Workplace sociology

Gerhard Ohrband7th lectureJob Stress and Health

Course structure

Part I Introduction1 Managing diversity2 History and context for Work and Organizational

Psychology / Roles and methods

Part IIPeople at work3 Job Analysis and Design4 Personal Selection5 Training

Course structure

6 Performance Appraisal: Assessing and Developing Performance and Potential

7 Job Stress and Health

Part IIIHuman Factors at Work8 Workload and Task Allocation9 Work Environments and Performance10 The Design and Use of Work Technology11 Safety at Work

Course structure

Part IVOrganizations at Work12 Leadership and management13 Work motivation14 Teams: the challenges of cooperative work15 Organizational development (OD)

Part II – People at work7 Job Stress and Health

Outline:1. Job stress as a social problem2. What is job stress?3. Job stress as a process4. Interventions to prevent or reduce job stress5. Introduction to Health Psychology

1. Job stress as a social problem

- Implications not only for the employees but also for organizations and society as a whole

- Survey among nearly 16,000 European workers: 29 % considered that their work actively affected their health (Paoli, 1997)

- Most frequently mentioned work-related health problems:

back pain (30%)stress (28%)overall fatigue (20%)

- Britain: National Survey of Health and Development: 38 % - “nervous strain” at work

- Prevalence rates rising continuously

Stress-related absenteeism In Britain, from 1955 to 1979, absenteeism due to

“nervousness, debility and headache” increased by 528 per cent (Hingley and Cooper, 1986)

In the Netherlands in 1967, when the Disability Security Act was introduced, mental disorders accounted for 11 per cent of workers’ disability claims. This rate continued to rise steadily, so that 30 per cent are now assessed as work disabled on mental grounds – the largest single diagnostic group, followed by musculo-skeletal disorders (28 per cent) and cardiovascular disease (8 per cent), respectively (Houtman, 1997)

Modern legislation attempts to reduce work-related health problems

a broad and positive health concept, i.e. instead of solely combating ill-health; health, safety and well-being at work are being promoted

a comprehensive approach, integrating health, safety and well-being at work

active involvement and joint responsibility of employer and employee

self-regulation by providing a supportive environment, e.g. by institutionalizing occupational health and safety services

2. What is job stress?

stress: cause as well as the accompanying state of tension, and the negative consequences of this state

little agreement on definitions no general theory of stress explanation: large number of disciplines

with different perspectives involved in stress research (biology, psychology, sociology, occupational medicine, epidemiology)

Three meanings of stress

However, three different meanings of the term stress can be distinguished:

1) stress as a stimulus2) stress as a response3) stress as a mediational process between

stressor (stimulus) and reaction (response)

Stress as a stimulus: poor work situationsCategories of job-related stressors

CategoryJob content

Working conditions

Stressorwork over/-underloadcomplex workmonotonous worktoo much responsibilitydangerous workconflicting/ambiguous demands

toxic substancespoor conditions (noise, vibrations,

lighting, radiation, temperature)work posturephysically demanding workdangerous situationslack of hygienelack of protective devices

Categories of job-related stressors

Employment conditions

Social relations at work

shift worklow paypoor career prospectsflexible labour contractjob insecurity

poor leadershiplow social supportlow participation in decision makinglibertiesdiscrimination

Stress as a response: job-related strain

Hans Selye (1978): General adaptation syndrome (GAS)Exposure to a noxious stimulus triggers a complex of

non-specific physiological reactions that are intended to protect the individual against harmful consequences

Three stages of GAS:a) alarm reaction (mobilization by means of

physiological and hormonal changes)b) resistance stage (optimal adaptation by

activating appropriate systems)c) exhaustion (depletion of adaptation energy)

Stress as a mediational process

cognitive, evaluative and motivational processes that intervene between the stressful stimulus and the reaction (response)

person/environment interaction potentially stressful stimuli may lead to

different types of stress reactions in different individuals, depending on their cognitive evaluations (appraisals) of the situation and the resources they have at their disposal to cope with the stressful situation

Stress reactions / strains

Five clusters:A) affectiveB) cognitiveC) physicalD) behaviouralE) motivational

Three levels of expression:individualinterpersonalorganizational

Possible stress symptoms at the individual, interpersonal and organizational level

Type/level Individual Interpersonal Organizational

Affective Anxiety, tension, anger, depressed mood, apathy

Irritability, being oversensitive

Job dissatisfaction

Cognitive helpless-/powerlessness, cognitive impairments, difficulties in decision making

Hostility, suspicion, projection

Cynicism about work role, not feeling appreciated, distrust in peers, supervisors and management

Physical Physical distress (headache, nausea, etc.), psychosomatic disorders (gastric-intestinal disorders, coronary diseases etc.), impairment of immune system, changes in hormone levels

Possible stress symptoms at the individual, interpersonal and organizational level

Type/level Individual Interpersonal Organizational

Behavioural Hyperactivity, impulsivity, increased consumption of stimulants (caffeine, tobacco) and illicit drugs, over- and undereating

Violent outbursts, aggressive behaviour, interpersonal conflicts, social isolation/withdrawal

