CHAPTER 10: STRESS AND WORKPLACE HEALTH

Learning Objectives
Module I
Understand early approaches to stress developed by Selye and Cannon.
Describe common physical and psychological stressors at work.
Identify the behavioral, psychological, and physiological consequences of stress.

Module II
Explain the Demand/Control and Person-Environment Fit models of stress.
Explain how individual difference characteristics may provide resistance to stress.
Identify the subcomponents of the Type A Behavior Pattern and describe which subcomponents
can be used to predict health and performance outcomes, respectively.

Module III
Describe the 3 major approaches used in organizations to reduce and manage stress.
Give an example of a stress management training program and its intended outcomes.
Explain how social support can buffer the effects of stress on subsequent strains.
Module IV
Describe the relationship between stress and workplace violence.
Describe the individual and organizational characteristics that appear to be associated with
workplace violence.
Describe the frustration-aggression hypothesis of workplace violence.
Describe the justice hypothesis of workplace violence.
Understand the phenomenon of bullying and its relation to workplace violence.

Chapter Outline

Module 10.1 The Problem of Stress

Studying Workplace Stress
What Is a Stressor?
Common Stressors at Work
Physical/Task Stressors
Psychological Stressors
Consequences of Stress
Behavioral Consequences of Stress
Psychological Consequences of Stress
Physiological Consequences of Stress
Work Schedules
Shift Work
Flexible and Compressed Workweek Schedules
Module 10.2 Theories of Stress
DemandControl Model
PersonEnvironment Fit Model
Individual Differences in Resistance to Stress
The Type A Behavior Pattern
Module 10.3 Reducing and Managing Stress
Primary Prevention Strategies
Work and Job Design
Cognitive Restructuring
Secondary Prevention Strategies
Stress Management Training
Relaxation and Biofeedback Techniques
Social Support
Tertiary Prevention Strategies
Summary of Stress Intervention Strategies
Future Work Trends and Challenges to Stress and Stress Management
Module 10.4 Violence at Work
Stress and Workplace Violence
Levels of Violence
The Experiential Sequence of Violence
The Typical Violent Worker
Theories of Workplace Violence
FrustrationAggression Hypothesis
The Justice Hypothesis
A Special Type of Violence: Bullying
What Can We Conclude about Workplace Violence?
Glossary Terms for Chapter 10

This list of key terms and important concepts from Chapter 10 can be used in conjunction with
reviewing the material in the textbook. After reviewing Chapter 10 in the textbook, define each
of the following key terms and important concepts fully. Check your answers with the textbook,
and review terms with which you have difficulty. Good luck!

Module 1
fight-or-flight reaction
eustress
distress
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
alarm reaction stage
stress hormone
resistance stage
exhaustion stage
problem-focused coping
emotion-focused coping
stressor
strain
autonomy
interpersonal conflict
role stressors
role
role ambiguity
role conflict
role overload
work-family conflict
emotional labor
surface acting
deep acting
challenge-related stressors
hindrance-related stressors
burnout
emotional exhaustion
depersonalization
low personal accomplishment
shift work
circadian cycle

fixed shift
rotating shift
flextime
compressed workweek
Module 2
Demand-Control Model
demand
control
person-job fit
person-organization fit
locus of control (LOC)
hardiness
self-esteem
Type A behavior pattern (TABP)
coronary-prone personality
hostility
achievement strivings (AS)
impatience/irritability (II)
time urgency
Module 3
Occupational Health Psychology
primary prevention strategy
cognitive restructuring
hurry sickness
secondary prevention strategy
stress management training
stress inoculation
progressive muscle relaxation
biofeedback
social support
buffer or moderator hypothesis
tertiary prevention strategy

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Module 4
frustration-aggression hypothesis
justice hypothesis of workplace violence
bullying
mobbing

Practice Questions for Chapter 10

Multiple Choice Items: Please choose the correct answer to the following questions. Answers
are shown at the end of the chapter in this Study Guide.
1. __________ provides challenges that motivate individuals to work hard and meet their goals,
while ___________ results from stressful situations that persist over time and produces negative
health outcomes.
a. Eustress; stress
b. Stress; eustress
c. Distress; eustress
d. Eustress; distress

2. All of the following are true of the General Adaptation Syndrome except:
a. The sequence of stages varies depending on the trauma.
b. In the alarm stage, the body releases stress hormones.
c. While coping with the source of stress, resistance to other stressors decreases.
d. Burnout, illness, and death may result unless stress is reduced.

