4-1Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall1 Managing Behavior In Organizations Sixth Edition Jerald Greenberg

4-1Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall 1

Managing Behavior In Organizations

Sixth Edition

Jerald Greenberg

4-2

Coping with Organizational Life: Emotions and Stress

Chapter Four

4-34-3Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall

Learning Objectives

• DISTINGUISH between emotions and moods

• EXPLAIN how emotions and moods influence behavior in organizations

• DESCRIBE ways in which people manage their emotions in organizations

• IDENTIFY the major causes of organizational stress

• DESCRIBE the adverse effects of organizational stress

• IDENTIFY various ways of reducing stress in the workplace


Three Good Reasons Why You Should Care About . . . Emotions and Stress

1. People’s everyday emotions can have dramatic effects on the way they feel and how they perform their jobs.

2. Knowing how to choose a career can help you make the optimal career choice.

3. Managers are capable of doing many things to reduce the levels of stress experienced by their subordinates if they know how.


Understanding Emotions & Moods

• Emotions– Properties of emotions– Types of emotions– The basic nature of mood


Emotions

• Emotions are overreactions that express feelings about events.


Properties of Emotions• Emotions always have an object -

something or someone that or who triggers emotions.

• The spread of emotions is contagious.Emotional contagion

• Expression of emotions is universal.• Culture determines how and when people

express emotions.Display rules


Types of Emotions• Self-conscious - refers to feelings that

stem from withinshame, guilt, embarrassment, and pride

• Social emotions - refer to people’s feelings based on information external to themselvespity, envy, jealousy, and scorn


The Basic Nature of Mood• Mood is an unfocused, relatively mild

feeling that exists as background to our daily experiences.


Role of Emotions and Mood• Are happier people more successful in

their jobs?– Yes

Higher job performance and better jobs – more meaning, autonomy and variety in their jobs

Higher income – not just in the U.S., but in countries throughout the world


Role of Emotions and Mood• Why are happier workers more

successful?1. Decision quality – more accurate decisions

2. Evaluation – perceive the positive side of others’ work

3. Cooperation – more generous and inclined to help coworkers


Affective Events Theory• Affective events theory - identifies

factors that lead to people’s emotional reactions on the job and how these reactions affect those individuals.


Affective Events Theory• Emotional labor - degree to which

people have to work hard to display what they believe are appropriate emotions on their jobs

• Daily hassles - unpleasant or undesirable events that put people in bad moods

• Daily uplifts - pleasant or desirable events that put people in good moods


Managing Emotions• Ways to effectively manage emotions in

organizations:Develop emotional intelligence

Self awarenessSocial awarenessSelf-managementRelationship management

Cope with emotional dissonanceControl anger before it controls you


Emotional Dissonance• Emotional dissonance - is likely to occur in

situations in which there are strong expectations regarding the emotions one is expected to display by virtue of one’s job requirements.Felt emotions - emotions people actually

experienceDisplayed emotions - emotions people show

others


Managing Anger Suggestion Explanation

Practice relaxation: Learning to meditate is very useful because it helps make you calm, allowing you to cope effectively with situations that provoke anger. (You will find a description of this process in Table 4.11 on p. 128.)

Focus on facts: Angry people often think irrationally. Making things worse. Instead, focus on the source of your anger and think things through logically, focusing on the facts of a situation.

Use humor: Laughter is incompatible with anger, so take the edge off your fury by focusing on something funny. For example, if you think someone is a

“dirtbag”, picture him with a sack of dirt on top of his head.

Leave the room; When you feel anger welling up inside, move to another room or even leave the building. Changing your surroundings may help you escape whatever or whoever is causing you to be so angry- and this will keep you from saying something you regret later on.


The Basic Nature of Stress• Stressor - any demand, either physical or

psychological in nature, encountered during the course of living.Acute stressors bring some form of sudden

change that threatens us either physically or psychologically, requiring people to make unwanted adjustments.

Episodic stressors are the result of experiencing lots of acute stressors in a short period of time.

