A supervisor appears understanding and empathizes with his subordinates when they experience work-related stress. In this example, the supervisor is providing ________ support.
- instrumental
- emotional
- tangible
- physiological
- cognitive
Emotional support refers to the help people receive in addressing the emotional distress that accompanies stressful demands. As an example, the supervisor of the individual who is overloaded with work might provide emotional support by showing interest in the employee's situation and appearing to be understanding and empathetic.
Emotions: Intense feelings, often lasting for a short duration, that are clearly directed at someone or some circumstance.
People who experience higher levels of challenge stressors tend to have higher levels of
- presenteeism.
- hindrance stress.
- job performance.
- organizational burnout.
- psychological distractions.
Employees who experience higher levels of challenge stressors also tend to have higher levels of job performance and organizational commitment.
Job Performance: Employee behaviors that contribute either positively or negatively to the accomplishment of organizational goals.
Miranda is in charge of tracking the output quality of recycled aluminum at Reclaimed Metals. When she went on maternity leave, Silas was brought on in a temporary capacity to cover her position during her absence. The department manager, Rochelle, knew that the company's rapid growth had increased Miranda's workload over recent months, and she wanted to ensure Miranda would not have to work overtime upon her return since Miranda would have a new baby at home. In order to allow Miranda to ease back into work upon her return and to account for increased work demands due to future company growth, Rochelle decided to hire Silas permanently to handle the quality assurance responsibilities with Miranda. This arrangement is known as
- contracting.
- job sharing.
- virtual work.
- term-time working.
- compressed working hours.
Job sharing does not mean splitting one job into two but rather indicates that two people share the responsibilities of a single job, as if the two people were a single performing unit. It can be used to reduce role overload and foster work-life balance.
Job Crafting: Proactively shaping and molding the characteristics contained within one’s job.
Activities including participation in formal education programs, music lessons, sports-related training, hobby-related self-education, and volunteer work are examples of
- virtual learning.
- financial uncertainty.
- work-family conflict.
- family time demands.
- personal development.
Personal development activities include participation in formal education programs, music lessons, sports-related training, hobby related self-education, participation in local government, or volunteer work.
Personal Development: Participation in activities outside of work that foster growth and learning.
Instrumental support refers to the help people receive that can be used to address the stressful demand directly.
Instrumental support refers to the help people receive that can be used to address the stressful demand directly.
Instrumental Support: The help people receive from others that can be used to address a stressful demand directly.
Which of the following statements is True regarding social support?
- Social support refers to the support that occurs outside the stress-causing environment.
- Social support refers to the level of financial security that an individual receives from government-managed social work programs.
- Social support is classified into two types: emotional support and cognitive support.
- Most research on social support focuses on the ways that social support buffers the relationship between stressors and strains.
- Social support cannot directly influence the stress process.
Social support has the potential to influence the stress process in several different ways. However, most research on social support focuses on the ways that social support buffers the relationship between stressors and strains.
Social Support: The help people receive from others when they are confronted with stressful demands.
The two major types of social support are
- financial and literal.
- practical and theoretical.
- instrumental and emotional.
- psychological and cognitive.
- behavioral and physiological.
Social support refers to the help that people receive when they are confronted with stressful demands, and there are at least two major types. One type of social support is called instrumental support, which refers to the help people receive that can be used to address the stressful demand directly. A second type of social support is called emotional support. This type of support refers to the help people receive in addressing the emotional distress that accompanies stressful demands.
Instrumental Support: The help people receive from others that can be used to address a stressful demand directly.
________ are stressful demands that are perceived as hindering progress toward personal accomplishments or goal attainment.
- Role stressors
- Time pressures
- Psychological stressors
- Hindrance stressors
- Work complexities
Hindrance stressors tend to trigger negative emotions such as anger and anxiety. In contrast, managing additional responsibilities or higher workloads has a long-term benefit, in that it helps build the employee's skills.
Hindrance Stressors: Stressors that tend to be appraised as thwarting progress toward growth and achievement.
________ are stressful demands that are perceived as opportunities for learning, growth, and achievement.
- Challenge stressors
- Daily hassles
- Role conflicts
- Hindrance stressors
- Work-family conflicts
Having to deal with additional responsibilities is likely to be perceived by most employees as having long-term benefits. These kinds of stressors are called challenge stressors, or stressful demands that people tend to perceive as opportunities for learning, growth, and achievement.
Challenge Stressors: Stressors that tend to be appraised as opportunities for growth and achievement.
Alberto works as a receptionist for a graphic design firm. His daily job duties include making copies, replying to e-mails, answering phones, and greeting people who enter the office. This suite of tasks, when they are not overly taxing or exceeding his capacity, are called
- benign job demands.
- primary appraisals.
- Type A activities.
- stressors.
- strains.
Job demands that tend not to be appraised as stressful are called benign job demands.
Benign Job Demands: Job demands that are not appraised as being stressful.
________ is a work hindrance stressor that occurs from incompatible demands within a single role that a person may hold.
- Time pressure
- Daily hassles
- Role overload
- Role ambiguity
- Role conflict
Role conflict refers to conflicting expectations that other people may have of us.
Role Conflict: When others have conflicting expectations of what an individual needs to do.
Which of the following is an example of a strain?
- Sylvia leaves her waitressing shift early many days in a row as a result of low customer turnout.
- Amrita develops insomnia while trying meet the deadline to sequencing a new gene.
- Dario clocks in late to his retail sales job after a night of partying.
