) )

5

Health Psychology and Work Stress A More Positive Approach

Debra L Nelson and Bret L Simmons

fm stressed out is the refrain of many workers They know too well the experience of distress or strain that can accompany work They also know however that there are times when they operate in the zone at work Time is suspended there is a feeling of engagement intense task focus and pleasurable emotions Yet it seems easier for workers to describe the negative experience of stress than the positive experience of stress Almiddot though many have heard the term distress few are familiar with eustreSB The purpose of this chapter is to propose a more positive holistic approach for understanding work stress by incorporating eustress the positive stress response along with its positive- indicators and associated positive outshycomes

We begin by exp10ring the definitions of health Work stress has its roots in occupational health psychology and our definitions of health have shaped and infonned our definitions of stress We then briefly highlight four prevailing work stress approaches to show that the emphasis has largely been on the negative Next we draw on existing stress research to develop a definition ofeustress and present the holistic model ofwork stress which explicitly incorporates the positive response and positive outcomes of the stress process Highlighting the role of the positive we present several indicators of eustress and describe the individual differences that may be related to eustress Finally we explore the idea of eustress generation as a complement to distress prevention in efforts to manage work stress and health

Conceptions of Health

In examining the prevailing views of what constitutes health it appears that much lip service is paid to health as the presence of positive states but operationally our definition of health remains the absence of disease More than 50 years ago health was defined by the World Health Organizashytion (1948) as a state of complete physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity Yet freedom from illness

97

98 99

l NELSON AND SIMMONS

is still the norm in defining health for scientists and many of those in the medical community Hecausc medicine was long concerned with only the phYljical body and With returning that physical body from disease states back to neutral functioning it fullowed that the medical conception ofhealth became the absence of negative conditions

Ryff and Singer (1998) traced the philosophical rather than the medishycal wrItings on health and noted thai many philosophers have argued for models of optimal human functioning Phi1osophers aA early as Aristotle conceived ofsuch positive conditions as cudaemonia the realization ofones true potential Bertrand Russell (1958) wrote about the causes ofhappiness concluding that zest (a friendly interest in persons and things) and affection were essential for human well~being Followingthe writings of philosophers through to modern times RyfI and Singer concluded that tho key goods in life central to positive human health are having purpose in life qllality connections to others self~regard and mastery They further asserted that human wcn~being ffi a multidimensional dynamic process that involves intellectual social emotional and physical potential Health then is viewed as the presence of the positive in the mind ali well as in the body This view is consistent with the holistic model of health which posits six dimensions of health-wellness emotional intellectual spiritual occupamiddot tional social and physical The Old English root of the word health is hal meaning sound or whole indicating that no part of the individual is separate or independent (Edlin Golanty amp Brown 1996)

The philosophical view of health as opposed to the medical view thus emphasizes positive human health Unfortunately the medical view of health as the absence of disease still prevails Because our knowledge of work stress has evolved from the medical model it too emphasizes the prevention of the negative

Theories of Work Stress

The literature on work stre~s has blosliomed over the past 10 years and several theories have emerged Although it is beyond the scope of this chapter to consider all of those theories it is important to examine some of the more prominent ones to determine their focus (or lack offocus) on the positive aspects of stress Four theories that have generated considerable attention are the cognitive appraisal approach the person-environment fit approach the psychoanalytic approach and preventive stre$s manmiddot agement

The ~nvironment fit approach based on the pioneering work of Robert emphasized the stressful nature of confusing or conflicting role demands (Kahn Wolfe Quinn Snook amp Rosentbal (1964) ~-it i deshyfined as a match between an individuals skills and abilities and the deshymands of thejob communicated as clear role expectations A lack of personshyenvironment fit lends to distress The bulk of the research on the person-environment fit model has focused on the negative-that js the

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRF~qS

relationship between poor fit and distress and actions to take to improve fit There is little attention to the positive consequences of fit and the individuals response to positive~raon-environment fit

The demand-ltontrol modeIU~rasek 1979 Thcoren amp Karasek 1996) identified a high~strain job as one that has a high level of responsibHity without accompanying authority High-strainjobs are reInted to symptoms such as depression job dissatisfaction and increased numbers of sick days absent from work The model also suggests that the best job is an active job one in which high demands are balancod by high decision lstitude However most of the research attention on the demand-control model has fo(Used on ways to redesign high-strain jobs by increasing the workers controL Comparably little attention has been paid to the positive effects of active jobs

Richard Lazarus and his colleagues (Lazarus DeLongis Folkman~ amp Gruen 1985 Lazarus amp Folkman 1984) pro poRed the oognitive appraisal app1OOch t which emphasized the individilas role in classifying situations as threatening or nonthreatening Accordingly positive and ne ative reshysponses can occur simultaneously as a result of t same- strn and should be considered separate but related constructs a () ue of this approach is its acknowledgment that the asoessment of the positive and negative aspects of stressors differs from individual to individual Following the initial appraisal individuals then focus on either the stressor Or their response to the stressor in an attempt to manage the stress reshysponse The cognitive appraiAal approach highlights the ditliculties of sepashyrating the stressor the individuals perception of the stressor and the response Although Lazarus acknowledged the existence of positive reshysponses he like the majority of stress researchers focused almost exclu~ sively on- negative responses and the associated coping mechanisms inshytended to alleviate them In theory however the positive stress response is valid and parallel to the rationale of coping it should be accompanied by mechanisms intended to enhance the pleasurable experience

The pvntiv stress management approach developed by QuIck and Quick (1984) focused on the joint responsibility of individuals and organiza-middot tions to manage stress Grounded in notions of public health it advocates a three-tiered stress prevention model Change the cause of stresA manage the individuals response to stress and obtain professional care to heal symptoms of distress This tradition pays homage to the notion of eustress defining it as the healthy positive constructive outcome ofstressful events and the stress response However the bulk ofthe work on preventive stress management is on the prevention and resolution of distress Little guidance Js given on identifying eustrcss creating work conditionsthat promote eustresB or generating enstress at work

These four approaches may be considered representative of tho reshysearch on work stress a8 a whole The emphasis as it has been in medicine and in health psychology has been on the negative-that is identifying ~ Causes of distress identifying coping methods for dealing with stressors and healing the wounds of diAtress There is a lamentable lack of attention

)

100 NEL80N AND SIMMONS

to identifying causes of eustress defining emtress identifying 8 proccsB (Aimilar to coping) of managing eustress and finding ways of generating eustress at work

Accentuating the Positive

There is some good news in the field of psychology The positive psychology movement has taken issue with psychologys exclusive focus on pathology and repairingdamage Positive psychology is a science of pOIitive subjective experience positive individual traiLs and positive institutions (Seligman amp Csikszentmihalyi 2000) Such subjective experiences include weH-being contentment happiness flow and satisfaction Positive traits include hope wisdom creativity and courage among others Thus positive psychology is the study of strengths and virtues rather than weakness and suffering Its f()(Us is on learning how to develop the qualities that allow individuals to flourish

Extending this movement into the realm of occupationa] health pay~ choiogy and specifically into the study of work streas entails the examinashytion of positive human emotions-both those that arc transitory and those that are 10ngMlasting It aHQws us to study the positive aspects of the stress experience Who stays heaJthy under stress Are there benefits to be gained from trauma~ and if so what are they What does resilience mean and how does it relate to long-term well being In keeping with the focUl of this chapter what is positive stress Is there a p08itive component of the stresR response What are the positive effects of stress What individual traits are moot likely to engender a positive stress experience We believe thai positive pnychology can serve as an impetus for moving the study of stress in a more constructive direction

The Concept of Eustress

Hans Selye may have been the first to usc the tenu eustress in his writings on human stress Selye postulated that the stress response is nonspecificshythat is both positive and negative stimuli produce an undifferentiated physiological response in the body From this perspective~ cognitive ap~ praisal of stimuli is irrelevant He described eustross as desirable and associated with positive effeets of an antecedent response (Seiye 1976) Following Seiyes conception ofeustregs Quick Quick Nelson and Hurrell (1997) identified cusirebullbull as essentially good health and high performance They also described eustress as the effect of the stress response bclllg channrl~ iltposjtive_lUdconFtiJii~Vltl1~c~iSmiddotBeyon(lilil5~liUle1lls been accomplished in extending and shaping the concept of eustres5 or In describing how the positive type of stress experience occurs

We helieve that _ can be better couceptualized hy identifywg it as positive aspects of the stress response itselfrathor than positive effects ofthe stress response We further assert that a more complex understandlllg

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WOR STRESS 101

lt

is needed one in which the presence-absence of the positive (custresa) as S Wlgt11 as the presence-absence of the negative (dlstress) is included to fully

appreciate the stress response This ide ltan perhaps best be explained hy what we can the ltlbathtub analogy Two basic things are necessary to - shyachieve a comfortable bath the level of water in the tub and the temperature

that water Two things determine the level of the water in the tub the of water into the bathtub and the fiow of water down the drain time Similarly hoth hot water and cold water flow into the bathtub

aimultaneously to determine the water temperature If we compare the way fltress is commonly studied to the bathtub the current approach is like studying a bathtub with only a cold water faucet (distress) We have ldentified the sources of this cold water (stressors) and we can ten individushy

to either decrease the incoming flow of cold water or increase the of cold water out of their bathtubs (distress prevention) We also

a great deal shout the physiological behavioral and psychological ~nsequences of sitting in a bath of cold water for long periods of time

problem A more complete model of stress_should_ucknowlshy arc two fiiiiCetsUi(jt~arid CiJld) and that ni~nJgiJig]1QtIi areanno geffllw tiirrevelanr~WW~ture j1Strillt for bath Few individuals take a wtally cold bath (distresS) or

bath euatress) Similarly few if any stressors are appraised positive or purely negative It is usually some combination of

