case of stress over loading, stress stimulates can not be channeled for individual benefit,

different stresses produce various short term problems, behavior of individual changed his

physiological, emotional and cognitive domains are disrupted leading to disorders in these areas.

Individual’s pays its cost by way of decrease productivities enjoyment and intimacy.

(Reference: OB and Organizational culture symbiosis centre book. Written by: prof. Anant

R.sapre Page no: 136)

Sources of Stress (Stressors)

There may me numerous conditions in which people may feel stress.

Conditioned that tend to cause stress are called stressors.

Events that people perceive to be stressful are called stress

The agents that evoke the patterned response are referred to as stressors. Although even a single

stressor may cause major stress like death of near one, usually stressor combine to press an

individual in a variety of ways until stress develops. There can be innumerable stress factors

since different individuals react differently to the same stress conditions. Extreme stress situation

for an individual may prove to be mild for another, for yet another person the situation might not

qualify as stress symptoms at all.

Sources of stress

Home Work

* Relocation *Organizational structure

* Lifestyle stress *Career development

* Daily stress *Work relationship

* Role in organization

(Reference: Rita agrawal page no: 80)

There are three categories of potential stressors

1. Environmental factors

2. Organizational factors

3. Individual factors

1. Environmental Factors:

Just as environment uncertainty influences the design of organization’s structure,

it also influences stress level among employees in that organization. Changes in the

business cycle create economic uncertainty. Political uncertainties can also influence

the stress. Technology uncertainty is the third type of environmental factor that can

cause stress. Because new innovations can make an employee’s skills and experience

obsolete in a very short period of time, computers robotics, automation and similar

form of technological innovation are a threat to many people and cause them stress.

2. Organizational Factors:

There are no shortages of factors within the organization that can cause stress.

Pressures to avoid errors or complete tasks in a limited time period, work over load,

demanding and insensitive boss, and unpleasant co-workers are a few examples.

It is categorized below

Job Insecurity

Organized work places are going threw metamorphic changes under intense economic

transformations and consequent pressure. Reorganization, takeovers, mergers,

downsizing and other changes have become major stressors for employees as

companies try to live up to the competition to survive. These reformations have put

demand on everyone, from CEO to a mere executive.

Task Demands

In this factor related to a person’s job. They include the design of the individual’s job

(Autonomy, on the other hand, tends to lessen stress) Jobs where temperature, noise,

or other working conditions are dangerous or undesirable increases anxiety. So too can

working in an overcrowded room or in a visible location where interruptions are

constant.

Role Demands

This is relating to pressures pleased on a person as a function of the particular role

he or she can play in the organizations. Role conflicts create expectation that may be

hard to reconcile or satisfy. Role over load is experienced when the employee is

expected to do more than time permits. Role ambiguity is created when role

expectations are not clearly understood and the employee is not sure what he or she is

to do.

Interpersonal Demands

In this pressure created by other employee’s lack of social support from

colleagues and poor interpersonal relationship can cause considerable stress,

especially among employees with a high social need.

Organizational Leadership

These represent the managerial style of the organization’s senior executive. Some

chief executive officers create a culture characterizes by tension, fear, and anxiety.

They establish unrealistic pressures to perform in the short run, impose excessively

tight controls, and routinely fire employees who don’t “measure up.”

3. Individual Factors:

The typical individual only work about 50 to 60 hours in a week. The experiences

and problems that people encounter in those other 110 plus non-work hours each week

can spill over the job. Survey consistently shows that people hold family and personal

relationships dear. Marital difficulties, the breaking off of a relationship, and

discipline troubles with children are examples of relationship problems that create

stress for employees that aren’t left at the front door when they arrive at work.

Economical problems create by individuals overextending their financial resources in

another set of personal troubles that can create stress for employees and distract their

attention from their work.

Individual Differences

Some people thrive on stressful situations, while others are overwhelmed by them.

