STRESS AND PERSONALITY TRAITS

SURENDAR.S*

ABSRACT

Stress is a condition arising from the interaction of people and their jobs and characterized by
changes within people that force them to deviate from their normal functioning. It is viewed in a
number of ways and is said to have a positive and pleasant side. This is called “eustress” which
helps to improve work efficiency. But when there is distress the effects are negative and impact
the individual. Stresses are caused by extraorganizational stressors, organizational stressors,
individual stressors and group stressors. Competition in the global economy has increased the
stress at work. However not all people are equally prone to the same level of stress. Research
has indicated that certain personality traits can make us more vulnerable to stress.  People with
such traits are known as Type A personalities which is distinguished from Type B. They face
adverse health effects such as anxiety, depression, ulcers, high blood pressure and even heart
diseases. Individual and organizational coping strategies provide physiological and psychological
benefits. However, it is the individuals who will have to make a shift towards personality
characteristics that help cope with stress. This paper discusses the characteristic features of Type
A and B personalities and offers measures to cope with stress.

STRESS

The word stress refers to a state of deviation or variation from normal state due to unplanned or
improperly designed system or work process resulting into failures and non – accomplishment of
goals. Organizational stress as defined by J.E Newman, is "a condition arising out of
interaction of people with their jobs and characterizes by changes within people
that forces them to drift apart from normal functioning".

*MBA- final year, Oscar Business School, Vellore.

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PERSONALITY TRAITS

We all have certain features to our personality that make us unique as people; however there are
many aspects of our personality that are similar to other people.  These similar personality
factors are called Personality Traits.  Research has indicated that certain personality traits can
make us more vulnerable to stress.  People with such traits are known as Type A personalities. 
Type A's tend to be more competitive, more impatient, have time urgency when compared to the
more relaxed and laid back Type B personalities. It's important to realize that we are all a
mixture of Type A and Type B personality.

CAUSES OF STRESS

Extraorganizational Stressors: It comes from outside the employing organization. Taking an

open system perspective of an organization, it is clear that job stress is not just limited to things
that happen inside the organization, during working hours. Extraorganizational stressors include
things such as societal/technological change, the family, relocation, economic and financial
conditions, race and class, and residential or community conditions.1

Organizational Stressors: It comes from within the employing organization. Although the
organization is made up of groups & individuals, there are also more macro-level dimensions
unique to the organization that contains potential stressors. It results when people face anxiety or
frustration from aspects of their work that they cannot control. Examples include situations
where people are not able to exercise their full skills and knowledge potential or may not
understand what they produce, and how. They may face conflicting demands. Or they may not
receive the respect or recognition they expect for their accomplishments. Organizational stressors
may cause specific reactions in the body that can lead to potential health effects. One European
study correlates the degree of stress with the amount of responsibility and control a person has
over the job.

1 – John M. Ivancevich & Michael T. Matteson, Stress & Work, Soctt, Foresma, Glenview, Ill.,
1980, p.145.
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Group Stressors: The group can also be a potential source of stress. Workplaces are generally
thought to be stress-inducing environments on many levels.  Various studies have examined task-
related stressors (e.g., high work load), but it is also important to consider the influence of social
stressors – psychological/physical strains that are social in nature (e.g., co-worker conflict, poor
group climate, unjust treatment, and verbal aggression from customers). It is valuable to
understand characteristics of those who can successfully cope against social stressors.  Therefore,
research has looked toward understanding core self-evaluations.

Core Self Evaluations are individual characteristics that represent fundamental evaluations
people form concerning themselves, other people, and the world in general. Core Self
Evaluations consist of four distinct individual traits that vary from person to person and include:

 Self-esteem – general confidence and assurance in oneself.

 Locus of control – beliefs about what causes good or bad events (i.e., environmental
[external], or individual causes [internal]).
 Generalized self-efficacy – views of individual ability to ascertain goals.
 Neuroticism – tendency to experience more negative emotional states (e.g., anger,
anxiety, guilt).

These traits take part in mediating how one copes with stress and can ultimately buffer against
unwanted stressors. For example, an individual who has an internal locus of control, has high
self-esteem and generalized self-efficacy, while low in neuroticism may, generally, cope with
stress/stressors better than an individual who has an external locus of control, is low in self-
esteem and generalized self-efficacy, yet high in neuroticism.

Individual Stressors: Since each individual's disposition and perception for taking and handling
stress varies, so the level of stress and its causes are more individual in nature.