Chronic stressors are the most extreme type of stressor, because they are constant and unrelenting, having a long-term effect on the body, mind, and spirit.


Different Types of StressorsWhereas acute stressors tend to be brief duration, chronic stressors endure for a long period of time.

How long does the stressor last?

Brief Duration: Acute stressors

Episodic stressors

Long Duration: Chronic stressors


Common Episodic StressorsMany of the most commonly encountered stressors in organizations are episodic in nature. If you think about these, it’s not difficult to recognize how they actually are composed of several different acute stressors. For example, fear of losing one’s job includes concerns over money, threats to self-esteem, embarrassment, and other acute stressors. • Lack of involvement in making organizational decisions • Unrelenting and unreasonable expectations for performance • Poor communication with coworkers • Fear of losing one’s job• Spending long amounts of time away from home • Office politics and conflict • Not being paid fairly given one’s level of responsibility and performance


The Cognitive Appraisal Process

• Cognitive appraisal - the process of judging the extent to which an environmental event is a potential source of stress.Flight response


Tips for Assessing StressorsIt is important to recognize potential stressors and to take appropriate action. However, it can be very disruptive to mistakenly assume that something is a stressor when, in reality, nothing is wrong. With this in mind, here are some useful guidelines for appraising potential stressors accurately.

Suggestion Explanation

Check with others: Ask around. If others are not concerned about a situation, then maybe you shouldn’t be concerned either. Discussing the situation with people may alleviate any feelings of stress you may have had.

Look to the past: Your best bet for deciding what to do may be to consider what has happened over the years. You may want to be concerned about something that has accused problems in the past, but worrying about conditions that haven’t been problems before might only make things worse by distracting your attention from what really happens.

Gather all the facts: It’s too easy to jump to conclusions, seeing situations as problems that aren’t so bad. Instead of sensing a problem and assuming the worst, look for more objective information about the situation.

Avoid negative mental monologues: Too often, people talk themselves into perceiving situations as being worse than they really are, thereby adding to stress levels. You should

avoid such negative mental monologues, focusing instead on the positive aspects of the situations you confront.


Bodily Responses to Stressors

• Reactions to stressors:– Strain - deviations from normal states of

human functioning resulting from prolonged exposure to stressful events

– Burnout - a syndrome of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion coupled with feelings of low self-esteem or low-self efficacy, resulting from prolonged exposure to intense stress and the strain reactions following from them


Symptoms of BurnoutBurnout is a serious condition resulting from exposure to chronic levels of stress. The symptoms of burnout, summarized here, are important to recognize so as to avoid making an already bad state of affairs even worse.

Symptom Description

Physical exhaustion: Victims of burnout have low energy and feel tired much of the time. They also report many symptoms of physical strain, such as frequent headaches, nausea, poor sleep, and changes in eating habits (e.g. loss of appetite).

Emotional exhaustion: Depression, feelings of helplessness, and feeligns of being trapped in one’s job are all part of burnout.

Depersonalization: People suffering from burnout often demonstrate a pattern of attitudinal exhaustion known as depersonalization. They become cynical about others, derogating them and themselves. Victims might focus on their jobs, their organizations, and even life in general.

Feelings of low personal accomplishment: People suffering from burnout conclude that they haven’t been able to accomplish much in the past, and assume that they probably won’t succeed in the future.

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Causes of Stress in the Workplace

1. Occupational demands

2. Conflict between work and nonwork

3. Stress from uncertainty

4. Overload

5. Responsibility for others

6. Lack of social support


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Occupational Demands• Making decisions• Constantly monitoring devices or materials• Repeatedly exchanging information with others• Working in unpleasant physical conditions• Performing unstructured rather than structured

tasks


Most and Least Stressful Jobs in the U.S.

Although very stressful situations can be found on just about any job, the ones shown here tend to have the lowest and highest overall levels of stress associated with them. Please note that these are generalizations; any particular individuals performing these jobs may experience higher or lower levels of stress than suggested here due to unique conditions encountered.