What is it that differentiates people in terms of their ability to handle stress? What

individual difference variable moderates the relationship between potential stressors

and experienced stress? At least five variables – perception, job experience, social

support, belief in locus of control, and hostility have been found to be relevant

moderators.

Every individual resaves to stressful situation in a different way some people are better

to cope up with this stressors than others. Some people see more predisposed to stress

i.e. they find it difficult to adapt or cope up with such situation. There are many factors

that responsible to the differences observed for one individual to the other.

PERCEPTION

Employees react in response to their perception of reality rather than to reality itself.

Perception, therefore, will moderate the relationship between a potential stress

condition and an employee’s reaction to it. One person’s fear that he’ll lose his job

because his company is lying of personnel may be perceived by another as an

opportunity to get a large severance allowance and start his own business.

What one employee perceives as a challenging job may be viewed as threading and

demanding by others. So the stress potential in environmental, organizational and

individual factors does not lie in their objective condition. Rather, it lies in an

employee’s interpretation of those factors.

JOB EXPERIENCE

Experience is said to be a great teacher. It can also be a great stress reducer think back

to your first date or your first few days in college. For most of us, the uncertainty and

newness of these situations created stress. But as we gained experience, that stress

disappeared or at least significantly decreased. The same phenomenal seems to apply

to work situations. That is, experience on the job tends to be negatively related to work

stress. People eventually develop coping mechanisms to deal with stress. Because this

takes time, senior members of the organization are more likely to be fully adapted and

should experience less stress.

SOCIAL SUPPORT

This is increasing evidence that social support – that is collegial relationships with

co-workers or supervisors- can buffer the impact of stress. The logic underlying this

moderation variable is that social support act as a palliative, mitigating the negative

effects of even high – strain jobs. For individuals whose work associates are

unhelpful or even actively hostile, social support may be found outside the job.

Involvement with family, friends and community can provide the support especially

for those with a high social need, that is missing at work and this can make job

stressors more tolerable.

BELIEF IN LOCUS OF CONTROL

Locus of control was introduced as a personality attribute. Those with internal locus of

control believe they control their own destiny. Those with external locus believe their

lives are controlled by outside forces. Evidence indicates that internals perceive their jobs

to be less stressful than do externals.

So externals, which are more likely to feel helpless in stressful situations, are also more

likely to experience stress.

SOURCES OF STRESS (Encarta 2008)

The circumstances that cause stress are called stressors. Stressors vary in severity and

duration. For example, the responsibility of caring for a sick parent may be an ongoing source of

major stress, whereas getting stuck in a traffic jam may cause mild, short-term stress. Some

events, such as the death of a loved one, are stressful for everyone. But in other situations,

individuals may respond differently to the same event—what is a stressor for one person may not

be stressful for another. For example, a student who is unprepared for a chemistry test and

anticipates a bad grade may feel stress, whereas a classmate who studies in advance may feel

confident of a good grade. For an event or situation to be a stressor for a particular individual, the

person must appraise the situation as threatening and lack the coping resources to deal with it

effectively.

Stressors can be classified into three general categories: catastrophic events, major life changes,

and daily hassles. In addition, simply thinking about unpleasant past events or anticipating

unpleasant future events can cause stress for many people.

a) Catastrophes

A catastrophe is a sudden, often life-threatening calamity or disaster that pushes people to the

outer limits of their coping capability. Catastrophes include natural disasters—such as

earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, floods, and hurricanes—as well as wars, torture, automobile

accidents, violent physical attacks, and sexual assaults. Catastrophes often continue to affect

their victims‘mental health long after the event has ended. For example, in 1972 a dam burst and

flooded the West Virginia mining town of Buffalo Creek, destroying the town. Two years after

the disaster, most of the adult survivors continued to show emotional disturbances. Similarly,

most of the survivors of concentration camps in World

War II (1939-1945) continued to experience nightmares and other symptoms of severe emotional

problems long after their release from the camps.

