Stress in the Workplace

Stress and coping are both known aspects of human life and each gender deals with this differently according to past studies (Matud, 2004). Each individual has their own perception of what stress and coping is. Depending on one's experience of the problem will depend on how they cope with the situation. For example an individual who is always on schedule and never late for any event is stuck in traffic and arrives late for work tends to stress at a higher rate compared to the individual who is late for work on regular basis and lives up to their reputation.

The defining features of stress are when a persons' demand is higher than they can handle causing changes to the body mentally in order to assist with the coping of the difficult situation. (Burton, Westen, Kowalski, 2006). Stress consists of three stages with the first being called the alarm stage which activates the nerves and hormones in the body, symptoms include pounding heart, sweating, muscle tension and higher blood pressure than normal (Burton, Westen, Kowalski, 2006). Instant shock, getting scared and immediate anger are a few examples of the alarm stage as there is too much to take in at one time therefore resulting in the above mentioned symptoms. The second stage is called the resistance stage; this is when the nervous system maintains the symptoms incurred by the stressor (the stressor is the situation that is causing the person to stress). When in this stage for a long time the body uses all the chemicals and energy in the nervous system therefore leaving the immune system unprotected to contamination of illness. (Burton, Westen, Kowalski, 2006). Dealing with long duration stressful events such as partner betrayal, lack of employment opportunities and financial hardship are known to allow the body to deteriorate in this state. Exhaustion is the final stage; this is when the immune system has been unprotected for long periods and the body breaks down with the possibility of eventually leading to terminal illness (Burton, Westen, Kowalski, 2006). Unable to deal with the death of a loved one, terminal illness or a tragic circumstance may all contribute to this stage of stress. Each person copes with stress differently.

Coping can be broken down into two strategies one is called problem-focused coping which allows the individual to alter the difficult situation that is causing them the problem. (Burton, Westen, Kowalski, 2006) Problem-focused coping could be when a driver of a secondhand vehicle experiences breakdowns frequently, causing the driver to be late for appointments to purchase a brand new vehicle which will be a lot more reliable resulting in the elimination of the stressor. The other strategy is called emotion-focused coping which allows the individual to change the way they perceive or think about the situation to make it more manageable (Burton, Westen, Kowalski, 2006). A example of emotion- focused coping is when a job seeker has received a refusal letter, the applicant will throw the letter away and keep applying for other positions with confidence instead of sulking.

Coping can be broken down further into positive and negative coping; each individual uses one of these methods to work through their situation. Some experts claim that gender plays an important role in the way people cope with stress (Matud, 2004).

Introduction

The introduction needs to provide a succinct but critical review of the stress and coping

literature. The review should address the definitions of each concept, and specific findings from studies

relevant to your aims/hypotheses. The most important thing to remember is that the introduction is

providing an argument for the hypotheses to follow. The hypotheses should be operationalised and flow

smoothly and compellingly from the evidence provided by the research literature. The research

literature should be evaluated in terms of its strengths and weaknesses (i.e., a critique). While several

references have been provided for you, it is expected that you will find a minimum of two other