Holistic Model of Stress

propose a more holistic model of stress shown in Figure 51 that oorporates both positive and negative psychological responses to de~

The model also incorporates a broad range of demands select indishydifference variables that may be especially salient for cognitive

and outcome variables representing things important to at work and away from work We also propose a new

that is the parallel for the positive response of coping re~1gtonse The demands distress response coping and

portion of the model are well-known in the occupational stress aturlgt 80 they will be discussed only briefly Tbe unique aspects of

the indicators of eustress the individual differences that may custress and savoring eustress will be disussed in greater detail

s physical or psychological stimuli to which the individual responds f~only referred to as either ~ or dmmnds StresaofS at work

of role demands interpersonal demands physical demands policies and job conditions (Barnett 1998 Quick et al 1997)

these demands will not be salient for some individuals yet may significant response1l in others Because our knowledge of these i embedded in the pathological perspective of stress and health nands will commonly be interprctod as dtstrssors We suggest

be consistent with the cognitive appraisal approach to stress that

98 99

l NELSON AND SIMMONS

is still the norm in defining health for scientists and many of those in the medical community Hecausc medicine was long concerned with only the phYljical body and With returning that physical body from disease states back to neutral functioning it fullowed that the medical conception ofhealth became the absence of negative conditions

Ryff and Singer (1998) traced the philosophical rather than the medishycal wrItings on health and noted thai many philosophers have argued for models of optimal human functioning Phi1osophers aA early as Aristotle conceived ofsuch positive conditions as cudaemonia the realization ofones true potential Bertrand Russell (1958) wrote about the causes ofhappiness concluding that zest (a friendly interest in persons and things) and affection were essential for human well~being Followingthe writings of philosophers through to modern times RyfI and Singer concluded that tho key goods in life central to positive human health are having purpose in life qllality connections to others self~regard and mastery They further asserted that human wcn~being ffi a multidimensional dynamic process that involves intellectual social emotional and physical potential Health then is viewed as the presence of the positive in the mind ali well as in the body This view is consistent with the holistic model of health which posits six dimensions of health-wellness emotional intellectual spiritual occupamiddot tional social and physical The Old English root of the word health is hal meaning sound or whole indicating that no part of the individual is separate or independent (Edlin Golanty amp Brown 1996)

The philosophical view of health as opposed to the medical view thus emphasizes positive human health Unfortunately the medical view of health as the absence of disease still prevails Because our knowledge of work stress has evolved from the medical model it too emphasizes the prevention of the negative

Theories of Work Stress

The literature on work stre~s has blosliomed over the past 10 years and several theories have emerged Although it is beyond the scope of this chapter to consider all of those theories it is important to examine some of the more prominent ones to determine their focus (or lack offocus) on the positive aspects of stress Four theories that have generated considerable attention are the cognitive appraisal approach the person-environment fit approach the psychoanalytic approach and preventive stre$s manmiddot agement

The ~nvironment fit approach based on the pioneering work of Robert emphasized the stressful nature of confusing or conflicting role demands (Kahn Wolfe Quinn Snook amp Rosentbal (1964) ~-it i deshyfined as a match between an individuals skills and abilities and the deshymands of thejob communicated as clear role expectations A lack of personshyenvironment fit lends to distress The bulk of the research on the person-environment fit model has focused on the negative-that js the

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRF~qS

relationship between poor fit and distress and actions to take to improve fit There is little attention to the positive consequences of fit and the individuals response to positive~raon-environment fit

The demand-ltontrol modeIU~rasek 1979 Thcoren amp Karasek 1996) identified a high~strain job as one that has a high level of responsibHity without accompanying authority High-strainjobs are reInted to symptoms such as depression job dissatisfaction and increased numbers of sick days absent from work The model also suggests that the best job is an active job one in which high demands are balancod by high decision lstitude However most of the research attention on the demand-control model has fo(Used on ways to redesign high-strain jobs by increasing the workers controL Comparably little attention has been paid to the positive effects of active jobs

Richard Lazarus and his colleagues (Lazarus DeLongis Folkman~ amp Gruen 1985 Lazarus amp Folkman 1984) pro poRed the oognitive appraisal app1OOch t which emphasized the individilas role in classifying situations as threatening or nonthreatening Accordingly positive and ne ative reshysponses can occur simultaneously as a result of t same- strn and should be considered separate but related constructs a () ue of this approach is its acknowledgment that the asoessment of the positive and negative aspects of stressors differs from individual to individual Following the initial appraisal individuals then focus on either the stressor Or their response to the stressor in an attempt to manage the stress reshysponse The cognitive appraiAal approach highlights the ditliculties of sepashyrating the stressor the individuals perception of the stressor and the response Although Lazarus acknowledged the existence of positive reshysponses he like the majority of stress researchers focused almost exclu~ sively on- negative responses and the associated coping mechanisms inshytended to alleviate them In theory however the positive stress response is valid and parallel to the rationale of coping it should be accompanied by mechanisms intended to enhance the pleasurable experience

The pvntiv stress management approach developed by QuIck and Quick (1984) focused on the joint responsibility of individuals and organiza-middot tions to manage stress Grounded in notions of public health it advocates a three-tiered stress prevention model Change the cause of stresA manage the individuals response to stress and obtain professional care to heal symptoms of distress This tradition pays homage to the notion of eustress defining it as the healthy positive constructive outcome ofstressful events and the stress response However the bulk ofthe work on preventive stress management is on the prevention and resolution of distress Little guidance Js given on identifying eustrcss creating work conditionsthat promote eustresB or generating enstress at work

These four approaches may be considered representative of tho reshysearch on work stress a8 a whole The emphasis as it has been in medicine and in health psychology has been on the negative-that is identifying ~ Causes of distress identifying coping methods for dealing with stressors and healing the wounds of diAtress There is a lamentable lack of attention

)

100 NEL80N AND SIMMONS

to identifying causes of eustress defining emtress identifying 8 proccsB (Aimilar to coping) of managing eustress and finding ways of generating eustress at work

Accentuating the Positive

There is some good news in the field of psychology The positive psychology movement has taken issue with psychologys exclusive focus on pathology and repairingdamage Positive psychology is a science of pOIitive subjective experience positive individual traiLs and positive institutions (Seligman amp Csikszentmihalyi 2000) Such subjective experiences include weH-being contentment happiness flow and satisfaction Positive traits include hope wisdom creativity and courage among others Thus positive psychology is the study of strengths and virtues rather than weakness and suffering Its f()(Us is on learning how to develop the qualities that allow individuals to flourish

Extending this movement into the realm of occupationa] health pay~ choiogy and specifically into the study of work streas entails the examinashytion of positive human emotions-both those that arc transitory and those that are 10ngMlasting It aHQws us to study the positive aspects of the stress experience Who stays heaJthy under stress Are there benefits to be gained from trauma~ and if so what are they What does resilience mean and how does it relate to long-term well being In keeping with the focUl of this chapter what is positive stress Is there a p08itive component of the stresR response What are the positive effects of stress What individual traits are moot likely to engender a positive stress experience We believe thai positive pnychology can serve as an impetus for moving the study of stress in a more constructive direction

The Concept of Eustress

Hans Selye may have been the first to usc the tenu eustress in his writings on human stress Selye postulated that the stress response is nonspecificshythat is both positive and negative stimuli produce an undifferentiated physiological response in the body From this perspective~ cognitive ap~ praisal of stimuli is irrelevant He described eustross as desirable and associated with positive effeets of an antecedent response (Seiye 1976) Following Seiyes conception ofeustregs Quick Quick Nelson and Hurrell (1997) identified cusirebullbull as essentially good health and high performance They also described eustress as the effect of the stress response bclllg channrl~ iltposjtive_lUdconFtiJii~Vltl1~c~iSmiddotBeyon(lilil5~liUle1lls been accomplished in extending and shaping the concept of eustres5 or In describing how the positive type of stress experience occurs

We helieve that _ can be better couceptualized hy identifywg it as positive aspects of the stress response itselfrathor than positive effects ofthe stress response We further assert that a more complex understandlllg

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WOR STRESS 101

lt

is needed one in which the presence-absence of the positive (custresa) as S Wlgt11 as the presence-absence of the negative (dlstress) is included to fully

appreciate the stress response This ide ltan perhaps best be explained hy what we can the ltlbathtub analogy Two basic things are necessary to - shyachieve a comfortable bath the level of water in the tub and the temperature

that water Two things determine the level of the water in the tub the of water into the bathtub and the fiow of water down the drain time Similarly hoth hot water and cold water flow into the bathtub

aimultaneously to determine the water temperature If we compare the way fltress is commonly studied to the bathtub the current approach is like studying a bathtub with only a cold water faucet (distress) We have ldentified the sources of this cold water (stressors) and we can ten individushy

to either decrease the incoming flow of cold water or increase the of cold water out of their bathtubs (distress prevention) We also

a great deal shout the physiological behavioral and psychological ~nsequences of sitting in a bath of cold water for long periods of time

problem A more complete model of stress_should_ucknowlshy arc two fiiiiCetsUi(jt~arid CiJld) and that ni~nJgiJig]1QtIi areanno geffllw tiirrevelanr~WW~ture j1Strillt for bath Few individuals take a wtally cold bath (distresS) or

bath euatress) Similarly few if any stressors are appraised positive or purely negative It is usually some combination of

