chapter 15

• Stress — psychological and physical reaction to certain life events or situations; silent killer
• Stressors — life events or situations that cause stress
• Stress Reactivity — bodily reactions: elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, muscle tension, and perspiration
• Strains — physical reactions occur for periods longer than our body can tolerate, negative physical and psychological consequences can occur
• Eustress — occurs when stressors result in feelings of challenge or achievement; the feelings of stress get converted into positive energy and actually become motivating; “good stress”;
• Distress — happens when there is too much stress and when nothing is done to eliminate,“bad/negative stress”
• Type A Personalities — talk and walk fast, get impatient easily, and always seem to be in a hurry; slower to recover after the stressor is removed
• Type B Personalities — seem to be more laid back; they are more relaxed and more agreeable.
• Neuroticism — individual traits such as pessimism, negative affectivity, reduced hardiness; negative reactions to stressful events than are people who are more emotionally stable
• Gender, Ethnicity, and Race — women may experience certain stressors more often than men, and men and women may react differently to certain types of stressors
• Stress Sensitization — the amount of stress you have experienced throughout your life seems to affect how you will handle future stress
• Personal Stressors — nonwork issues: family and intimate relationships, marriage, divorce, health issues
• Fear — fear of the unknown
• Resistance — some of us just don’t want to leave the security and structure of that which is known
• Resentment — changes that are forced on us
• role conflict — occurs when our work expectations and what we think we should be doing don’t match up with the work we actually have to do; role and expected role are the same
• role ambiguity — occurs when an individual’s job duties and performance expectations are not clearly defined; employee’s roles and expectations are unclear
• role overload — develops when individuals either feel they lack the skills or workplace resources to complete a task or perceive that the task cannot be done in the required amount of time
• Person-Organization Fit — refers to how well your skills, knowledge, abilities, expectations, personality, values, and attitudes match those of organizatio
• Change — major contributor; downsizing and restructuring
• Relations with Others — customers and coworkers; stress associated with conflict, working with difficult people, dealing with angry customers, and feeling that you are not being treated fairly
• Organizational Politics — self-serving behaviors employees use to increase the probability of obtaining positive outcomes in an organization
• Positive Politics — behaviors designed to influence others with the goal of helping
• Negative Politics — manipulative behaviors designed to achieve personal gain at the expense of others and the organization
• Noise — high levels of noise increase stress, reduce performance, and make workers unhappy;
• Radiation — our bodies maintain a normal temperature
• Evaporation — our bodies maintain a normal temperature, in which perspiration reduces excess heat
• Effective Temperature — how hot or cold our environment feels to us;
• Shift Work — working evening (“swing”) and late-night/overnight (“graveyard”)
• Moonlighting — working more than one job
• Minor Frustration — may try our patience, but in and of themselves they may not be a problem
• Forecasting — develops from our constantly worrying about the future
• Residual Stress — stress that is carried over from previous stressful situations that we refuse to “let go.”
• Burnout — state of being overwhelmed by stress, is usually experienced by highly motivated professionals faced with high work demands
• employment assistance programs (EAPs) to which they refer employees suspected of drug or alcohol abuse
• Organizational consequences: job performance, burnout, absenteeism/turnover, drug/alcohol abuse, health-care cost
• stress management - exercise, laughter, diet, smoke reduction, sleep, support network, self-empowerment, coping skills
• stress reduction intervention: easing the child-care burden, easing the elder-care burden, easing the daily-chore burden, providen rest on paid time off
• Voucher systems — child-care policy in which an organization pays all or some of its employees
• Referral service — a system of child care in which an employer maintains a list of certified childcare centers that can be used by its employees