Chapter 6

Management of Stress

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Introduction
Stress is an integral part of living. It is considered to be
the major killer.
In this module we shall:
Study various aspects of stress, their types, and means
of coping with stress.
Learn about personality types that are prone to stress.
Learn how individual behavior causes stress to self and
others.
Study organizational stressors and how strutures,
processes, people and cultures increase stress.
Understand individual and organziational strategies to
control stress.

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Management of Stress

Stress Management
Stress is unavoidable and most of us
adapt to stress in such a way that we
are no longer aware of it.
Absence of stress does not make
things happen as much as too much
of stress slows down things into
ineffectiveness.

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Management of Stress

Definition of stress
According to Dr. Hans Selye, who
introduced the word stress in 1942,
stress is a non-specific response of the
body to any demand made on a person
He believed that when one is under stress
a set of symptoms of the body get
manifested in the form of head ache,
backache etc.
(refer to other definitions in course
material)

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Management of Stress
Human Function Curve
(refer to graph in course material)
Dr. Hans Selye coined the concepts of eustress and
distress and the phenomenon of General Adaptive
Syndrome (GAS)
Eustress is positive stress which is like a starter for any
activity. The stress we experience before & at the start of
any activity is Eustress. This stress is needed to move us
ahead towards goals.
Distress is negative stress. When the eustress continues
even beyond the start of the activity and creates loss of
concentration and other symptoms, it is a sign of Distress.
It is Distress which we need to recognize and manage.

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Management of Stress
Human Function Curve.
General Adaptive Syndrome GAS refers to our reactions to
stressors demands that are threatening. The causes of
stress may be different for different people and for
different situations.
GAS occurs in three stages:
a) Alarm the physical reaction in the form of increase of
heat beat, etc due to increase in chemical flow of the
body.
b) Resistance after prolonged exposure to the stressor,
the stress moves from the body to the mind. The person
decides to flee from the situation. He displays resistance.
c) Exhaustion if the stressor continues even beyond, then
the individual experiences physical and mental draining
of energies. Slowing down of activity and efficiency is the
outcome.

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Management of Stress

Causes of Stress
There are outside factors that cause
stress. According to Fred Luthans, the
causes of Job Stress are:
a) Administrative Policies & Strategies
b) Organizational Structure and Design
c) Organizational Processes
d) Working Conditions
(refer to table in course material)

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Management of Stress

Personality and Stress

Some personality types are more
prone to stress than others.
For example,
Type A personality, which is the
aggressive, go-getter, impatient type
is prone to distress
External Locus of Control is a
stressor.

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Management of Stress

Effects of Stress
Mild stress (Eustress) is conducive to
performance. It encourages movement
ahead and goal attainment.
However, when the stretch become too
much, the stress becomes Distress
The capacity to take stress varies from
person to person.
The effects of distress is manifested in
physical and mental forms.

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Management of Stress
Stress & Performance
(refer to figure in course material)
Performance is affected in the manner in which
one responds to stress levels.
There are three stages:
a) Too little stress leads to low performance
b) Optimum stress leads to high (optimum)
performance
c) Too much stress leads to low performance
Each of these stages create body and behavioral
responses ranging from boredom to alertness to
panic

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Management of Stress
Strategies to cope with stress
We cannot eliminate stress. We need to manage them
wisely.
Job stress could be of two dimensions:
a) Problem centric
b) Emotion centric
Again, within the these two dimensions, the stress may be:
a) due to individual reasons
b) due to organizational reasons.
(refer to table in course material)

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Management of Stress

Strategies to cope with stress.

Stress Management follows three basic
steps:
a) Understanding that stress can have a
negative effect on the person both
physically and emotionally, leading to
dysfunctional life.
b) Identifying those stressors that affect
the individual's behavior and
performance adversely.
c) Taking constructive steps towards coping
with stress and minimizing the effects.

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Management of Stress

Strategies to cope with stress

Stress management needs to be
approached in the following
manner:
a) Individual emotion-centric
b) Individual problem-centric
c) Organizational emotion-centric
d) Organizational- problem-centric

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Management of Stress
Strategies to cope with stress.
(I) Individual Strategies to cope with job stress:
a) Problem centric
1. Time management
2. Seeking help
3. Shifting of job
b) Emotion centric
1. Relaxation
2. Physical exercise
3. Recreation
4. Companionship

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Management of Stress
Strategies to cope with stress.
(II) Organizational Strategies to cope with stress
a) Problem centric
1. Redesigning jobs
2. Proper selection & placement
3. Training
4. Team building
b) Emotion centric
1. Employee welfare facilities
2. Mentoring
3. Open communication

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Management of Stress

Summary
We learnt what stress is all about and its effects
on people.
All stress is not bad, some stress is useful for our
growth.
Certain Personality types are stress prone
We learnt causes of individual and organizational
stress.
Coping with stress needs to be addressed at two
levels: individual & Organizational.
We learnt the strategies to cope with individual
and organizational based stress.