Holistic Model of Stress

propose a more holistic model of stress shown in Figure 51 that oorporates both positive and negative psychological responses to de~

The model also incorporates a broad range of demands select indishydifference variables that may be especially salient for cognitive

and outcome variables representing things important to at work and away from work We also propose a new

that is the parallel for the positive response of coping re~1gtonse The demands distress response coping and

portion of the model are well-known in the occupational stress aturlgt 80 they will be discussed only briefly Tbe unique aspects of

the indicators of eustress the individual differences that may custress and savoring eustress will be disussed in greater detail

s physical or psychological stimuli to which the individual responds f~only referred to as either ~ or dmmnds StresaofS at work

of role demands interpersonal demands physical demands policies and job conditions (Barnett 1998 Quick et al 1997)

these demands will not be salient for some individuals yet may significant response1l in others Because our knowledge of these i embedded in the pathological perspective of stress and health nands will commonly be interprctod as dtstrssors We suggest

be consistent with the cognitive appraisal approach to stress that

)

100 NEL80N AND SIMMONS

to identifying causes of eustress defining emtress identifying 8 proccsB (Aimilar to coping) of managing eustress and finding ways of generating eustress at work

Accentuating the Positive

There is some good news in the field of psychology The positive psychology movement has taken issue with psychologys exclusive focus on pathology and repairingdamage Positive psychology is a science of pOIitive subjective experience positive individual traiLs and positive institutions (Seligman amp Csikszentmihalyi 2000) Such subjective experiences include weH-being contentment happiness flow and satisfaction Positive traits include hope wisdom creativity and courage among others Thus positive psychology is the study of strengths and virtues rather than weakness and suffering Its f()(Us is on learning how to develop the qualities that allow individuals to flourish

Extending this movement into the realm of occupationa] health pay~ choiogy and specifically into the study of work streas entails the examinashytion of positive human emotions-both those that arc transitory and those that are 10ngMlasting It aHQws us to study the positive aspects of the stress experience Who stays heaJthy under stress Are there benefits to be gained from trauma~ and if so what are they What does resilience mean and how does it relate to long-term well being In keeping with the focUl of this chapter what is positive stress Is there a p08itive component of the stresR response What are the positive effects of stress What individual traits are moot likely to engender a positive stress experience We believe thai positive pnychology can serve as an impetus for moving the study of stress in a more constructive direction

The Concept of Eustress

Hans Selye may have been the first to usc the tenu eustress in his writings on human stress Selye postulated that the stress response is nonspecificshythat is both positive and negative stimuli produce an undifferentiated physiological response in the body From this perspective~ cognitive ap~ praisal of stimuli is irrelevant He described eustross as desirable and associated with positive effeets of an antecedent response (Seiye 1976) Following Seiyes conception ofeustregs Quick Quick Nelson and Hurrell (1997) identified cusirebullbull as essentially good health and high performance They also described eustress as the effect of the stress response bclllg channrl~ iltposjtive_lUdconFtiJii~Vltl1~c~iSmiddotBeyon(lilil5~liUle1lls been accomplished in extending and shaping the concept of eustres5 or In describing how the positive type of stress experience occurs

We helieve that _ can be better couceptualized hy identifywg it as positive aspects of the stress response itselfrathor than positive effects ofthe stress response We further assert that a more complex understandlllg

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WOR STRESS 101

lt

is needed one in which the presence-absence of the positive (custresa) as S Wlgt11 as the presence-absence of the negative (dlstress) is included to fully

appreciate the stress response This ide ltan perhaps best be explained hy what we can the ltlbathtub analogy Two basic things are necessary to - shyachieve a comfortable bath the level of water in the tub and the temperature

that water Two things determine the level of the water in the tub the of water into the bathtub and the fiow of water down the drain time Similarly hoth hot water and cold water flow into the bathtub

aimultaneously to determine the water temperature If we compare the way fltress is commonly studied to the bathtub the current approach is like studying a bathtub with only a cold water faucet (distress) We have ldentified the sources of this cold water (stressors) and we can ten individushy

to either decrease the incoming flow of cold water or increase the of cold water out of their bathtubs (distress prevention) We also

a great deal shout the physiological behavioral and psychological ~nsequences of sitting in a bath of cold water for long periods of time

problem A more complete model of stress_should_ucknowlshy arc two fiiiiCetsUi(jt~arid CiJld) and that ni~nJgiJig]1QtIi areanno geffllw tiirrevelanr~WW~ture j1Strillt for bath Few individuals take a wtally cold bath (distresS) or

bath euatress) Similarly few if any stressors are appraised positive or purely negative It is usually some combination of

Holistic Model of Stress

propose a more holistic model of stress shown in Figure 51 that oorporates both positive and negative psychological responses to de~

The model also incorporates a broad range of demands select indishydifference variables that may be especially salient for cognitive

and outcome variables representing things important to at work and away from work We also propose a new

that is the parallel for the positive response of coping re~1gtonse The demands distress response coping and

portion of the model are well-known in the occupational stress aturlgt 80 they will be discussed only briefly Tbe unique aspects of

the indicators of eustress the individual differences that may custress and savoring eustress will be disussed in greater detail

s physical or psychological stimuli to which the individual responds f~only referred to as either ~ or dmmnds StresaofS at work

of role demands interpersonal demands physical demands policies and job conditions (Barnett 1998 Quick et al 1997)

these demands will not be salient for some individuals yet may significant response1l in others Because our knowledge of these i embedded in the pathological perspective of stress and health nands will commonly be interprctod as dtstrssors We suggest

be consistent with the cognitive appraisal approach to stress that

l

I ) ) )

103 NELSON AND SIMMONS HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS l03

IStressors or worsened by stressful eventH (Quick et aI 1997 p 77)_ flMster and i RoLe denWld SchaubTOOok (1991) reviewed the literature on work streBS and found that

of

) -t-

-

shy

+RI~cMnlf oRal Mllgtlaul~y Savoring

11=emuds middotndry

1

Eustress _ 1_1 middotlwImbii i Tttl premlU

rrlJ11 ~M~JIlIgfln~i ( -M-V2lgtlIJ1Y Jd 71lt-

~1 iflllfrktlemot lIm ~fltt I I T_pomlmtt 1 lMdroorU_ OU1comes AirquaJily

I tllumin~IlOll Pty0C3l neaJ[)

lt11 Mcento1J h lfh WrrtpesfllnniloUlaquoJ otioIIde1l8h

-IW~IKJ~ I D gt5poogteIaltklstress ~ middotMorialqualily=U~~ I AIIgrlholtiJi(~ QIlOhtYIlfutl IMdiiWnln

middotBtI)(~ IndivIdual hb jli -QuOgtI) d[rIluj5 middotJ)ow~Zlg bull ~ middotcnmityIlIVflIiICU-

middotJetlltlOMiJj Differences Rwmil)) -opt Coping

B~mt An ) ltW=-~H_loo$OltUritr -toltm~d~()l

Wgt$ -slfJice S~OalIwIiI_ ~1Vf~()~reRlaquo -Skill Wgtltlloo ~ I ~

FilfUre 51 A holistic model of streSM

provides the theoretical foundation of this model the assignment of valence should be reserved for the individual stress rfsponse

Becauso the stress response is complex we contend that most if not all of these Btressors will elicit both a degree of negative and a degree of positive response for any individual For example one of the most signifishycant sources of stress for hospital nurses is the death of a patient (Gray~ Toft amp Anderson 1981) It is easy to understand how the loss of a patient could result in distress for a nurse Yet along with the loss the death of a patient may at the same time be appraised as positive One study found that contrary to expectations the variable death-dying had a significant positive relatioTllhip with eustress and a nonSignificant negative relationmiddot ship with distress The interpretation was that when the nurses in the study were faced with the demand of dfaling with d -~ing in their patients they apparently became significantly mor engaged their work (SitnmQIlll 2(00) ~

In terms of outcomes work stress and its associated problems cost organizations an estimated $200 billion or more each year in things such as decreased productivity absenteeism turnover worker conflict higher health care costs and more workers compensation claims of all kinds (DeFrank amp IVlIllltlevich 1998 Farren 1999) Th fact that distress is not healthy is wel1-eRtablished Heart attack stroke cancer peptic ulcer asthma diabetes hypertension hEadache back pain and arthritis are among the many diseases and symptoms that have been found to be caused

although there is not convincing evidence that streqson associated with the job cause health effects the indired evidence strongly suggests a work stress effect Recent evidence has confirmed that job strain (distress) is associated with increased report ofmedical symptoms and health-damaging behavior in men (Weidner Boughal Connor) Peiper amp Mendell 1997)

It is not surprising that thero is less evidence concerning the relation~ ship between ellBtress and health Edwards and Cooper (1988) speculated that eustress may improve health direcLly through physiological changes or indirectly by reducing exisUng distress They reviewed findings from a variety of sources and found that the bulk of the evidence suggests a direct effect of eustress on health They noted that this evidence is merely suggestive rather than conclusive and that only one study was able to demonstrate that eustress is associated with an improvement in physiologishycal functioning rather than jUFlt a reduction in damage There was no evidence to suggest that eustress was associated with a deterioration in health shy

