Stress in Workplace
Introduction
In this essay it is my intention to show how stress appears in working environment, what causes it and how it affects the workplace. I will start by defining what stress is and how it might be perceived. Then I will take a look at the factors that cause stress and how these might show in result when working. I try to look at all the possible reasons for stress and through that hopefully to show how to avoid a stressful environment. I will not try to put straight answers on to paper, but to think why workers might be stressed, and how this affects the organisation instead of just saying that things are like that because they just are.
I chose this topic because I 'm studying psychology and I feel that this is the one topic I have most ( qualitatively and quantitatively ) information to put into.
What stress is and how do we recognise it
When I looked up the word 'stress ' from the dictionary, the definition it brought back was: 'state of mental, emotional or other strain '. The word ”strain” can be defined as being 'a severe demand on strength or resources '. ( Soanes, C. 2004: 1427, 1424 ) When we now look at these definitions, how do we end up classifying stress as something negative, something problematic? In the book psychology course 1006 uses stress is described as ”a pattern of physiological, behavioural, emotional and cognitive responses to real or imagined stimuli that are perceived as preventing a goal or endangering or otherwise threatening well-being.” ( Carlson et al. 2004: 710 ) Stress is nowadays a very common state of mind. Almost everyone has at some point suffered from stress. But even this is happening, people are able to do their work properly and without problems. ”Hans Selye has said that the only person without stress is a dead person. He sees that stress should be viewed as 'stimulation to growth and development.. chalenge and variety.. the spice of life '. When our own personal
In this essay it is my intention to show how stress appears in working environment, what causes it and how it affects the workplace. I will start by defining what stress is and how it might be perceived. Then I will take a look at the factors that cause stress and how these might show in result when working. I try to look at all the possible reasons for stress and through that hopefully to show how to avoid a stressful environment. I will not try to put straight answers on to paper, but to think why workers might be stressed, and how this affects the organisation instead of just saying that things are like that because they just are.
I chose this topic because I 'm studying psychology and I feel that this is the one topic I have most ( qualitatively and quantitatively ) information to put into.
What stress is and how do we recognise it
When I looked up the word 'stress ' from the dictionary, the definition it brought back was: 'state of mental, emotional or other strain '. The word ”strain” can be defined as being 'a severe demand on strength or resources '. ( Soanes, C. 2004: 1427, 1424 ) When we now look at these definitions, how do we end up classifying stress as something negative, something problematic? In the book psychology course 1006 uses stress is described as ”a pattern of physiological, behavioural, emotional and cognitive responses to real or imagined stimuli that are perceived as preventing a goal or endangering or otherwise threatening well-being.” ( Carlson et al. 2004: 710 ) Stress is nowadays a very common state of mind. Almost everyone has at some point suffered from stress. But even this is happening, people are able to do their work properly and without problems. ”Hans Selye has said that the only person without stress is a dead person. He sees that stress should be viewed as 'stimulation to growth and development.. chalenge and variety.. the spice of life '. When our own personal
References: Carlson, N; Martin, G.N. ; Buskist, W. ( 2004 ) Psychology. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited Croome-Gale, D.J. ( 2001 ) Creating the Productive Workplace. Florence, KY, USA: Routedge Routamaa, V. ( 2002 ) Itsetuntemuksesta voimaa työssä jaksamiseen. University of Vaasa, Sanomalehtiyliopisto ( Strenght to work from selfknowledge ( free translation ) Open University by newspaper ) Vahtera, J; Kivimäki, M; Virtanen P ( 2002 ) Työntekijöiden hyvinvointi kunnissa ja sairaaloissa: tutkittua tietoa ja haasteita. Helsinki: Työterveyslaitos The welfare of the employees in communes and hospitals: researches and challenges ( free translation ) Soanes, C; Stevenson, Angus ( 2004 ) Concise Oxford English Dictionary. New York, USA: Oxford University Press