Job Stress

Stress is a "disease" of modern society. In everyday life, everyone will have occasional sad feelings, woundedness, and even righteous anger at times, but whenever one or more of these feelings is repeated again and again over a long period of time, it will affect one’s nervous system, overall well-being and in some cases actually lead to physical diseases. The scientific/medical term for this condition is called “stress”.

In our life, especially our daily work-life, each person has to confront many challenges and difficulties, and the solutions and/or outcomes of meeting those challenges does not depend simply on luck or doing what simply would make one feel happy. Uncomfortableness, unpleasantness, disagreeableness and task overload are daily occurrences in life and when it occurs in the workplace, it is one of the reasons leading to job stress and eventually burnout.

Employers as well as employees, regardless of being in a small or big organization, are unable to avoid stress at work. Therefore a manager should have the tactical knowledge, skills and ability to enact precise measures in order to reduce work stress not only for her/him, but for all employees. Successful stress management can create an easy-going, informal and friendly atmosphere in the workplace. “Work stress”

is one of the leading causes contributing to conflicts and low-performance at work. In short, suitable methods that reduce work stress will be a key factor that will contribute to the success of an organization.

There is a rich body of literature related to workplace stress. Bartlert (1998) said that “Stress is usually defined from a demand-perception-response perspective”. This means that stress relates to the perception of an individual’s demands as well as their perception of their capability to meet those demands. From the viewpoint of McShane

& Von Glinow (2000, pp.114), “Stress is an adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to a person’s well-being". Similarly, other authors have noted “the relative influence of personal and workplace descriptions on

stress”, and they also agree with Farrington’s view “Stress is best considered to be an attribute of the environment and strain, an attribute of the individual, the change, physiological or otherwise, being (Bryant, Farrbrother & Fenton, 2000). Farrington stated “induced in the individual by exposure to the environment”(1995). So, a commonly understood concept, “stress”, occurs in uniquely different situations with uniquely experienced thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behavior. Thus, what is stress as it specifically relates to the workplace or the job or the individual worker’s experience?

Niosh (1999) in Stress at Work “U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health” stated that “workplace stress is the harmful physical and emotional response that occurs when there is a poor match between job demands and the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker”. According to Martino (2003) stress is not easily contained as the “Relationship between work stress and workplace violence [impacts] the health sector.” Stress can be triggered not only by engagement of tasks-at-hand, but many times stress is triggered by relationships with coworkers – real or imagined.

According to the viewpoint of Greenberg (2004), “Justice is important to people and health is key to happiness….People expect to be treated fairly, and they experience a shock to their systems when they believe this has not occurred. Such experiences of injustice may be considerable sources of stress". Greenberg (2004) proposed a way to manage workplace stress by “promoting organization justice”. Also Halpern (2005) put forward “time-flexible work policies” are not only a stress reducing solution but also improve health and contribute to monetary savings because “time is a valuable resource for all working adults”.

Potter (1998), related job burnout to stress and depression, “Burnout is a malaise of the spirit in which motivation, that mysterious force that gets us moving is damaged or even destroyed. Job burnout could be called job depression. Burnout is not an all-or-nothing proposition. On any particular day enthusiasm for work is increasing or decreasing but it does not remain the same. Even the hottest fires will burn out, so we tend them fanning, stoking, and occasionally adding another log. When motivation wanes, we burn out”. There are methods to deal with stress that have been identified by numerous scholars. Before action, however, there must be awareness/understanding and acceptance that “stress” is significant, severe in many cases, and almost never benign.

Thus, what are some additional causes of stress as it specifically relates to the workplace or the job?

2.2.1.1 Specific Causes of Stress

There are many causes leading to stress in our lives, mainly derived from life challenges and demands at work.

Miller, Zook and Ellis (1989) stated, “Occupational differences influence and burnout in the workplace”. What is “burnout”? Freudenberg (1974) noted that

“Burnout is typically conceptualized as a general “wearing out” from the pressure of work”. Furthermore, Jackson, Schwab & Schuler (1986) defined “burnout” as a three-dimensional concept characterized by: “(1) emotional exhaustion or a negative wearing out from the job, (2) depersonalization or negative shift in responses to others, particularly clients, and (3) a decreased sense of personal accomplishment”.

Holmes and Rahe (1967) from Washington University conducted a study about stress. In reporting their findings, these scholars compiled a chart to illustrate of the main causes of stress which included 43 causes. They updated their chart to 55 causes in 2006 (Holmes & Rahe, 2006). As time goes by, scholars are noting that our society is generating ever more causes that lead to stressed.

Summarizing the findings of Holmes and Rah, the first category of causes originates from general life circumstances including difficulties in finance (lack of money, loss of investments, bankruptcy), family changes (marriage, separation, divorce, children, heated debate), physical changes (lack of sleep), changes to the living environment, one’s health and/or safety (such as injury, illness, disease, pregnancy), personal relationships (arguments with family, spouse, or friends and even death of a close relative or close friend). The second category of causes is due to work–related matters.

There are three causes of workplace stress as follows: (1) harassment and incivility (U.S. EEOC, 2008; Lindermann & Kadue, 1999), (2) work overload (Galinsky et al., 2005), and (3) lack of task control (Schaufeli, 2004; Bakker & Demerouti, 2007).

First, harassment and incivility consist of psychological harassment and sexual harassment. Psychological harassment is the fastest growing cause of workplace stress.

McShane & Von Glinow (2010, pp.116) also showed that “psychological harassment includes repeated and hostile or unwanted conduct, verbal comments, actions, or gestures that affect an employee’s dignity or psychological or physical integrity and that result in a harmful work environment for the employee”. The other type of harassment is sexual harassment “harassment in which a person’s employment or job performance is conditional and depends on unwanted sexual relations or the person experiences sexual conduct from others that unreasonably interferes with work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment”.

