Chapter 7

Managing
Stress and
the Work-Life
Balance

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning Prepared by Charlie Cook

All rights reserved. The University of West Alabama
Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
• Define and describe the nature of stress.
• Identify basic individual differences related to stress.
• Identify and describe common causes of stress.
• Discuss the central consequences of stress.
• Describe various ways that stress can be managed.
• Discuss work-life linkages and their relation to stress.

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–2

 The Nature of Stress

• Stress Defined
–A person’s adaptive response to a stimulus that places
excessive psychological or physical demands on that
person
• The Stress Process (Hans Selye)
–General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
• Identifies three stages of response to a stressor: alarm,
resistance, exhaustion
• Sources of stress
– Eustress: pleasurable stress accompanying positive events
– Distress: unpleasant stress accompanying negative events

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–3

 7.1 The General Adaptation Syndrome

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–4

 Individual Differences and Stress

• Type A Personality Profile

–Extremely competitive, highly committed to work, have
a strong sense of time urgency
• Type B Personality Profile
–Less competitive, less committed to work, have a
weaker sense of time urgency
• Hardiness
–A person’s ability to cope with stress
• Optimism
–The extent to which a person sees life in relatively
positive or negative terms

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–5

 Causes and Consequences of Stress

• Most Common Causes of Stress

–Organizational stressors
–Life stressors
• Most Common Consequences of Stress
–Individual consequences
–Organizational consequences
–Burnout

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–6

 7.2
Causes and
Consequences
of Stress

Reference: Adapted from James C. Quick and Jonathan D. Quick, Organizational

Stress and Preventive Management (McGraw-Hill, 1984) pp. 19, 44, and 76.
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–7
 Organizational Stressors

• Workplace Stress Factors

–Task Demands
• Associated with the specific job a person performs
–Physical Demands
• Associated with the job’s physical setting and requirements
–Role Demands
• Associated with the expected behaviors of a particular
position in a group or organization
–Interpersonal Demands
• Group pressures, leadership, personality conflicts

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–8

 Organizational Stressors: Role Demands
• Role
–A set of expected behaviors associated with a
particular position in a group or organization.
• Role Stress
–Role ambiguity due to unclear roles
–Role conflict due to:
• Interrole conflict
• Intrarole conflict
• Intersender conflict
–Role overload due to role expectations exceeding an
individual’s capabilities

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–9

 7.1 Most and Least Stressful Jobs

Top Most Stressful Jobs Top Least Stressful Jobs

1. Surgeon 1. Actuary

2. Commercial Airline Pilot 2. Dietitian

3. Photojournalist 3. Computer Systems Analyst

4. Advertising Account Executive 4. Statistician

5. Real Estate Agent 5. Astronomer

6. Physician (General Practice) 6. Mathematician

7. Reporter (Newspaper) 7. Historian

8. Physician Assistant 8. Software Engineer

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–10

 7.3 Workload, Stress, and Performance

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–11

 External Causes of Stress
• Life Stressors
–Events that take place outside the organization
• Life change
– Any meaningful change in a person’s personal or work situation
• Life trauma
– Any upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his or her attitudes,
emotions or behaviors

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–12

 7.2 Life Changes and Life Change Units

The amount of life stress that a person has experiences in a given period of time, say one year, is measured by the total number of life change units (LCUs). These
units result from the addition of the values (shown in the right hand column) associated with events that the person has experienced during the target time period.

Reprinted from JOURNAL OF PSYCHOSOMATIC RESEARCH, V11,

Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe: "The Social Adjustment
Rating Scale," Copyright © 1967, with permission from Elsevier.
© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–13
 Consequences of Stress

• Individual • Organizational
Consequences Consequences
–Behavioral –Performance
–Psychological –Withdrawal
–Medical –Attitudes
–Burnout

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–14

 7.4 Individual and Organizational Coping Strategies

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–15

 Managing Stress in the Workplace:
Individual Coping Strategies

Exercise

Time
Relaxation
Management

Role Support
Management Groups

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–16

 Managing Stress in the Workplace (cont’d)

• Organizational Coping Strategies

–Institutional Programs
• Design of jobs and work schedules
• Fostering a healthy work culture
• Supervision
–Collateral Programs
• Organizational programs specifically created to help
employees deal with stress
– Stress management, health promotion, employee fitness
programs, career development

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–17

 Work-Life Linkages
• Fundamental Work-Life Relationships
–Interrelationships between a person’s work life and
personal life
• Balancing Work-Life Linkages
–Importance of long-term versus
short-term perspectives
–Significance of evaluating tradeoffs between values

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–18

 Organizational Behavior in Action

• After reading the chapter:

–Which stressors are typical of college students?
–Which of these sources of stress are bad for students?
Which are beneficial?
–Are student personality profiles different from
nonstudents? More Type A’s or Type B’s?
–What could your school do to help scholastically weak
students develop the hardiness to stay in school?

© 2012 South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning 7–19