Least Stressful Jobs

1. Medical records technician

2. Jeweler

3. Hair stylist

4. Dressmaker/ tailor

5. Medical laboratory technician

6. Audiologist

7. Precision assembler

8. Dietitian

9. Furniture upholsterer

10. Electrical technician

Most Stressful Jobs

1. Enlisted military soldier

2. Fire fighter

3. Airline pilot

4. Military general

5. Police officer

6. Event coordinator

7. Public relations executive

8. Senior corporate executive

9. Photo journalist

10. Taxi driver


Sources of Stress in Everyday Jobs


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Work Versus Nonwork

• Role conflict -incompatibilities between the various sets of obligations people face

• Rule juggling - the need to switch back and forth between the demands of work and family


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Stress from Uncertainty

• Role ambiguity -

Uncertainty about what one is expected to do on a job


Overload: So Much Work• Overload - the belief that one is required to do

more work than possibly can be completed in a specific periodQuantitative overload

Qualitative overload

• Information anxiety - pressure to store and process information in our heads as we strive to keep up with it all


Information AnxietyAdvances in information technology have made it possible for people to come into contact with vast amounts of information. Pressure to process and store this information is a common source of overload- both quantitative and qualitative.

Information Anxiety: Intense pressure to store and process vast amounts of information

Overload:

Quantative: Too little time to do work

Qualitative: Lack of needed skills or abilities


Responsibility for Others

Stress: - Deadlines and schedules - Need to make changes- Maintaining budgets - Looking good to superiors - Getting staff to work hard


The Cost of Isolation

• Social support refers to the friendship and support of coworkers

• Social support can help reduce stress by:

Boosting self-esteem Sharing information Providing diversions Giving needed resources


Adverse Effects of Stress

• Lowered task performance – but only sometimes

• Desk rage - lashing out at others in response to stressful encounters on the job

• Stress and health – stress is involved in 50-70% of all forms of physical illness


Desk Rage: Tips for Managers


Reducing Stress• Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) - plans

that provide employees with assistance for various personal problems (e.g., substance abuse, career planning, and financial and legal problems)

• Stress management programs - systematic efforts to train employees in a variety of techniques that they can use to become less adversely affected by stress

• Wellness programs - company-wide programs in which employees receive training regarding things they can do to promote healthy lifestyles


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Managing Stress

Manage your timeEat a healthy diet and

be physically fitRelax and meditateGet a good night’s

sleepAvoid inappropriate

self-talkTake a time-out

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How to Meditate Meditation can help people gain better control of negative emotions, such as anger, and it also can help lessen

negative reactions to stress. For these reasons, learning to meditate can be very useful. Although there are several different types of mediation, the relaxation approach outlined here is both easiest to learn and among the most effective. Give it a try.

1. Go to a quiet, dark place where you will not be disturbed. Sit in a comfortable position. Let your mind go blank and slowly relax your muscles.

2. Focus into space, slowly letting everything out of your mind. Do not let thoughts intrude. If they do, work at pushing them away.

3. Breathe slowly and in a regular rhythm. As you breathe in, slowly make the sounds “haaah” as you would when slipping into a hot bath. Then, as you exhale, slowly produce the sound “saaah,” sounding and feeling like a sigh.

4. Repeate this process, breathing slowly and naturally. When you do, inhale through your nose and pause for a few seconds. Then exhale through your mouth, again pausing for a few seconds.

5. Should thoughts enter your mind while attempting this process, don’t feel badly about it. Instead realize that this is natural and pick up the process once again. This will take time to master, so be patient. With practice, you will be able to do this more quickly.

6. Continue this process for what feels like about 20 minutes. Don’t look at the clock, though. As the time draws to a close, maintain awareness of your breathing and sit quietly. Then, slowly becoming aware of where you are, open your eyes and get up gradually.

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4-1Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall1 Managing Behavior In Organizations Sixth Edition Jerald Greenberg