b) Major Life Changes

The most stressful events for adults involve major life changes, such as death of a spouse

or family member, divorce, imprisonment, losing one‘s job, and major personal disability or

illness. For adolescents, the most stressful events are the death of a parent or a close family

member, divorce of their parents, imprisonment of their mother or father, and major personal

disability or illness. Sometimes, apparently positive events can have stressful components. For

example, a woman who gets a job promotion may receive a higher salary and greater prestige,

but she may also feel stress from supervising coworkers who were once peers. Getting married is

usually considered a positive experience, but planning the wedding, deciding whom to invite,

and dealing with family members may cause couples to feel stressed.

c) Daily Hassles

Much of the stress in our lives results from having to deal with daily hassles pertaining to same

hassles every day. Examples of daily hassles include living in a noisy neighborhood, commuting

to work in heavy traffic, disliking one‘s fellow workers, worrying about owing money, waiting

in a long line, and misplacing or losing things. When taken individually, these hassles may feel

like only minor irritants, but cumulatively, over time, they can cause significant stress. The

amount of exposure people have to daily hassles is strongly related to their daily mood.

Generally, the greater their exposure is to hassles, the worse is their mood. Studies have found

that one‘s exposure to daily hassles is actually more predictive of illness than is exposure to

major life events.

EFFECTS OF STRESS

Negative effects

A. Impairment of cognitive functioning: a moderately common effect of stress is impairment of

one‘s mental functioning. In some people, stress may lead to a narrowed form of attention,

reduced flexibility in thinking, poor concentration and less effective memory storage. Such

effects are far from inevitable. (Mandler, 1979)

B. Shock and disorientation: severe stress can leave people dazed and confused.

(Horowitz, 1979) In these states, people tend to feel emotionally numb and they respond in a flat,

apathetic fashion to events around them. They often stare off into space and have difficulty

maintaining a coherent train of thought. Their behavior frequently has an automatic, rigid,

stereotyped quality.

C. Burnout: burnout is a buzzword for the eighties. This is a stress-related syndrome wherein

one‘s behavior comes to be dominated by feelings of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion.

The physical exhaustion includes chronic fatigue, weakness, and low energy. The emotional

exhaustion refers to feeling hopeless, helpless, trapped, and emotionally drained. The mental

exhaustion is manifested in highly negative attitudes toward oneself, one‘s work, and life in

general.

D. Disruption of social relations: there is one evidence that stress can lead to

deterioration in one‘s normal social relations. The effect of stress on interpersonal behavior has

not attracted much attention. However, researchers working with Vietnam veterans suffering

from the delayed stress response syndrome (also called ―posttraumatic stress disorder) observed

disruptions in social functioning with some regularities. These disruptions include feeling of

alienation, difficulties in relating to spouses and friends, and impairments in the capacity to love

and trust others. (Blank, 1982; Shatan, 1978)

E. Psychological Problems and Disorders: on the basis of clinical impressions, psychologists

have long believed that stress might be a key factor in the causation of many kinds of

psychological problems and mental illness. In the domain of common psychological problems, it

is clear that stress may contribute to poor academic performance, insomnia, sexual difficulties,

drug abuse, excessive anxiety, nervousness, dejection, and depression. Above and beyond these

―everyday‖ problems we have evidence that stress frequently plays a role in the onset of full-

fledged psychological disorders.

F. Physical problems and illness: the existence of a connection between stress and certain kinds

of physical illness has long been recognized. Examples of illnesses that have long been viewed

as stress-related are asthma, hypertension, migraine headache, and ulcers.

