Causes of Stress and its effects

30/03/2020 0 By indiafreenotes

The causes of stress are found within the environment, the individual, and the interaction between the two. The stress experienced by a given individual is seldom traceable to a single source. Stress has become increasingly common in organizations, largely because individuals experience increased job complexity and increased economic pressures. In exploring the causes of stress it is important that a clear distinction be made between stress and the stressor (the source of the stress). It is confusing and technically incorrect to speak of a “stressful situation” as though anyone placed in that situation would experience stress. For purposes of analysis and understanding, stressors are divided into two classes:

  • Those that lie within the individual, and
  • Those that are a part of the external environment.

Causes of Stress

Stressors the word coined for causes of stress. Any situation, any event can be a potential cause of stress. The causes of stress vary from person to person and situation to situation. So to say, the causes of stress are relative to person time and situation.

The following are the causes of stress or stressors:

  1. Organizational Causes

The organizational causes include the organizational structure, managerial leaderships, rules and regulations, extent of centralization and decentralization, type of communication, delegation of powers, number of employees in a room or hall working together etc. are the potential causes of stress at the organization level. Organization structure defines authority responsibility relationship, and decision making process. Excessive nature of centralized decisions and allowing participation of employees in decision making process cause stress.

Style of leadership adopted by the managers and executives of the organization also affect the mental balance of the employees and they fall a prey to stress. Some managers create fear in the minds of the employees that become a cause of stress. While democratic style eases the tension.

Rules and regulations also become the cause of stress. Bad and coercive rules and regulations and strict adherence to them by managers are the immediate cause of stress. More centralization of authority in one or few hands may also cause stress. Decentralization of authority relieves the employees from stress.

Type of communication adopted by the organization also causes stress. Effective communication is must for smooth working. Policies rules and regulations must be communicated to the employees. Lack of communication creates problems.

Delegation of authority is effected to get the work completed early and relieve the managers of their managerial burden. Some managers do not delegate their authority and want to work themselves. This increases their burden of work and they come under stress. The large number of employees working in a room also is a cause of stress. They can’t concentrate on their work in a crowd and come under tension.

The nature of job is another potential cause of stress. Certain jobs are associated with stress. These jobs pose threat for timely performance. A pressure is created for their performance on time. Timely decisions are to be taken.

Some of the high strain jobs include those of telephone operators, assembly job workers, personal assistant and secretaries, busy executives etc. These jobs require higher level of performance within a short period of time such job performers work under strain. There are certain jobs need work for long hours and have to acquire new skills.

Long working hours put them under strain. There are certain jobs where high tone noise and terrible heat is involved and working environment is not that good. Such jobs put the workers under tension. Certain employees are overloaded with work and their superiors want early disposal of the work. This naturally puts the employee under stress.

In the organization various types and kinds of people are working. They have to achieve organizational goals unitedly. Hence cooperation of all is essential. But because of lack of interpersonal relationship among employees some do not receive social support from their partners. This attitude on the part of other employees put them under stress.

  1. Group Level Causes

At workplace human beings are working. Human beings are social animals they live in groups. This group ideology holds good at workplace also. Employees have to work in groups. Certain jobs demand teamwork. Employees’ behaviour is influenced by group. The group is also a potential cause of stress where there is lack of cohesiveness and social support. Working together in groups is essential at lower level of the organization.

Lack of this is a cause of stress. Workers when they work together and in groups they develop social relationships at the workplace. They get support from each other. Lack of social support becomes a cause of stress. The conflicts between groups also are a cause of stress because inter-department or intergroup conflicts increase the burden of work and cause strain.

  1. Individual Level Causes

There are many reasons for causing stress to an individual. At the workplace when two superiors have assigned the work to the same individual simultaneously put him under stress. He will be under tension as to whose work is to be finished first. This is because of role conflict.

Another reason for stress for an individual is when the job responsibilities are not clearly defined. The types of personality also are the causes of stress to an individual. “Type A personality” individuals are workaholics; works speedily and exactly, don’t rest, and don’t enjoy life.

If they fail to achieve task, they come under stress. They suffer from high blood pressure and prone to heart attack. As against them, the individuals with “Type B personality” remain stress free comparatively. These individuals do not bother if work suffers, they take their own time to complete the task, and they enjoy life and take full rest. The change in job and job responsibilities because of promotion or transfer also put an individual under stress. Dual career is also a reason for stress.

  1. Domestic Level Causes

Several changes are taking place nowadays. Joint family system has now broken. Modern approach to life has changed the life style of individuals. Everyone wants complete freedom. To run the family according to modern life style is becoming increasingly difficult.

Majority middle class people face the identity crisis. They want to lead sophisticated life style which the rich can afford. They suffer from financial crisis which becomes a major cause of worry and tension for them. Children’s education, death of a spouse, purchase of new house, soaring prices, etc. are the causes of stress to an individual on domestic front.

  1. Other Causes

Among other include economic, political and technological changes that are going on continuously. These are extra organizational but sometimes have negative effect on jobs. E.g. in India computerization in banks and government organization was opposed by the employees unions because they took it as a threat to their jobs.

