Stress in the workplace will become the epidemic of the 21st century.
Stress in the workplace will become the epidemic of the 21st century
I will be exploring some of the factors that are known to cause stress in the workplace. Some of these factors are control, responsibility, overcrowding, temperature, pollution, noise and predictability. It has been found that these stress factors can make a worker stressed and therefore ill.
The first factor I will explore is control which is closely linked with predictability. In a study Glass et al. (1969) arranged for participants (who were all females), to listen to random noise while completing puzzles. There were two conditions, one where a button was given, to control the random noise, and one where there was no control over the noise. Participants who were given control were significantly more persistent than those without the control. In Cohen et al.’s (1991) research on stress and the common cold those participants who felt that that their lives were unpredictable and uncontrollable were twice as likely to develop colds as those suffering low stress. During a replication of Glass et al.’s research, Gardener (1978) found no negative effects for controllability, he then realised that he had given consent forms to his participants saying that they agreed their rights as a participant. He wondered if this had given them a sense of control so he performed a test in which he gave consent forms to only half of the participants. He found that those without the forms experienced stress and the others didn’t. Marmot et al. (1997) held a study of employees in the civil service which found that workers on the lowest employment grades were four times more likely to die of a heart attack that those on the most senior grades. They were also more likely to suffer cancers, strokes, and gastrointestinal disorders. It was found that low control was linked to higher stress.