A recent revjow of the literature stated that positive emotional Rtates may promote healthy perceptions beliefs and physical we11-being itself (Salovey Rothman Detweiler amp Steward 2000 p_ 110 emphasis added)_ Yet several recent empirical studies of hUBpital nurse8 operationalized eu~ stress and distress as separate responses indicated by the presence of multivariate positive and negative psychological states (Simmons 2000 Simmons amp Nelson 2(01) Thelie crosswsectional studie hypothesized that in response to the demands of the job hospital nurses would cxperiencp significant levels of both eustrf-ss and distress and each stress response would have a separate effect on the nurses perceptiolli of their health They fimnd that even in the presence ofa demanding work enviromnent the hospital nurses were actively engaged jn their work and reported significant levels of eustress and eustrcss in tum had a s~~nt positive relation~ -(ship with their perception of their own healt(HOEj7 was the indicator of eustress with the strongest positive relationship with the nurses~ perception of health (Simmons amp Nelson 2001) In addition to being healthy and productive themselves eustressed nurses may have a concrete impact on the health of patients by inspiring positive expectations and raising the patients levels of hope (Swovey et at 2000)

Eustressed workcr~ are engaged meaning that they ~re enthusiastishycally involved in and pleasurably occupied by the demands of the work at hand Workers can be engaged and perceive positive benefits even when confronted with extremely demanding Atressors A stldy of female al male soldiers participating in the Us peacekeeping mission in Bosnia found that soldiors that were engaged in meaningful work during the de ployment found it to be a positive experience (Britt Adler amp BartonJ 2001) It is jnteresting to note that a factor such as witnessing the destrucshytion caused by warring factions wns associated with reporting greater posishytive benefits In the context of the mission the destruction was likely seen as justification for the mission which added meaning to the soldiers work

(-j 1

---y) lt

) 104 NELSON AND SIMMONS

Female soldiers in this study solf-reported more positive benefits as a result of the deployment than men although the effect size for gender was small

Research shows that positive aspects ofwark for women are also posishytive influences in the home environment (Barnett amp Marshall 1992 Barnett Marshall amp Sayer 1992) In a study of licensed practical nurses and social workers there were no negative spillover effects from job to parenting or from parenting to job but there were positive spillover effects from job to parenting (Barnett et al 1992) Women that perceived their jobs as rewarding experienced less of the mental health effects of troubled relationships with their children Challenge was the specific aspect of a rewarding job that provided the positive-spillover effect (Barnett et a1 1992) When employed mothers enjoyed high rewards from challenge at work they reported low distress regardless of their level of disaffection they experienced in their relationship with their children

Work Attitudes That Indicate Eustress

Each stress response both positive and negative will have its associated effect indicators and can be expected to produce differential effects on the outcome variables (eg health) Indicators of the stress response could be physiological behavioral as well as psychological The model presented will focus only on the psychological response AB suggested by Edwards and Cooper (1988) the indicators of the positive response will be positive psychological states (eg positive affect meaningfulness and hope) and the indicators of the negative response will be negative psychological states (eg negative affect) Consistent with this holistic representation of stress eustress and distress can be operationally defined as follows (Simmons 2000 Simmons amp Nelson 2001)

bull Eustress A positive psychological response to a stressor as indishycated by the presence of positive psychological states

bull Distress A negative psychological response to a stressor as indishycated by the presence of negative psychological states

Eustress reflects the extent to which cognitive appraisal of a situation or event is seen to either benefit an individual or enhance his or her wellshybeing We expect that most work situations elicit a mixed bag of both positive and negative responses in individuals For example a recently promoted individual should be expected to experience joy and satisfaction associated with the recognition of achievement and excitement about the opportunity to pursue new goals and challenges at work At the same time and as a result of the same situation the individual may also experience a degree of disappointment if the additional compensation associated with the promotion is perceived as inadequate or may experience the beginnings of the anxiety they anticipate about having to tell friends family and colleagues that the new promotion involves relocation to another city On the other hand an individual recently downsized out ofajoh can be expected

J HEALTH PSYCHOWGY AND WORK STRESS 105

to experience hostility associated with the loss and anxiety as a result of the uncertainty of having to find a new job Yet at the same time they may feel relief to be leaving an overworked job in a sinking ship or may see it as an opportunity to spcnd more coveted time with family

Positive and negative responses are separate distinct multivariate and potential1y interactive in nature To assume the presence of the positive by simply observing the absence of the negative or visa versa is an unacshyceptably simplistic approach to understanding the sources responses and consequences of stress The full range of the stress response cannot be appreciated without a strategy to assess eustress and distress concurrently

When assessing eustress as we have defined it the indicators of eushystress should be positive psychological states such as attitudes or emotions Stable dispositional variables are not acceptable indicators of eustress which must be subject to change according to cognitive appraisals of stresshysors Work attitudes are preferable indicators The work attitudes positive affect (PA) meaningfulness manageability and hope may be good indicashytors of eustress (Simmons 2000 Simmons amp Nelson 2001 Simmons Nelshyson amp Neal 2001) Although conceptually distinct these constructs all represent an aspect of engagement one of the primary indicators of the eustress response

Positive Affect

Positive affect is a state of pleasurable engagement and reflects the extent to which a person feels enthusiastic active and alert (Watson Clark amp Tellegen 1988) Positive affect can be measured as a state or trait with state PA capturing how one feels at given points in time whereas the trait represents stable individual differences in the level of affect generally experienced (George amp Brief 1992 Watson amp Pennbaker 1989) State and trait PA are both conceptually and empirically distinct and state PA is a separate factor from negative affect (George amp Brief 1992)

People in a positive state process information more heuristically or strategically and people in a negative state process information more sysshytematically Positive affect is associated with seeing the opportunity in an issue as well as lower levels of risk taking (Mittal amp Ross 1998) Others have described those in a positive mood as smarter at processing informashytion than those in a negative mood (Staw amp Barsade 1993) Positive affect has been shown to be effective in medical contexts improving decision making among medical students and creative problem solving and diagnosshytic reasoning processes among practicing physicians (Estrada Isen amp Young 1994 1997 Isen Rosenzweig amp Young 1991)

Meaningfulness and Manageability

These two constructs are part of a new scale developed by a nurse to measure situational sense of coherence (Artinian 1997) Sense ofcoherence

)) 107

HEALTH ffiYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS10pound NEISON AND SIMMONS

which has been administered to thousands of men and women of differentwas a term developed to denote faetors that promote a heaHhy response

to stressful situations (Antonovsky 1993) It has traditionally been meaw backgrounds education and occupations (Snyder 1994) The po-itive spin

on this finding is that men and women are equally hopefulsured as a traih-ariable but was adapted by Artinian (1997) as a situational

or state measure Two of three subscales are appropriate as indicators Conversely it may be that the goals toward which hope is applied are

of eustreqs different for women and men (Snyder 1994) Like 8 glass ceiling effect

some women may have been socially conditioned to expect to have fewerMeaningfulness is the extent to which onc feels that work makeH sentle

oflifesgoals espedally those associated with work open to them If womenemotionally that problems and demands are worth investing energy in

perceive that many goals at work are not available til them they may not are worthy of commitment and engagement and arc challenges that are I

even think of certain goals as being attainable In effect women may limitwelcome The literature on psychological empowerment has described

their goals to those left open to them Thu8 women may report high hope imeaningfulness as a sense of purpose or personal connoction about work

for the goals they perceive they are allowfd to have(Spreitzer 1995 Thomas amp Velthouse 1990) A representative item of one

The positive psychological states meaningfulness manageability hope of the state indicators of meaningfulness is At work do you have the

and positive affect are examples of constructs that may be good indicatorsfeeling that you dont reany Care about what goes on around you (very

of custrcss A study of eustrets in hospital nurses found that all of theseseldomvery oftenl (Simmons 2000 p 127)

indicators loaded positively and significantly on a second~order factor ofIn their study of peacekeepers in Bosnia Britt et aI (2001) operntionashy

eustress (Simmons 2000) The indicator with the strongest factor loadinglized meaningful work with indicaturs of job importance RoMier cngage~

on eustre8s was meaningfulness In this study custress was differentiatedment and the relevance of peacekeeping to the soldier8 identity The meanshy

from Il second-order factor distress EJamptrcss was significantly__ arul_posishyingfulness of work Was a significant predictor of deriving benefit from the

tivcly related to the nurses perceptions of their health and the relationshipmIssion The strongest zero-order correlation in the study was the signiH~

bJitwestn distIessand])ealth was nggatle_ bpt _nonsignificantcant positive relationship between soldier engagement and job importance