Second is work overload, meaning that working more hours and even working long hours outside of the routine working hours. There are three reasons why employees have to work such long hours. One reason is due to the effects of technological change and globalization; every day, workers are pressed harder because of e-mails, electronic letters, wireless communications, internet utilization, and globalization. This is why many people cannot stop working to get enough rest or relaxation on the weekend. A second reason is that there are more and more people engaged in consumerism - they want to buy more some things such as goods and services and doing so requires income through long work hours. The third and last cause is due to the idealized standard often held by working professionals who distort their positions as symbols of their superhuman capacity to perform above others.

Lack of task control or even low task control also increases the exposure of workers to the risk of job burnout due to having to face high workloads without the ability to adjust their own energy, attention span, and other resources. Job burnout is the process of emotional exhaustion – lack of or no task control is exhausting.

Job stress/burnout also depends on job demands (if excessive) as well as job resources (if deficient) which increase work pressure and emotional demands that lead to exhaustion and consequentially to burnout. Normal aspects of everyday work require sustained physical and psychological effort. But, an excessively high workload is a significant job demand in most workplaces. The degree of effect by excessive job demands on burnout depends on the actual job resources available to each individual.

Importantly to also consider, job resources include degree of work autonomy and social support; these aspects of work and help employees to achieve their work goals, while reduced job demands stimulate personal development. Generally speaking, assembly-line workers have low task control and low responsibility in work; consequentially, they

tend to have fairly low stressful level. In contrast, athletic coaches (i.e. football, baseball, pole-vaulting) have a very high responsibility to win games; a coaches win-loss record directly relates to job-security. Coaches have to perform under immense stress, while they have very little control with what is happening on the playing field even though it is low task control. In such cases, lack of clarity of roles and responsibilities as well as low level task control can cause stress in the workplace.

In addition to the above mentioned causes of workplace stress, there are some other subjective and objective causes. Job stress can be a result of the interaction between worker’s state and worker’s working condition. The following can be significant contributors to job-stress and burnout, (1) a worker’s state of wellness, (i.e.

his/her personality and character makeup), and (2) a worker’s working conditions. The characteristics of the worker in the context of his/her working conditions are also one of the primary causes of stress. The differences in the characteristics of each worker, such as coping skills and personality are crucial characteristics to predict whether their work can cause stress or not.

Indeed, rigorous scientific studies have shown that working conditions are one of the main causes leading to job stress. According to large survey studies which focused upon working conditions and were conducted by the European Union member states in 1990, 1995, and 2000, there has been "a time trend suggesting an increase in work intensity”. These studies reported that 48 percent of workers worked at high speeds and during at least one-quarter of their working time in 1990; 54 percent in 1995 and to 56 percent in 2000, respectively. Similarly, 50 percent of workers reported that they worked with tight deadlines during at least one-fourth of their working time in 1990; this increased to 56 percent in 1995 and 60 percent in 2000. According to Primm, (2005), “Workplace stress has the potential to affect employees of all categories, from those who have very little influence to those who make major decisions for the company.... However, less powerful employees (that is, those who have less control over their jobs) are more likely to suffer stress than powerful workers. Managers as well as other kinds of workers are vulnerable to work overload”.

2.1.1.2 Indicators of Stress

Excessive stress is evidenced in one’s physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

Indicators of stress can be found in physical health such as high blood pressure, increased heart rate, muscle tightness, headache, overall tiredness, exhaustion, dizziness, sweating, heart palpitations, hyperventilation, continence, and loss of bowel/urinary control. If this situation become more serious and lasts longer, it can lead to diseases such as stomach ulcers, rheumatism and even cause a heart attack.

Indicators of stress can be found in mental health including emotional responses (e.g., such as angry, anger, insecurity, anxiety or fear, fatigue, dissatisfaction and tension, etc.), psychological disorders (depression, impatience, not friendly, post-traumatic stress disorder, having many mixed feelings and rapid changes, having a feeling of guilty, highly joyful, angry, sad, hopeless, disorientation, easy to get angry, self-blame, easily vulnerable, etc.), thoughtful factors (difficulty concentrating, not want to think anymore, ramble thinking, slow thinking, unsure, confused , negative thoughts, suspect, paranoid , unable to decide, the loss of faith, etc.). If this lasts long, occurs frequently, and becomes severe, then it can damage the immune system and impact other physiological functions such as weakened resistance to diseases as well as the enabling germ penetration and thus increasing the risk death.

Stress also impacts one’s sense of spiritual well-being relating to disorder in a person’s belief system or a disruption in the person’s sense of purpose in life. Spiritual health issues are evidenced in anxiety, guilt, alienation, loss, and despair. Within the nursing profession, researchers have identified indicators such as a sense of disharmony and/or lack of connectedness across three dimensions of relationships: transpersonal, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Other indicators are a sense of disharmony and/or lack of connectedness across three dimensions of time: past (sources of inspiration), present (enthusiasm), and future (aspirations and hopes) (Hungelmann, Rossi, Klassen, &

Stollenwerk, 1985).

All three dimensions of mental, physical, spiritual distress can be exhibited by similar behaviors such as difficulty in sleeping, loss of appetite, speaking unclearly, confusion, speaking continuously, incessant debate, retreat and/or withdrawal, not wanting to make contact with others, alcoholism, drug-abuse, and loss of motivation. In

general, excessive job-stress can impact one, two or all dimensions and can cause many harmful effects. Job-stress will likely occur whenever there is a poor combination between job demands and job resources. In turn, these effects can cause poor work performance and even injury on the job.