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The causes of individual stressors are,
 Role ambiguity  It can be due to lack of training, improper knowledge of subject, poor
communication channel, friction between superior and subordinates etc.
 Psychological Hardiness  It decides the level and capacity of a person to handle stress
since it varies from individual to individual. Thus people having high level of hardiness
in handling stress are persons who know how to handle situation better and in a planned
way so as to reduce level of stress
 Type of Personality  As per the category Type A are people who have high level of
commitment, are competitive,, aggressive, and exhibit different behavior patterns. They
desire to achieve. Such personalities are more prone to chances of stress and
incompatibility. Type B are those who have a relaxed and balanced approach and are
more confident in their approaches towards work. They are less susceptible to stress.

TYPE A & TYPE B PERSONALITY TRAITS

Type A Personality Traits Type B Personality Traits

   
Must get things finished Do not mind leaving things unfinished for
a while 
Never late for appointments Calm and unhurried about appointments
Excessively competitive Not excessively competitive
Can't listen to conversations, interrupt, Can listen and let the other person finish
finish others sentences speaking
Always in a hurry Never in a hurry even when busy 
Do not like to wait Can wait calmly
Very busy at full speed Easy going
Trying to do more than one thing at a time  Can take one thing at a time
Want everything to be perfect  Do not mind things not quite perfect
Pressurized speech Slow and deliberate speech 
Do everything fast  Do things slowly
Hold feelings in  Can express feelings
Not satisfied with work/life  Quite satisfied with work/life
Few social activities/interests  Many social activities/interests
If in employment, will often take work If in employment, will limit working to
home work hours

COPING STRATEGIES FOR INDIVIDUAL STRESS

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Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of individual thoughts, emotions,
schedule, environment, and the way they deal with problems. The ultimate goal is a balanced
life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation, and fun – plus the resilience to hold up under
pressure and meet challenges head on. Most people don’t have to be convinced of the value of
taking charge and actually making a change in their lives.

Unhealthy ways of coping with stress: These coping strategies may temporarily reduce stress,
but they cause more damage in the long run:
 Smoking  Using pills or drugs to relax      
 Drinking too much  Sleeping too much
 Overeating or undereating  Procrastinating
 Zoning out for hours in front of the TV  Filling up every minute of the day to
or computer avoid facing problems
 Withdrawing from friends, family, and  Taking out your stress on others (lashing
activities out, angry outbursts, physical violence)

Healthy ways of coping with stress: There are many healthy ways to manage and cope with
stress, but they all require change. Some specific techniques that individuals can use to eliminate
or more effectively manage inevitable, prolonged stress are the following,

 Go for a walk.  Savor a warm cup of coffee or tea.

 Spend time in nature.  Play with a pet.
 Call a good friend.  Work in your garden.
 Sweat out tension with a good workout.  Get a massage.
 Write in your journal.  Curl up with a good book.
 Take a long bath.  Listen to music.
 Light scented candles  Watch a comedy

 Behavioral self-control: Self-control can be achieved by deliberately managing the

antecedents and the consequences of their own behavior. For example, sales managers
who have a steady stream of customer complaints all day could change the antecedent by

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 having an assistant screen all complaints and allow only exceptions to reach them. They
could also manage the consequences by rewarding themselves with an extra break when
they remain calm and collected after interacting with a particular angry customer. This
strategy involves individuals’ controlling the situation instead of letting the situation to
control them.
 Cognitive Therapy: Techniques such as Ellis’s rational emotive model and
Meichenbaum’s cognitive behavior modification have been successfully used to reduce
test anxiety and have recently been used as an individual strategy for reducing job stress.
When this coping strategy combined with some simple relaxation techniques was
systematically evaluated by a field experimental design in a social service agency, it was
found to have a positive impact on some of both the physiological (ephinephrine, a
hormone produced by the adrenal glands) and the psychological (depression) variables
measured.

CONCLUSION

Irrespective of the nature of industry and work, no job can remain untouched and affected from
stress since it is a multi-dependent variable including the individual in its different attributes like
personal, work related, external and internal environment related and above all psychological
make-up which decides the extent to which the person can accept and overcome stress. In the
same way, irrespective of the causes of stress, the stress can only be managed from one part that
is self. So, proper self-control will help to fix any stress caused irrespective of the source.

As Stephen Covey said, “10% of life is made up of what happens to us and the rest 90% of life is
decided by how you react”.