Although we have1jrlefiy-di6cU8sed thesi fuur-llirucatOts of custressManageability is the extent to which one perceives that resources are

they should not be considered the only or even the ~8t indicators of cumiddot at ones disposal that are adequate to meet the demands posed by the work

stress In theory any positive psychological state could be a potential indicashyIituation This is not a commOn construct in the work stress literature but

tor of eustress and much mOrc research is needed on positive psychologicalit functions HOrnewhat similar to the concept of control For example even

states at work lor example the differences and similarities between the in a demanding work situation (eg a hOSpital critical care unit) the

engagement ofeustreas and familiar concepts such as satisfaction involveshyattitude of manageability will develop as a positive response to the extent

that adequate resources (egbull proper equipment adequate staffing and ment and selfefticacy will require empirical examination Although it is

never a requirement to demonstrate that diRtress is not simply dissatisfacshytraining) are available Items representing indicaton of state manageabilshy

tion it should be anticipated that tbere might be some who are skeptica1 ity are~ When you think of the challenges you are facing at work do you

that eustress does not differ significantly from job satisfaction If the vari~feel that (there i~ no solutionyou can find a solution) and People you

able hope is retained as an indicator of eustress it would be beneficial tocount on at work often disappoint you (always happensnever happens)

include self-efficacy in the design of the study to differentiate theBe two(Simmons l 2000 p 127)

goal-directed attitudes Much more research needs to be done to identify

other effective indicators of eustress as well as potential gender and cu1shy

Hope tural differences in these indicators

Hope has been identified as a positive emotIon reft~cting a degree of exshyIndividual Differences That Promote Eustress

pected benefit resulting from an evaluation of a particular situation (Laza~

rus 1993 Smith Huynes Lazarus amp Pope 1999) Hope was defined as a Because individual differences have been studied in conjunction with the

cognitive set that io based on a sense of successful goal~directed determinashystress process the focus has been largely on identifying individual factors

tion and planning to meet goals (Snyder et 1 1996) AI a beliefthat one hope has also been that predispose individuals to cope less well with stress Type A behavior

has both the will and the way to accomplish ones goalsj has been implicated as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease

suggested as an attribute of emotional intelligence (Huy 1999) The state for examplewith studies indicating that the hostility-anger component of Type A ap~

hope scale thus provides a snapshot of a persons goal~directed thinking t

pears to be the roost noxious one (Wright 1988) Negative affects role inand engagement

the stressor-strain connection haa also been extensively examined withGender differences in state hope did not ~merge in any of the studies

the conclusion that individuals with negative affect possess more negativeconducted to develop and validate the scalc The Jack of gender differences

appraisals and perceptions (Watson Pennebaker amp Folger J987) Thus for hope is consistent with findings of the scale for dispositional hope

l 108 NETSON AND SIMMONS

tho-re individuals with negative affect experience a stronger connection between stressots and strains either because they are more scnsitJve to streASors or because they create more stressors because of their negative view of the world (McCrae amp Costa 1994)

In accordance with a more positive emphasis we believe there is benefit in identifying those individual differences that would promote eustrffIS through their role in gonerating more positive appraisals (challenge as opposed to threat) of demands A1ternatively~ these characteristics ((luld work to arm individuals with the belief that they are equipped to handle a demand (secondary appraisal) or even encourage the R8voring process Five possible candidates for inclusion in studies of eustress arc optimism locus of control hardiness~ self-reliance and sense of coherence

Optimism

As an individual difference variable optimism has been associated with good mood perseverance achievement~ health Ilnd longevity Peterson (2000) recommended diBtinbttlishing between little and big optimism to a greater understanding of optimisms benefita Little optimism encompasscfl specific expectations about positive outcomes An example of little optimism would be gtII expect to perform weH in my presentation today This form of optimism is typified by Seligmans (19~1) learned optimism construct which ia related to an optimistiC explanatory style links have been established between attributiofl8 for positive events and well-being (Peterson amp Seligman 1987)

In contrast~ big optimism involves a larger and more global expectation for example Mankind is on the verge of a great discovery This type of optimism igt more in Hne with Scheier and Carvers (1992) description of dispositional optimism Schier and Carver (1~92) define dispositional optimism as the global expectation that good things will be plentiful in the future and that bad things wil1 be scarce DispoBitionaI optimisms relationship with health has mainly been explored in terms of coping Optimists engage in more active ptoblem~solving types of coping as opposed to avoidant coping Other mechanisms linking optimism and health inc1ude enhanced immune function (Segerstrom -Taylor Kemeny amp ~~ahey 1998) and better health habit (MOrrill Ickovics Goluhchlkov Beren amp Rodin 1~96) Peterson (2000) suggested that big optimism could be a biological tendency and that it is socially encouraged and modeled

Petersons argument is that optimism can exist at very different levels of abstraction Big optimism aC(ording to Peterson produces a general state of vigor and resilience Little opUmism may be the product of an individuals learning It is associated with positive outcomes because it produces behaviors that help individuals adapt to specific situations

Optimism may relate to the eustress process in any of several ways It may lead individuals to initiate more positive primary appraisals It could equip individuals with the belief that they can handle a certain situation (as in little optimism) Certainly because the eustress process

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS 109

is heavily dependent on appraJsal optimism is a reasonable individual dlfference to examine in future studies of eustress The big versus little distinction is an intriguing one and may be useful in helping to explajn optimisms role in promoting eutltress

Locus of Control

Locus ofcontrol is a generalized expectancy that is dichotomized into intcr~ nal and external categories An individual with an intcrnallocus of control believes that outComes occur as a result of his or her own actions In contrast an individual with an external locus of control believes that outw

comes occur as a result of other peoples actjons or uncontrollable factors such a8 fate chance or luck (Rotter 1966) Cohen and Edwards (1988) conducted an extensive review of personality as a moderator in the stressshystrain relationship and concluded that generalized expectancy of control ie locus of control) was a construct with a powerful moderating effect Thus locus of control can buffer the sequence of events that links stresR with bealth problems

LcfcQurt and Davidson-Katz (1991) explained that this buffering could occur as part of the primary appraisal process Externals with their belief that their actions have little effect over outcomes are more likely to perceive demands as threats Locus of control can also come into play in the secondshyary appraisal phase During secondary appraisal (the ~elfpassessment apshypraisal) individuals evaluate their resources for dealing with the demand Externals during secondary appraisal are more likely to feel that they do not have sufficient resources for coping with the demand they arc facing

Stating this within the positive framework we can conclude that intershynals are more likely to enjoy the stress~buffering properties of locus of control Internals are mOre likely to appraise demands as opportunities rather than threats (primary appraisal) and to believe that they possess the necessary resources for coping with the demand (secondary appraisal) In addition they are more likely to select problem~solving forms of roping as a first choice and resort to emotion-focused coping only when they see that their own ettorts will not solve the problem They are more flexible in their choice of coping methods than are externals As a result ofthis process their efforts are associated with vigor humor and life satisfaction rather than dysphoria immune-system dysfunctions and related iHnesses experi~ enced by externals (Lefcourt amp Davidson-Katz 1991)

Hardl1lamp8

Hardiness as originally conceived by Kobasa and Maddi Kobasa 1979~ Kobasa Maddi amp Kahn 1982 Ouellette 1993) is an individuals view of their place in the environment that is simultaneously expressed through commitment chaHenge and control in their actions thoughts and feelings Commitment involves finding persons and situations interesting and mean~

)) 107

HEALTH ffiYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS10pound NEISON AND SIMMONS

which has been administered to thousands of men and women of differentwas a term developed to denote faetors that promote a heaHhy response

to stressful situations (Antonovsky 1993) It has traditionally been meaw backgrounds education and occupations (Snyder 1994) The po-itive spin

on this finding is that men and women are equally hopefulsured as a traih-ariable but was adapted by Artinian (1997) as a situational

or state measure Two of three subscales are appropriate as indicators Conversely it may be that the goals toward which hope is applied are

of eustreqs different for women and men (Snyder 1994) Like 8 glass ceiling effect

some women may have been socially conditioned to expect to have fewerMeaningfulness is the extent to which onc feels that work makeH sentle

oflifesgoals espedally those associated with work open to them If womenemotionally that problems and demands are worth investing energy in

perceive that many goals at work are not available til them they may not are worthy of commitment and engagement and arc challenges that are I

even think of certain goals as being attainable In effect women may limitwelcome The literature on psychological empowerment has described

their goals to those left open to them Thu8 women may report high hope imeaningfulness as a sense of purpose or personal connoction about work

for the goals they perceive they are allowfd to have(Spreitzer 1995 Thomas amp Velthouse 1990) A representative item of one

The positive psychological states meaningfulness manageability hope of the state indicators of meaningfulness is At work do you have the

and positive affect are examples of constructs that may be good indicatorsfeeling that you dont reany Care about what goes on around you (very

of custrcss A study of eustrets in hospital nurses found that all of theseseldomvery oftenl (Simmons 2000 p 127)

indicators loaded positively and significantly on a second~order factor ofIn their study of peacekeepers in Bosnia Britt et aI (2001) operntionashy

eustress (Simmons 2000) The indicator with the strongest factor loadinglized meaningful work with indicaturs of job importance RoMier cngage~

on eustre8s was meaningfulness In this study custress was differentiatedment and the relevance of peacekeeping to the soldier8 identity The meanshy

from Il second-order factor distress EJamptrcss was significantly__ arul_posishyingfulness of work Was a significant predictor of deriving benefit from the

tivcly related to the nurses perceptions of their health and the relationshipmIssion The strongest zero-order correlation in the study was the signiH~

bJitwestn distIessand])ealth was nggatle_ bpt _nonsignificantcant positive relationship between soldier engagement and job importance

