Topic 6: Stress Flashcards
What is Stress? What does it do?
Stress is a physiological and psychological condition that prepares us to adapt to hostile or noxious envornmental conditions.
What is Eutress and Distress?
Eutress is motivation to achieve goals
Distress is a deviation from healthy functioning
What does the Hans Selyes General Adaptive Syndrome show?
The response to harsh environmental conditions over time.
Explain the phases of the General Adaptive Syndrome.
- Alarm
- Resistance
- Exhaustion
What are the consequences of distress? Give examples of each.
- Psysiological: Cardiovascular disease, hypertension, headaches
- Behavioral: Work performence accidents, absenteeism, aggression, poor decisions
- Psychological: Distractions, moodyness, depression, emotional fatigue, burnout.
What is burnout?
The process of emotinoal exhaustino, cynicism and reduced personal asccomplishment that results from prolonged exposure to stressors.
What are stressors? Explain each.
- Harrasment and incivility
- Psychological: Repeated and hostile or unwanted conduct.
- Sexual: Unwelcome conduct of sexual nature.
- Work overload: Working too intensely or too long.
- Task control: Lack of control over a task, especially when responsibility for the task his high (e.g. sports coach.)
How can work-related stress be managed?
- Remove or minimise the stressor
- Withdrawal from the stressor
- Vacation, rest breaks
- Change stress perceptions
- Positive self-concept, humour
- Control stress consequences
- healthy lifestyle, fitness, wellness
- Receive social support
What can firms do to generate positive emotions in the workplace?
- Reduce stressful events (e.g. time pressure, conflicting demands).
- Shaping job desion (e.g. high discretion).
- Optimizing physical settings (e.g. pleasant, not too noisy, cold).
- Leaders (should inspire positive feelings, not fear).
- Workgroup characteristics.
- Organisational rewards (eg. fair transperant rewards, equitable treatement).