Positive effects

The beneficial effects of stress are more difficult to pinpoint than the harmful effects because

they tend to be more subtle. First, we would probably experience a suffocating level of boredom

if we lived a stress-free existence. Life would be very dull indeed if it were altogether devoid of

challenge. There is evidence (Suedfeld, 1979) that an intermediate level of stimulation and

challenge tends to be optimal for most people. Although most of us think of stress in terms of

stimulus overload, it is clear that underload can be extremely unpleasant as well. Second, stress

may frequently promote personal growth. Basically, personal growth refers to movement toward

greater psychological health. Stress must sometimes force us to develop new skills, learn new

insights, and acquire new strengths. In other words, the adaptation process initiated by stress may

often lead to personal changes for the better. Confronting and conquering a stressful challenge

may lead to improvement in a specific coping abilities and to favorable alternative in one‘s self-

concept. Third, today‘s stress can ―inoculate‖ us so that we are less affected by tomorrow‘s

stress. If stressful experience is moderate in intensity and does not overwhelm us, it may increase

our subsequent stress tolerance. Thus, a fellow who has previously endured business‘s setbacks

may be much better prepared than most people to deal with the fact that the bank is about to

foreclose on his home. In light of the negative effects that stress can have, improved stress

tolerance is a desirable outcome.

COPING WITH STRESS

There are two types of coping:

- Problem focused and

- Emotion focused.

Problem-focused coping: this refers to the actions taken by an individual to cope with a stressful

person, situation, or event. For example, workers facing disrespectful manager may deal with his

harassing style by being absent from work. This absenteeism would enable the workers to be

removed, some of the time, from the disrespectful manager.

Emotion-focused coping: this refers to the actions taken by a person to alleviate stressful feelings

and emotions. The actions center on avoidance or escape from a person, problem, or event. For

instance, employees that travel frequently as part of the job may alleviate their stressful feelings

and emotions by exercising regularly or by reading light, non-work-oriented fiction or poetry. If

these coping activities are successful, the frequent traveler‘s feelings and emotions are kept in

check.

MANAGING STRESS

Program It is not possible to eliminate stress altogether from everyday life every

individual can learn to manage stress in a productive and satisfactory manner. Various methods

can be used to combat stress at both the individual and the organizational level. Stress

management follows three basic steps. The first step in stress management understands that

stress can have a negative effect on both a person’s behavior and his performance at work.

Therefore, the management as well as individual employees should realize that poor

performance, irritability, aggression, absenteeism, etc.are all symptoms of a person undergoing

stress. The second step in stress management involves identifying those stressors, which affect

the individual’s behavior and performance at work.

The final step, which is the most important, involves taking some constructive measures

to help the individual cope with stress effectively. There are two methods that people as well as

organizations can use to manage stress effectively. In the first method, they should identify the

stressors responsible for their negative symptoms. And either eliminate or modify these stressors

so that the resultant stress is manageable.

Let us look at some technique to cope up with stress at Individual level.

Time Management:

A major reason for stress among individual is poor time management. People become

anxious, frustrated, and even panicky when they are not able to manage their time

effectively. Therefore, people learn how to manage their time well so that they can

complete their tasks and meet their deadlines.

Deciding on a daily basis the activities to be carried out along with the

time frame for completing them.

Prioritizing the activities on the basis of their urgency and importance.

Carrying out the important activities first.

Taking care of the demanding tasks during the part of the day when one is

very energetic and alert.

Time management can thus ensure that a person is able to do his job well without feeling

stressed out.

Requesting others for help

A person can ask his colleagues or superiors for help dealing with curtain work related

problems. Such support from peers and superiors goes a long way in reducing the

stress levels of employees. He could request the human resource department to

provide him with additional training. This will help him to update his knowledge and

skill set their by enabling him to deal with the stressors effectively.

Shifting to another Job

At times, employees may not be able to bring down their stress level despite their best

efforts. In such cases it may be in the best interest of the individual to either change

the nature of his job or seek employment in other organization. Before tacking this

extreme step the employee should ask the management to change his job role if the

stress is cause by various job related problems. If this is not possible, the employee

can look for suitable options in other organizations.