3. Problem-focused coping:
a. involves avoiding and minimizing the problem.
b. has to do with reducing the emotional response to the problem.
c. involves creating a new and larger problem as a distraction.
d. is directed at managing the problem that is causing the stress.

4. Josh works at Lunar Company and has just been assigned to a very important project that will
require a great deal of time and dedication. He has also just been elected president of the parent
association at his daughters school. Josh doesnt know how he will be able to handle them both.
What might this be an example of?
a. Role conflict
b. Role ambiguity
c. Job overload
d. Job ambiguity

5. The Job Content Questionnaire includes all of the following subscales except:
a. Skill utilization and job decision latitude
b. Role overload and role conflict
c. Stressors and job motivators
d. Depression and job dissatisfaction

6. A moderator is
a. a variable that affects the direction or strength of the association between two other variables.
b. an objective element in the stressor-strain relationship that starts the stress reaction in
individuals.
c. a method by which an individual can consciously halt the stressor-strain reaction.

d. an element that recognizes the relationship between two variables and serves to magnify the
strength of the variables.

7. All of the following are characteristics of a person described as having a hardy personality
except:
a. The feel a sense of commitment to their goals.
b. They feel they are in control of their lives.
c. They are critical of their environment.
d. They see unexpected change as a challenge.

8. Levine et al. (1989) measured the pace of life in a number of cities across the United States.
All of the following were indicators used in the study except:
a. Driving speed
b. Talking speed
c. Walking speed
d. Bank teller speed

9. Which strategy is concerned with modifying or eliminating stressors in the work environment?
a. Primary prevention strategy
b. Secondary prevention strategy
c. Tertiary prevention strategy
d. None of the above

10. Stress inoculation consists of all of the following except:

a. Education
b. Reflection
c. Rehearsal

d. Application

11. According to research, which of the following individuals would be least likely to engage in
workplace violence?
a. A male who has a history of violence.
b. An individual with high self-esteem who received negative feedback recently.
c. A person who has a history of conflicts with co-workers.
d. A female who recently received increased job responsibilities.

12. Which approach to workplace violence suggests that frustration leads to a stress reaction and
that the individual expends energy to relieve this stress?
a. Reactionary approach
b. Justice hypothesis
c. Frustration-aggression hypothesis
d. Behavioral approach
13. All of the following characterize bullying except:
a. It occurs over a long time.
b. It occurs repeatedly.
c. A victim is subjected to social exclusion.
d. Two equally strong parties are in conflict.

Chapter 10 Exercises
Exercise 10.1. Think of your last part-time or full-time job. Identify 3 stressors that you
encountered in the job and note which general type of stressor each is (e.g., Physical/Task
Stressor, Psychological Stressor). For each stressor, explain why you perceived it to be stressful.

Exercise 10.2. Control is a major theme in the stress literature. Choose 2 jobs with which you
are familiar and describe whether they are likely to be perceived by job incumbents as having a
high degree of control (autonomy) or a low degree of control.

Exercise 10.3. Describe why it is important for I-O psychologists to use Type A behavior pattern
subcomponents instead of the global Type A behavior pattern in predicting health and work
outcomes.

Exercise 10.4. Imagine that workers in the company you work for report that they are very
stressed in their jobs and that executives in the company are convinced that it is best to use only
secondary and tertiary stress management strategies. Provide an argument for why you think
such an approach is a mistake.

Answer Key for Multiple Choice Questions for Chapter 10

1. d
2. a
3. d
4. a
5. c
6. a

7. c
8. a
9. a
10. b
11. d
12. c
13. d