Although we have1jrlefiy-di6cU8sed thesi fuur-llirucatOts of custressManageability is the extent to which one perceives that resources are

they should not be considered the only or even the ~8t indicators of cumiddot at ones disposal that are adequate to meet the demands posed by the work

stress In theory any positive psychological state could be a potential indicashyIituation This is not a commOn construct in the work stress literature but

tor of eustress and much mOrc research is needed on positive psychologicalit functions HOrnewhat similar to the concept of control For example even

states at work lor example the differences and similarities between the in a demanding work situation (eg a hOSpital critical care unit) the

engagement ofeustreas and familiar concepts such as satisfaction involveshyattitude of manageability will develop as a positive response to the extent

that adequate resources (egbull proper equipment adequate staffing and ment and selfefticacy will require empirical examination Although it is

never a requirement to demonstrate that diRtress is not simply dissatisfacshytraining) are available Items representing indicaton of state manageabilshy

tion it should be anticipated that tbere might be some who are skeptica1 ity are~ When you think of the challenges you are facing at work do you

that eustress does not differ significantly from job satisfaction If the vari~feel that (there i~ no solutionyou can find a solution) and People you

able hope is retained as an indicator of eustress it would be beneficial tocount on at work often disappoint you (always happensnever happens)

include self-efficacy in the design of the study to differentiate theBe two(Simmons l 2000 p 127)

goal-directed attitudes Much more research needs to be done to identify

other effective indicators of eustress as well as potential gender and cu1shy

Hope tural differences in these indicators

Hope has been identified as a positive emotIon reft~cting a degree of exshyIndividual Differences That Promote Eustress

pected benefit resulting from an evaluation of a particular situation (Laza~

rus 1993 Smith Huynes Lazarus amp Pope 1999) Hope was defined as a Because individual differences have been studied in conjunction with the

cognitive set that io based on a sense of successful goal~directed determinashystress process the focus has been largely on identifying individual factors

tion and planning to meet goals (Snyder et 1 1996) AI a beliefthat one hope has also been that predispose individuals to cope less well with stress Type A behavior

has both the will and the way to accomplish ones goalsj has been implicated as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease

suggested as an attribute of emotional intelligence (Huy 1999) The state for examplewith studies indicating that the hostility-anger component of Type A ap~

hope scale thus provides a snapshot of a persons goal~directed thinking t

pears to be the roost noxious one (Wright 1988) Negative affects role inand engagement

the stressor-strain connection haa also been extensively examined withGender differences in state hope did not ~merge in any of the studies

the conclusion that individuals with negative affect possess more negativeconducted to develop and validate the scalc The Jack of gender differences

appraisals and perceptions (Watson Pennebaker amp Folger J987) Thus for hope is consistent with findings of the scale for dispositional hope

l 108 NETSON AND SIMMONS

tho-re individuals with negative affect experience a stronger connection between stressots and strains either because they are more scnsitJve to streASors or because they create more stressors because of their negative view of the world (McCrae amp Costa 1994)

In accordance with a more positive emphasis we believe there is benefit in identifying those individual differences that would promote eustrffIS through their role in gonerating more positive appraisals (challenge as opposed to threat) of demands A1ternatively~ these characteristics ((luld work to arm individuals with the belief that they are equipped to handle a demand (secondary appraisal) or even encourage the R8voring process Five possible candidates for inclusion in studies of eustress arc optimism locus of control hardiness~ self-reliance and sense of coherence

Optimism

As an individual difference variable optimism has been associated with good mood perseverance achievement~ health Ilnd longevity Peterson (2000) recommended diBtinbttlishing between little and big optimism to a greater understanding of optimisms benefita Little optimism encompasscfl specific expectations about positive outcomes An example of little optimism would be gtII expect to perform weH in my presentation today This form of optimism is typified by Seligmans (19~1) learned optimism construct which ia related to an optimistiC explanatory style links have been established between attributiofl8 for positive events and well-being (Peterson amp Seligman 1987)

In contrast~ big optimism involves a larger and more global expectation for example Mankind is on the verge of a great discovery This type of optimism igt more in Hne with Scheier and Carvers (1992) description of dispositional optimism Schier and Carver (1~92) define dispositional optimism as the global expectation that good things will be plentiful in the future and that bad things wil1 be scarce DispoBitionaI optimisms relationship with health has mainly been explored in terms of coping Optimists engage in more active ptoblem~solving types of coping as opposed to avoidant coping Other mechanisms linking optimism and health inc1ude enhanced immune function (Segerstrom -Taylor Kemeny amp ~~ahey 1998) and better health habit (MOrrill Ickovics Goluhchlkov Beren amp Rodin 1~96) Peterson (2000) suggested that big optimism could be a biological tendency and that it is socially encouraged and modeled

Petersons argument is that optimism can exist at very different levels of abstraction Big optimism aC(ording to Peterson produces a general state of vigor and resilience Little opUmism may be the product of an individuals learning It is associated with positive outcomes because it produces behaviors that help individuals adapt to specific situations

Optimism may relate to the eustress process in any of several ways It may lead individuals to initiate more positive primary appraisals It could equip individuals with the belief that they can handle a certain situation (as in little optimism) Certainly because the eustress process

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS 109

is heavily dependent on appraJsal optimism is a reasonable individual dlfference to examine in future studies of eustress The big versus little distinction is an intriguing one and may be useful in helping to explajn optimisms role in promoting eutltress

Locus of Control

Locus ofcontrol is a generalized expectancy that is dichotomized into intcr~ nal and external categories An individual with an intcrnallocus of control believes that outComes occur as a result of his or her own actions In contrast an individual with an external locus of control believes that outw

comes occur as a result of other peoples actjons or uncontrollable factors such a8 fate chance or luck (Rotter 1966) Cohen and Edwards (1988) conducted an extensive review of personality as a moderator in the stressshystrain relationship and concluded that generalized expectancy of control ie locus of control) was a construct with a powerful moderating effect Thus locus of control can buffer the sequence of events that links stresR with bealth problems

LcfcQurt and Davidson-Katz (1991) explained that this buffering could occur as part of the primary appraisal process Externals with their belief that their actions have little effect over outcomes are more likely to perceive demands as threats Locus of control can also come into play in the secondshyary appraisal phase During secondary appraisal (the ~elfpassessment apshypraisal) individuals evaluate their resources for dealing with the demand Externals during secondary appraisal are more likely to feel that they do not have sufficient resources for coping with the demand they arc facing

Stating this within the positive framework we can conclude that intershynals are more likely to enjoy the stress~buffering properties of locus of control Internals are mOre likely to appraise demands as opportunities rather than threats (primary appraisal) and to believe that they possess the necessary resources for coping with the demand (secondary appraisal) In addition they are more likely to select problem~solving forms of roping as a first choice and resort to emotion-focused coping only when they see that their own ettorts will not solve the problem They are more flexible in their choice of coping methods than are externals As a result ofthis process their efforts are associated with vigor humor and life satisfaction rather than dysphoria immune-system dysfunctions and related iHnesses experi~ enced by externals (Lefcourt amp Davidson-Katz 1991)

Hardl1lamp8

Hardiness as originally conceived by Kobasa and Maddi Kobasa 1979~ Kobasa Maddi amp Kahn 1982 Ouellette 1993) is an individuals view of their place in the environment that is simultaneously expressed through commitment chaHenge and control in their actions thoughts and feelings Commitment involves finding persons and situations interesting and mean~

l 108 NETSON AND SIMMONS

tho-re individuals with negative affect experience a stronger connection between stressots and strains either because they are more scnsitJve to streASors or because they create more stressors because of their negative view of the world (McCrae amp Costa 1994)

In accordance with a more positive emphasis we believe there is benefit in identifying those individual differences that would promote eustrffIS through their role in gonerating more positive appraisals (challenge as opposed to threat) of demands A1ternatively~ these characteristics ((luld work to arm individuals with the belief that they are equipped to handle a demand (secondary appraisal) or even encourage the R8voring process Five possible candidates for inclusion in studies of eustress arc optimism locus of control hardiness~ self-reliance and sense of coherence

Optimism

As an individual difference variable optimism has been associated with good mood perseverance achievement~ health Ilnd longevity Peterson (2000) recommended diBtinbttlishing between little and big optimism to a greater understanding of optimisms benefita Little optimism encompasscfl specific expectations about positive outcomes An example of little optimism would be gtII expect to perform weH in my presentation today This form of optimism is typified by Seligmans (19~1) learned optimism construct which ia related to an optimistiC explanatory style links have been established between attributiofl8 for positive events and well-being (Peterson amp Seligman 1987)

In contrast~ big optimism involves a larger and more global expectation for example Mankind is on the verge of a great discovery This type of optimism igt more in Hne with Scheier and Carvers (1992) description of dispositional optimism Schier and Carver (1~92) define dispositional optimism as the global expectation that good things will be plentiful in the future and that bad things wil1 be scarce DispoBitionaI optimisms relationship with health has mainly been explored in terms of coping Optimists engage in more active ptoblem~solving types of coping as opposed to avoidant coping Other mechanisms linking optimism and health inc1ude enhanced immune function (Segerstrom -Taylor Kemeny amp ~~ahey 1998) and better health habit (MOrrill Ickovics Goluhchlkov Beren amp Rodin 1~96) Peterson (2000) suggested that big optimism could be a biological tendency and that it is socially encouraged and modeled

Petersons argument is that optimism can exist at very different levels of abstraction Big optimism aC(ording to Peterson produces a general state of vigor and resilience Little opUmism may be the product of an individuals learning It is associated with positive outcomes because it produces behaviors that help individuals adapt to specific situations

Optimism may relate to the eustress process in any of several ways It may lead individuals to initiate more positive primary appraisals It could equip individuals with the belief that they can handle a certain situation (as in little optimism) Certainly because the eustress process