Relaxation

Individual can reduce their tensions by means of curtain relaxation techniques like

meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback. The purpose of these relaxation techniques is to

make an individual obvious to his surroundings and help him achieve a sense of inner

peace and tranquility. It has been observed relaxation techniques tense to improve

employee performance and reduce absenteeism rate. It also observes that using

relaxation technique helps bring down anxiety, depression and hostility.

It has been medically proven that physical exercise such as walking, aerobics, jogging,

swimming, cycling, tennis etc. are very effective in bringing down stress level this

activities not only provide a pleasant diversion from the routine grind of daily life,

they also keep a person feet and active, both physically and men tally. There for

people who exercise regularly experience lower levels of anxiety, depression and

stress then those who don’t use to exercise.

ORGANIZATION STRATEGIES TO COPE UP WITH STRESS

Organizational strategies are design by the management to reduce work related stress in

employees that stress incurs huge cost for the organization as it results in health disorders,

increase absenteeism, and high turnover rates. Long hours of work, hectic schedules and

constant pressure to meet deadline some time make the employees feel stress out. If stress

level becomes too high, the productivity of the employees may decrease and consequently,

the performance of the organization may also get affected, there for the management must

provide opportunities for employees to enjoy their work so that they don’t get burned out.

Redesigning the job

Organizations can carry out a job analysis to determine the reasons for stress and

the problems caused by it. Job analysis can also help in determining if there is role

ambiguity of conflict, if employees are over loaded with work or have too little work,

and whether the working conditions are good or not. Thus the job analysis can identify

those areas where job enrichment would improve performance. This helps the

organization understand what the job requires from an employee and whether a person

has the necessary abilities to fit under the job.

Training

Proper training reduces work related stress among employees. It ensures that

employees will develop the necessary skills to perform their jobs effectively. A

training programmed should not only develop employee skills, it should also clearly

specify their duties and responsibilities. A clear job description reduces role ambiguity

and conflict.

Team Building

The rigid and impersonal work environment prevalent in many organizations is a

major cause of high levels of stress among employees. Organizations can use the

team-based approach to help employees cope with stress related problems. Team

building enhances camaraderie within the team and help employees cooperate with

one another to achieve organizational goals. Thus it helps reduce the levels of work

related stress among employees.

Proper Selection and Placement

The recruitment and selection policies of organizations should clearly specify

what the educational qualifications, experience, skills and abilities that an employee

should possess to handle a particular job. This will ensure employee job compatibility.

Personality factors can also be considered to determine whether a person will suit a

particular job or not.

Promoting open communication within the organization.

Employees are likely to feel more stressed out when they are unsure about what is

happening within the organization. Ambiguity leads to the percolation of rumors

within the organization and these may cause anxiety and tension among the

employees. Employee should keep informed about changes taking place within the

organization and how they are affected by these changes. Organizations should

encourage two-way communications so that employees feel that they are an integral

part of the organization. Employees experience lower stress level and can do justice to

their jobs.

Wellness programs and personal time off.

Many organization offers employee well being programs. Wellness programs are

designed by the organization to improve the physical and mental condition of the

employee. Organization can also offer a yoga class or a mind relaxation.

(Reference: organizational Behavior, institute of chartered financial analysis of India.

Page no: 165 to 170)

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIVIDUALS

Every individual result to a stressful situation is different in a different situation.

Some people are better to cope up with these stressors than others. Some find it

difficult. A large number of factors are responsible to the differences observed from

one individual to the other .for illustration: Personality, Motivation, and Fluctuation

in abilities.

Pareek (1981) on the Basis of his Theoretical Formulation & statistical Analysis,

suggested to dimensions of organization role stress. They are as follow:

Self role distance

Role stagnation

Role isolation

Resource inadequacy

Role ambiguity

Task ambiguity

Feedback ambiguity

Role shrinkage.

(Reference: Rita Agrawal page no:149-150)