Chapter 14:

Personal Productivity
and Stress Management
Stress

• The physical, psychological, and

behavioral reactions
experienced by individuals in
situations where they feel they
are in danger of being
overwhelmed
Physiological aspects of
stress (Seyle)
• Alarm reaction

• Resistance

• Exhaustion
Stressors

• External events or stimuli that

are responsible for stress
Characteristics of stressors

• Produce state of overload

• Evoke incompatible tendencies

• Uncontrollable
Cognitive factors

• Appraisal of situation
Work related causes of
stress
• Working conditions
Work related causes of
stress (cont.)
• Occupational demands
– Decision making
– Constant monitoring
– Repeated exchange of information
– Unpleasant physical conditions
– Unstructured task performance
– Jobs that cause problems with
home life
Work related causes of
stress (cont.)
• Multiple roles
– Family stressors  women
– Work stressors  men

– Carry over effects of stress

– Having multiple roles may actually
reduce stress
Work related causes of
stress (cont.)
• Overload and underload
– Qualitative and quantitative

• Making decisions that effect others

• Lack of social support

• Unemployment stress
Personal factors in stress

• Life events and stress

– Death of a spouse 100

– Divorce 73
– Marital separation 65
– Fired from job 57
– Death of close friend 37
– Vacation 13
– Christmas 12
Personal factors (cont.)

• Daily stressors
– Major impact on physical and
psychological health
Personal factors (cont.)

• Optimistic vs. Pessimistic

style
– Optimists  problem focused
– Pessimists  ignore, deny
Personal factors (cont.)

• Hardiness
  resilience

– Factors
• Commitment
• Control
• Challenge
Personal factors (cont.)

• Gender differences
– Women report higher levels of:
• Depression and stress
• Happiness and life satisfaction
Personal factors
Attitude toward stress
• Prone to negative effects • Handle stressors well
of stress – Discriminate
– Do not separate what important from
is important from unimportant
what is unimportant – Optimistic
– Pessimistic style – Slow to anger /
– Easily angered / no tolerant of frustration
tolerance for
– Positive attitude
frustration
toward others
– Negative attitude
toward others – See life as
meaningful
– See life as
meaningless – Understand that
some events are
– Blame self for events beyond our control
beyond their own
control – Have a sense of
humor
– Have no sense of
humor
Effects of stress

• Health

• Mental states

• Behavior at work

• Destructive escape
Burnout

• Results from prolonged

exposure to stress
Characteristics of burnout

• Extreme dissatisfaction with life

• Physical exhaustion
• Emotional exhaustion
• Depersonalization
• Feelings of low personal
accomplishment
Causes of burnout

• Prolonged exposure to stress

• Work that lacks clear rules and
procedures
• Feeling unappreciated
• Poor opportunities for promotion
• Inflexible rules
• Leader insensitivity
Personal factors

• Those who take their roles more

seriously will be more likely to
experience burnout

• Interpersonal involvement and

commitment to other individuals
Countering effects of
burnout
• Reorder priorities and goals

• Accentuate the positive

• Get involved in a social support

network

• Compartmentalize your life

Stress management

• Lifestyle
Stress management
(cont.)
• Coping
– Emotional coping  reduce
negative emotions

– Mental coping  change attitude

about stressor

– Behavioral problem solving 

change the situation or behavior
patterns
Stress management
(cont.)
• Relaxation training

• Breathing

• Meditation

• Biofeedback