- Vandaya works a second job to save up money for college.
- Ahmed sits alone on his lunch hour and reads a book.
The negative consequences that occur when demands tax or exceed a person's capacity or resources are called strains.
Strain: Negative consequences of the stress response.
The process by which managers evaluate the nature of the jobs in their organization to determine if high stress levels are an issue is known as a(n)
- stress audit.
- health check.
- time pressure test.
- transactional study.
- organizational assessment.
Using an evaluation called a stress audit, managers can begin to ask themselves questions about the nature of the jobs in their organization to estimate whether high stress levels may be a problem.
Stress: The psychological response to demands when there is something at stake for the individual, and where coping with these demands would tax or exceed the individual’s capacity or resources.
Nobuko is a customer service representative at Call Center Central. She thought a job answering phones all day would be easy, and at first it seemed to be. But over time, the large daily call volume and number of angry or aggressive callers made her edgy, and she found herself being short with customers for no reason. She started having muscle spasms and began to get headaches while at work. Nobuko's physical symptoms are examples of
- poor decision-making.
- personality quirks.
- stress reduction.
- stressors.
- strains.
The negative consequences that occur when demands tax or exceed a person's capacity or resources are called strains.
Strain: Negative consequences of the stress response.
________ are the negative consequences that occur when demands tax or exceed one's capacity or resources.
- Strains.
- Daily hassles
- Time pressures
- Type A behavior
- Cognitive pressures
The negative consequences that occur when demands tax or exceed one's capacity or resources are called strains.
Strain: Negative consequences of the stress response.
First, the network went down, then the guy in the next cubicle would not stop clearing his throat, and now Delia cannot find a sticky note when she needs one. Delia's head hurts, her shoulders are tense, and her back aches. Which of the following statements is True?
- Delia's inability to find a sticky note is a strain, while her headache is a stressor.
- The network going down represents a stressor, while Delia's backache is a strain.
- The guy clearing his throat is a daily hassle, while Delia's tense shoulders are a work outcome.
- The network going down is a work hassle, while Delia's hurting head and back are daily outcomes.
- Delia's difficulty finding a sticky note is a primary effects, while her tense shoulders are a secondary outcome.
Broken copy machines, irritatingly loud coworkers, and lack of supplies are all examples of stressors resulting from daily hassles. Headaches and gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal problems are examples of strains resulting from stress caused by stressors.
Needs: Groupings or clusters of outcomes viewed as having critical psychological or physiological consequences.
________ are the particular demands that cause people to experience stress.
- Stressors
- Type C demands
- Strains
- Burnouts
- Type B demands
Stress is defined as a psychological response to demands for which there is something at stake and coping with those demands taxes or exceeds a person's capacity or resources. The particular demands that cause people to experience stress are called stressors.
Stressors: Demands that cause the stress response.
Which of the following is defined as a psychological response to demands for which there is something at stake and coping with those demands taxes or exceeds a person's capacity or resources?
- stressors
- Type A behavior
- strains
- stress
- Type B behavior
Stress is defined as a psychological response to demands for which there is something at stake and coping with those demands taxes or exceeds a person's capacity or resources.
Stress: The psychological response to demands when there is something at stake for the individual, and where coping with these demands would tax or exceed the individual’s capacity or resources.
Exercise programs are particularly successful because they reduce the types of stressors that employees encounter.
Exercise programs reduce the strain felt by employees, not the number or type of stressors.
Stress: The psychological response to demands when there is something at stake for the individual, and where coping with these demands would tax or exceed the individual’s capacity or resources.
In general, relaxation techniques to reduce strain attempt to help people appraise and cope with stressors in a more rational manner.
Although relaxation techniques differ, their basic idea is the same-they teach people how to counteract the effects of stressors by engaging in activities that slow the heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure.
Supportive practices are one way of helping employees cope with stressful demands.
One of the ways that organizations provide resources to employees so that they can cope more effectively is through supportive practices that help employees manage and balance the demands that exist in the different roles they have.
Helping: Assisting coworkers who have heavy workloads, aiding them with personal matters, and showing new employees the ropes when they are first on the job.
The first step in managing stress is to assess colleagues in the workplace.
The first step in managing stress is to assess the level and sources of stress in the workplace.
Which of the following best exemplifies benign job demands?
- Carolina's laptop has been crashing at least three times a day, which makes it difficult for her to get all of her work completed.
- Rachel has not been given clear instructions on how to prepare month-end financial statements and is worried about doing it wrong.
- Anaya teaches third grade, and due to budget cuts, she has been forced to shop for her own school supplies on her own time and with her own money.
- Ferdinand, who fills orders for an online pharmacy, has been told he needs to increase both the number of orders he fills per hour and reduce the number of errors he makes.
- Gerald works as a shipping clerk at a publisher's warehouse, and although it can be a challenge to load all the pallets onto trucks each day, he takes satisfaction in meeting the afternoon deadline.
Job demands that tend not to be appraised as stressful are called benign job demands.
Benign Job Demands: Job demands that are not appraised as being stressful.
________ refers to a work hindrance stressor that occurs when the number of demanding roles a person holds is so high that the person simply cannot perform some or all of the roles very effectively.
- Time pressure
- Daily hassle
- Role overload
- Role ambiguity
- Role conflict
Role overload occurs when the number of demanding roles a person holds is so high that the person simply cannot perform some or all of the roles very effectively.
Role Overload: When an employee has too many demands to work effectively.