Poor work performance, declined productivity, tardiness, turnover, increased sick leave, poor time management

Motivational Loss of zeal, loss of enthusiasm, disillusionment, disappointment, boredom, demoralisation

Loss of interest in others, indifference, discouragement

Loss of work motivation, resistance to go to work, dampening of work initiative, low morale

3. Job stress as a process

A process model of stress

situational resources

personal resources

stress reactionsjob demands

Job stress as a process

Michigan models

Other models …

Person-environment (P-E) fit model Vitamin model (Warr, 1987) Job demand-control model (JD-C) Job demand-control-support model

(DCS) Effort-reward imbalance model

Individual differences and job stress (genetic, acquired and dispositional characteristics)

Person-environment (P-E) fit model

Vitamin model

Warr’s vitamin modelEnvironmental features Type Matching personal characteristic

Opportunity for control AD High GNS, high ability

Opportunity for skill use AD High GNS, relevant unused skills

Externally generated goals AD High GNS, high nAch

Variety AD High GNS

Environmental clarity AD High GNS, external control beliefs

Availability of money CE High desire for money

Physical security CE High desire for physical security

Opportunity for interpersonal contact

AD High sociability

Valued social position CE High desire for social esteem

AD – additional decrement; CE – constant effect; nAch – need for achievement; GNS – growth need strength

Job-related affective well-being

arousal

displeased pleased

depressed

enthusiasticanxious

comfortable

The job demand-control model (JD-C)

low highJob demands

low strain active

passive high strain

Job decisionlatitude

high

low

A

B

A – adverse health, B - work motivation

The job demand-control-support model (DCS)

Effort-reward imbalance model (Siegrist, 1996)

extrinsic intrinsic

high effort low reward

job demands overcommitment moneyesteem

security/career opportunities

Workplace social support and job stress

Important factors: social integration satisfying relationships perceived available support actually received support

Four content types (House, 1981):1. emotional2. instrumental3. informational4. appraisal

4. Interventions to prevent or reduce job stress

Three levels:

the organizationthe individual-organization interfacethe individual

Five purposes for job stress interventions:

identificationprimary preventionsecondary preventiontreatmentrehabilitation

Interventions primarily aimed at the organization

Job stress audit Improving the job content and the work environment Proper time scheduling Management development Career management Corporate fitness and wellness programmes Anticipatory socialization Communication, decision-making and conflict

management Organizational development (OD) Institutionalization of occupational health and safety

services Employee assistance programmes (EAPs)

Interventions primarily aimed at the individual/organization interface

Personal screening Time management training Interpersonal skills training Promoting a realistic image of the job Balancing work and private life Peer support groups Coaching and consultation Career planning Specialized counselling Guidance and assistance with rehabilitation

Interventions primarily aimed at the individual

self-monitoring didactic stress management promoting a health lifestyle cognitive-behavioural techniques relaxation

A stress reduction process model

Discussion Points1. Which perspective on (job) stress (stimulus,

response, mediational process) do you find most attractive, and why?

2. In what different ways may (a) individual differences and (b) workplace social support play a role in the relationship between job stress and health?

3. Which job stress model do you favour, and why?4. What are the two main hypotheses of Karasek’s job

demand-control model? What is the reason for its popularity in research on job stress and health?

5. At what levels may job stress interventions occur? Which seems to be most effective?

Health Psychology Definition: Health psychology is the branch of

psychology that applies psychological principles to the understanding of health and illness

Factors influencing health can be External (in the form of stressors, health promotion,

advertising of health-impairing products) or Internal (in the form of thoughts, beliefs, decision

making and coping responses) Relatively new branch of psychology Slight overlap with clinical psychology Many theories and explanations derive from social

and cognitive psychology

Health and Clinical Psychology Similarities:Both study stress and

how people cope with it

Differences:Health psychology

tends to concern itself with bodily illness whereas clinical psychology is primarily concerned with mental illness

Whitehead’s (1995) factors contributing to health

General socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions

Living and working conditions

Social and community influences

Individual lifestyle factors

Age, sex and hereditary factors

Literature Hingley, P. and Cooper, C.L. (1986). Stress and the Nurse

Manager. London: Wiley. Houtman, I.L.D. (ed.) (1997). Trends in en rondom arbeid en

gezondheid (Trends in Work and Health). Amsterdam: NIA’TNO. Karasek, R.A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude and

mental strain: implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 285-308.

Paoli, P. (1997). Second European Survey on the Work Environment 1995. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

Siegrist, J. (1996). Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 1 (1), 27-41.

Warr, P. (1987). Work, Unemployment and Mental Health. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Journals British Journal of Health Psychology British Journal of Medical Psychology British Medical Journal Health Psychology International Journal of Behavioural Medicine International Journal of Stress Journal of Abnormal Psychology Journal of Community and Applied Psychology Journal of Health Psychology Journal of Occupational Health Psychology Journal of Occupational Medicine Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Journal of Social and Occupational Medicine New England Journal of Medicine Psychology, Health and Medicine Psychosomatic Medicine Social Science and Medicine Stress Medicine The Lancet Work and Stress