In the similar manner the Narsinhan Committee’s report on banking was also opposed. The changes in economic, political and technological front sometimes have potential threat to the jobs. These reasons put the employees under stress.

Age, health and education are also the factors causing stress. The employees above the age of 35 having less chances of promotion because of pyramidal structure of organizations put them under stress. Increasing age contributes to stress.

Health is another factor that gives strength to cope with stress. Unhealthy and sick employees cannot cope with stress. Education is yet another factor for stress. Highly educated, not getting promotion lives under tension. A well educated and understandable and matured person has more ability to cope up with stress.

Internal Stimuli for Stress

The internal sources of stress are complex and difficult to isolate. There are three internal sources of stress. Each of these internal influences on stress is considered separately, although they function in continual interaction.

(i) Inner Conflicts

For many people stress is a constant companion regardless of how favourable or unfavourable external conditions may be. Non-specific fears, anxiety and guilt feelings maintain the body in a state of readiness for emergency action on a continuing basis.

(ii) Perceptual Influences

Perception is influenced by a number of internal factors. Certainly people with inner conflicts sufficient to cause stress are more likely than self-confident people to perceive environmental conditions as threatening. Because the environment is presumed to be full of danger, evidences of danger are perceived everywhere. They are selectively perceived in exaggerated form.

(iii) Thresholds of Stress

The threshold of stress is not independent of the two factors just discussed. People who have few internal conflicts and a minimum of perceptual distortion can withstand external conflict and pressure that weaken personalities would find intolerable. People who have high thresholds for stress have high levels of resistance to it.

(iv) Motivational Level

People who are ambitious and highly motivated to achieve are more likely to experience stress than are those who are content with their career status. Persons whose self-expectations exceed their abilities and opportunities are especially stress prone.

Environmental Stressors

Environmental and internal conditions that lie beyond an individual’s control are called environmental stressors. Such stressors can have a considerable impact on work performance and adjustment. We can organize environmental stressors into the following categories:

(i) Task Demands

Task demands are factors related to a person’s job. They include the design of the individual’s job, working conditions, and the physical work layout. Changes and lack of control are two of the most stressful demands people face at work. Change leads to uncertainty, a lack of predictability in a person’s daily tasks and activities and may be caused by job insecurity related to difficult economic times.

Technology and technological innovation also create change and uncertainty for many employees, requiring adjustments in training, education and skill development.

Lack of control is a second major source of stress, especially in work environments that are difficult and psychologically demanding. The lack of control may be caused by inability to influence the timing of tasks and activities, to select tools or methods for accomplishing the work, to make decisions that influence work outcomes, or to exercise direct action to affect the work outcomes.

(ii) Role Demands

The social-psychological demands of the work environment may be every bit as stressful as task demands at work. Role demands relate to pressures placed on a person as a function of the particular role he or she plays in the organization. Role conflicts create expectations that may be hard to reconcile or satisfy. Role conflict results from inconsistent or incompatible expectations communicated to a person. The conflict may be an inter-role, intra-role or person-role conflict.

  • Inter-role Conflict: is caused by conflicting expectations related to two separate roles, such as employee and parent. For example, the employee with a major sales presentation on Monday and a sick child at home is likely to experience inter-role conflict.
  • Intra-role Conflict: is caused by conflicting expectations related to a single role, such as employee. For example, the manager who presses employees for both vary fast work and high-quality work may be viewed at some point as creating a conflict for employees.
  • Person-role Conflict: Ethics violations are likely to cause person-role conflicts.

Employees expected to behave in ways that violate personal values, beliefs or principles experience conflict. The second major cause of role stress is role ambiguity. Role ambiguity is created when role expectations are not clearly understood and the employee is not sure what he or she is to do. Role ambiguity is the confusion a person experiences related to the expectations of others. Role ambiguity may be caused by not understanding what is expected, not knowing how to do it, or not knowing the result of failure to do it.

(iii) Inter-personal Demands

These are pressures created by other employees. Lack Stress of social support from colleagues and poor interpersonal relationships can cause considerable stress, especially among employees with a high social need. Abrasive personalities, sexual harassment and the leadership style in the organization are interpersonal demands for people at work.

  • The Abrasive Person: May be an able and talented employee, but one who creates emotional waves that others at work must accommodate.
  • Sexual Harassment: The vast majority of sexual harassment is directed at women in the workplace, creating a stressful working environment for the person being harassed, as well as for others.
  • Leadership Styles: Whether authoritarian or participative, create stress for different personality types. Employees who feel secure with firm, directive leadership may be anxious with an open, participative style. Those comfortable with participative leadership may feel restrained by a directive style.

(iv) Physical Demands

Non-work demands create stress for people, which carry over into the work environment or vice versa. Workers subject to family demands related to marriage, child rearing and parental care may create role conflicts or overloads that are difficult to manage. In addition to family demands, people have personal demands related to non-work organizational commitments such as churches and public service organizations. These demands become more or less stressful, depending on their compatibility with the person’s work and family life and their capacity to provide alternative satisfactions for the person.