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS 109

is heavily dependent on appraJsal optimism is a reasonable individual dlfference to examine in future studies of eustress The big versus little distinction is an intriguing one and may be useful in helping to explajn optimisms role in promoting eutltress

Locus of Control

Locus ofcontrol is a generalized expectancy that is dichotomized into intcr~ nal and external categories An individual with an intcrnallocus of control believes that outComes occur as a result of his or her own actions In contrast an individual with an external locus of control believes that outw

comes occur as a result of other peoples actjons or uncontrollable factors such a8 fate chance or luck (Rotter 1966) Cohen and Edwards (1988) conducted an extensive review of personality as a moderator in the stressshystrain relationship and concluded that generalized expectancy of control ie locus of control) was a construct with a powerful moderating effect Thus locus of control can buffer the sequence of events that links stresR with bealth problems

LcfcQurt and Davidson-Katz (1991) explained that this buffering could occur as part of the primary appraisal process Externals with their belief that their actions have little effect over outcomes are more likely to perceive demands as threats Locus of control can also come into play in the secondshyary appraisal phase During secondary appraisal (the ~elfpassessment apshypraisal) individuals evaluate their resources for dealing with the demand Externals during secondary appraisal are more likely to feel that they do not have sufficient resources for coping with the demand they arc facing

Stating this within the positive framework we can conclude that intershynals are more likely to enjoy the stress~buffering properties of locus of control Internals are mOre likely to appraise demands as opportunities rather than threats (primary appraisal) and to believe that they possess the necessary resources for coping with the demand (secondary appraisal) In addition they are more likely to select problem~solving forms of roping as a first choice and resort to emotion-focused coping only when they see that their own ettorts will not solve the problem They are more flexible in their choice of coping methods than are externals As a result ofthis process their efforts are associated with vigor humor and life satisfaction rather than dysphoria immune-system dysfunctions and related iHnesses experi~ enced by externals (Lefcourt amp Davidson-Katz 1991)

Hardl1lamp8

Hardiness as originally conceived by Kobasa and Maddi Kobasa 1979~ Kobasa Maddi amp Kahn 1982 Ouellette 1993) is an individuals view of their place in the environment that is simultaneously expressed through commitment chaHenge and control in their actions thoughts and feelings Commitment involves finding persons and situations interesting and mean~

) 110 NELSON AND SIMMONS

ingful it refers to engagement in life People who are committed view their activities as purposeful Challenge as a dimension ofhardiness is the view that changes arc opportunities for grow-th rather than threats and it also rellects the ability to tolerate ambiguity Control is refied in the belief that an individual has influence over his or her life It is the interplay of commitment challenge and control that is proposed to promote stress resistance and facilitate psychological and physical health (OueUette amp DiPlacido 20011

Hardiness also relates to transfoNnational coping or reframing a strel~ SOl fuch that is less threatening or is perceived as an opportunity rather than a threat Jn addition it is associated with sooking social support and with engaging in health-promoting behaviors (Muddi 1998) The early research on hardiness was conducted at a large telephone company where exctUtives were studied for five years using questionnaires Hardy execushytives were less likely to report phy-sical illness than those executives who wore low on hardiness (Maddi 1998) Several additional studies have supshyported the relationship between hardiness and health (Wiebe amp Williams 1992) and between hardiness and performance (eg Westman 1990)

Research on the potential mechanisms whereby hardiness is related to health i helpful in speculating about the potential role of hardiness in the eustress process For example hardy individuals are less HkeJy to appraise events pessimistically (Wiebe 1991) perhaps this would enable them to appraise stresBors as challenges or to engage in transformational copiug and thetefore to rCllpond custressfully It may be ofbenefit to assess the three dimensions of hardiness separately in their relation to eustrcss Florian Mikulincer and Taubman (1995) found that the three facets of hardiness showed different relationships with cognitive appraisal processekl and coping mechanisms (ontroI was related to reduced threat appraisals and to the increased use of problem-focused coping and support-seeking behaviors Commitment also was associated with lower threat appraisals but was associated with the emotion~focused form of coping

Many questiooA can arise when considering the relationship between hardiness and eustress Presumably a greater sense ofcontrol would result in more opportunity appraisals and the 8upport~seeking behavior associ~ ated with hardiness would permit individuals to engage in positive secondmiddot ary appraisal (ie to believe that they could cope with the demand) Commitment as a sense of engagement might facilitate the savoring prow cess Hardy individuals might be committed to enacting and prolonging that sense of flow associated with savoring

Self-Reliance

AR an individual difference seUreliance is a characteristic pattern ofform~ ing relationships with others Ainsworth and Bowlby(1991l studied infants attachment with their primary caregivers and concluded that the attachshyment process is a biological imperative that is related to survival of the human Fipecies In observing the interactioIlB between infants and their

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS 111

mothers they identified three distinct patterns ofattachment secure (later tenned self-reliant) avoidant and anxious-ambivalent with the latter two being unhealthy insecure attachment patterns Secure infants believe their cflJegiver will be available and helpful in times of distress~ whereas insecure infants believe no one will be available in tJleir times of need This early history with caregivers forms the basis for individuals beliefs about the responsiveneii of otherR and for the formation of attachments to others in later life These beliefs crystaUize into internal working models of how one should relate to other people

Attachment orientations extend into adulthood and they are related to effectiveness and satisfaction at work (Hazan amp Shaver 1990) The atshytachment orientations have been labeted in the management literature as self~re1iant (secure) counterdependent (avoidant) and overdependent (anxious-ambivalent) (Nelson Quick amp Joplin~ 1991) Self-reliant individshyuals possessing a sense of security form interdependent flexible relation~ ships with others Adults who atc selfmiddotreliant form close and supportive relationships with others both inside and outside the organization They are comfortable working alone or asking for assistance from others as each situation demands They report fewer symptoms or distress and are better able to develop the social support nccesary for effective performance at work (Nelson Quick amp Simmons 20(1)

Counterdependcnt individuals often overinvest in work and prefer to work alone rather than seek out support and assistance As a result they find themselves isolated and may even refuse support when it is offered Counterdependence is rooted in the belief that others will not be there when you need them and that it is betlt to depend only on oneself Overdependent individuals search out and depend on more support than is appropriate1

and often appear clingy and unable to reciprocate by providing 1Upport to others It like counterdependence has its roots in the belief that others cannot be counted on for support As a result overdependent people may drain their social support sources by exhausting others resources Both counterdependent and overdependent individuals report greater distress symptoms HUrl diminished well~being

Selfwreliance holds promise as an individual difference that may impact the eustress process Self-reliant individuals with their inherent belief that others are dependable and can be trurrted to provide support may be bolstered to either appraise demands as challenges or to believe that they have access to the resources (social support systems) that will allow them to manage these demands In addition their comfort in both working alone or interdependently gives self-reliant individuals security and flexibility in meeting demands that may be related to the confidencR ofviewing demands as challenging rather than threatening

SeTlfJe of Coherence V

k ~ ~)1JI

- Another appealing indtvidual difference that can be studied within the context of custrcss is sense of coherence a view of life as cOU1prehen~ible

l 112 NELSON AND SIMMONS

manageable and meaningful (Antonovsky 1987 1993) Having a sense of purpose in life is central to sense of coherence Ryff and Singer (1998) noted that this 1S a core feature of positive human health Part of the appeal of sense of coherence lies in its connection with sslutogenesis the process of successful1y resolving stressors and maintaining health rather than pathogenesis failures in coping that lead to disease Sense of coherence is thus a salutogenic strength for adaptively coping with stress

Central to Antonovskys theory is the notion that under stress people with a strong sense of coherence cope more effectively are better able to use their own resources and those ofothets and therefore experience better health and weB-being In reviewing the research on senSe of coherence Ouellette and DiPlacido (2001) noted that the evidence for the saluto_ic effects are more strongly supported with regard to psychological health than physical health They do note that Bense ofcoherence facilitated health and well~being among patients recovering from joint replacement surgery and those living with rheumatoid ruthritis

The mechanisms through which sense of coherence operates to have a sruutogenic effect are informative in terms of its potential relationship with eustress It has been positively related to health-promoting behaviors social support use and problemfotUsed coping (AntonovskY 1993) We propOAe that individuals with a strong ~cnse of coherence are more Jikely to appraise demands as challenges to believe that they have (or can get from others) the resources they require to manage a demand and are more likely to engage in effective coping methods for dealing with demands They may be more likely to enact eustressfuI rather than distressful responses to demands

A More Holistic Approach to Managing Health at Work

The research literature on work stresB has focused strongly On pathology and on healing the wounded The importance of thls venture cannot he denied We have learned much about stressors (causcs of stress) coping and symptoms of distress Great strides have heen made in assisting both individuala and organizations in managing distress This however is only half the battle As a complement to healing the wounded we must also find ways of building and capitalizing on strengths Distress prevention and eustress generation together provide a more holistic framework for mmging occupational health issues

Distress Prevention

As mentioned earlier in this chapter one framework that allows for a com prehen sive gathering of distress-focused interventions is that ofprevenshytive stress management as originally proposed by Quick and Quick (1984) and as elaborated on by Quick et al (1997) CentrAl to the preventive stress management philosophy is the idea that stress is inevitable but distress

) HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS IHI

is not Rooted in fl public health framework the three levels of preventive streBS management are primary prevention which is intended to reduce chAnge or eliminate streSsorR secondary prevention) which is focused on modifying the individuals or organizations response to stressors and tershytiary prevention

l which attempts to heal individual or organizational sympshy

toms of distress Primary prevention includes activities to directly change or eliminate

the stressor and would encompass job redesign efforts Karaseks (1979) job strain model for example indicAted that it is possible to increase the demand leve) of ajob without making it distressful so long as job discretion is also increased Time management efforts also focus on eliminating or changing strtssors Also included in primary prevention however are efshyforts to change the individUals perception ofthe stressor Cognitive restrucshyturing and learned optimism which alter the individuals internal selfshytalk are primary prevention methods

Secondary prevention efforts target the individual or organizational response to stress Exercise meditation and other forms of relaxation and nutrition would all fan under the heading of secondary prevention These techniques focus on lowering the risk ofdiaeafle Notable among the sccond~ ar)T prevention efforts is the work of Pennebaker and his colleagues (eg Smyth amp Pennebaker 2(01) which domonstrtea the psychological and sornlltic health benefits of writing about traumatic events and stressors

Tertiary prevention is the most direct fornl of healing the wounds of distress It consists of getting professional help (counseling physical ther~ apy medical treatment etc) for symptoms of distress Organizational efshyforts at tertiary prevention are often facilitated by employee assistance proshygrams

Our knowledge ofpreventing distress has grown We can tell individushyals a lot about how to prevent or resolve distress Our next task and a formidable one is to learn how to help individuals and organizations genershyate eustress savor it and reap the benefits in terms of increased health we]]~being and performance

Eustress Generation

As a complement to preventing distress we must learn to generate eustress at work Accordingly if we are truly interested in eUlltrcss generation we must measure and assess weUness and positive functioning A model of eustress generation must go beyond positive coping with distress and disshytress prevention

rrhe contrast between the view of pmlitive psychology presented and the more common view is captured in a recent article by Folkman and Moskowitz (2000) They accepted the fact that positive and negative affect can co-occur during a stressful period of time They suggested that positive and negative responses are produced by different events (stressors) In their study the effects of the positive response are viewed as a coping strategy a way to adapt to distress and its negative effects Severa] reoont

1 114 NELSON ANTgt SIMMONS

studies of the happy-productive worker hypothesis provide additional supshyport for the need to develop a model (jf eustress generation One study found that a pleasantnesamiddotbased measure of dispositional affect predicted rated job perforrrumce although the same was not true of state positive afect in thi study (Wright amp Staw 1999) A second set of studies found that psychological wellmiddotbeing wa predictive of job performance for 47 hushyman service workers (Wright amp Cropanzano 20(0) UnfortunatelYj psycho logical wen~being was operationalized as the absence of the negative eg how often have you felt depressed or very unhappy) again supporting the prevailing primacy of distress

A model of eustresB generation recognizes that the interpretation of and response to work demands can be positive as welJ as negative Managers interested in eustress generation might identify which aspects of the work employeuros find most engaging and then more important identify why indishyviduals find tho work pleasurable and consider what could be done to enhance the positive aspects of the work experience Similar to the Quick et a1 (1997) concept of primary distress prevention this could he thought of as primary euatresa generation via job redesign Aclflrdingly we suggest that job redesign effort must be assessed for their ability to generate the eustress as well as to prevent distress It 1S important to note that any assignment of positive valence to work demands must be employce-gener~ ated and should not be considered a Ione size fits an gtolution

If hopeful employees are healthy employees then the generation of hope in workers as an indicator of eustress merits additional attention TIle ability to genetate hope aIllong an organizations members may be pArticularly important during radical (~hange efforts When people believe that their actions will lead to positive results they may be more willing to altcept difficult and uncertain challenges_Managers can generate hope by establishing goals that are meaningful to aU members allocating the organizational reRotlJCcs necessary fur individuals to excel at their jobs and maintaining a frequent and inspirational dialogue with theit constituents (Htiy 1999) Others have suggested that trust in management and proceshydural justice may result in primalY appraisals that result in more hopeful employees during periods of organizational downSizing by reducing the extent to which downsizing is evaluated as a threat (Mishra amp Sprmtzcr 1998)

An example of an organizational resource that may be important for generating both manageability and hope is information Rolc ambiguity h~B been shown ~J1~ve a st~~g~~~31tiveimpact On hope (Simnionsamp NelSOh~20U1) RoTe ambiguity is the confusion a peisonexpenertces related tQ not understanding what is expected not knowing how to perform or change to meet new expectations or not knowing the conseqnence~ of failing to meet expectations (Nelson amp Quick 2000) Relationships between employees and their superviorR that are open and supportive can reduce the role ambiguity and increasf satisfaction Managers who are easily accessible who actively share information regarding current as well as evolving expectations with their constituents and who encourage their

) 1]5HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS

management staff to do the same should establish a solid foundation for the generation of hope by Jessening role amhiguity

In parallel to the preventive stress management model secondary euatres8 generation would target the individual response to work demands Strategies for identifying and then managing negative responsen or coping arC well-documented (Quick et aL ]997) Similar strategies are needed to help individuals identify and manage or savor positive responses

This will first require the previously mentioned effort to identify valid eustress responses desCTlbe them in terms that clearly differentiate them from distress responses) and link them to health benefits in the same way that distress responses have been linked to health consequences If the health benefii has significant valence for the individual and the expectancy that eustress could promote the health benefit is firmly estahlished then the individual could choose strategies to enhance their exposure to demands thai they appraise to be appreciably positive

The key to eustresS generation may be helping individuals develop competencies for recognizing eUltreHS in themselves and others to compleshyment exi~ng competencies for recognizing distress TIle challenge for reshysearchers wHl be to propose validate improve and articulate ways that the presence ofthe pOBitive can be rampoguized and understood as more than just the absence of the negative

In situations in which jobs have a high degree of controt individuals can savor eustress by enhancing their exposure to the demands that they believe precipitated the responses recognized as positive For example if an individual identifies a trllstingrelationship with a supervisor as a source of hope for them at work then the j ndividual might engage in behaviors that make themselves more trustworthy in the eyes of the supervisor Having linked ttusting relationships with a positive response for themshyselves at work individuals may also seck to develop more trusting relation ships with otherS at work especially with those whom they may have a stressful relationship with In this example of dealing with a stressful relationship the eustress-generation approach of promoting the positive stands in contrast to the distress prevention approach of avoiding the stressor by avoiding the person (Quick ct aI 1997)

rn situations where jobs do not have a high degree of control orgarrizashytionlj can facilitate individuals savoring the positive TIlis may be chaUeng~ ing because as a result of cognitive appraisal eustre8s recognition and interest in eustreuross generation will always be highly individualistic Yet (Wen in jobs with high demands and low del1sion latitude the potential for positive appraisals remains For example the previously cited study of soldiers participating in a US peacekeeping mis$ion in Bosnia showed that the soldiers found meaningfulness in the challenge of their mission (Britt et al 2001) Recall that a factDr such as witnessing the destruction caUBCd by warring factions was associated with reporting greater positive benefits because in the context of the mission the destruction was likely seen as justification for the misdon which added meaning to the soldiers work The degree of enstress experienced by the soldiers did not result

)

116 NELSON amp1D SIMMONS

from witnessing the destruction rather it resulted from the organization providing the opportunity for purpooeful engagement by defining a clear mission that was perceived beneficial and then providing the resources necessary to accomplish the mission (Le manageahility)

This chapter has proposed a more positive) holistic approach for under~ standing work stress by incorporating eustress the posith-re response to stress This approach is embedded in a view of health that emphasizes the presence of the positive mental spiritual and physical well-being in addition to the absence of diaease and dysfunction A tremendous opportushynity exists for researchers to clarifY and validate thi~ more holistic approach to stress and health rhia is a worthy endeavor the goal of which is to inftuence a change in the refrain of many workers from Im stressed out to Im engaged~

References

Ainsworth M D S amp Bowlby J (1G91) An ethological approach to personality American PsycJwlogist 46 333 341

Antonovsky A (l987) flnrauirliflg Ow of haalth San Frandsco~ Jossey-Bass Antonovsky A (1993) The structure propertiea of the sense of coherence scale Social

Science and Medicine 16 725-733 Artinian B M (1997) Situational sense of coherence Deuroveiopment and measurement of

the construcL In B M Artinian amp M M Conger (Eds) The onW1$)stem model Integratshying tMOry Clltd PNctite (pp 18-30) Thousand Oaks CA

Barnett R C (1998) Toward 11 review and reoonceptualizutior Genetic Soclat and General Psychology Monographs 124 125--182

Barnett R C amp Marshnll N L (1992) Worker and mother roles spillover effects and psychological dietress Women amp Health 18 9-40

Barnett R C Marshall N L amp Sayer A (1992) Positive-spillover effect8 from job to home A closer look WOhlen amp Health 19

BriLt T W Adler A B amp p T Dlriving benefiUi from stressful events The role of engagement in msningcful and hardiness Journal of Occupational Hh Psydwlogy 6 53-

Cohen S amp EdWWdsJ R (1988) PmsonaliLy ch8lilcterlatics as moderators ofthe relationshyship betw~n stress and disorder In W J Neufeld (Ed) AavtlnCes in the investigation ofpsychological stres$ (pp 235-283) New York Wiley

~Frank R S amp tVltluctwich J M (199b) Stress on lJtejnb An e1lccntivc update Academy of Management Executive 12 55-00

Edlin G Golanty E amp Brown K M (1996) Health and weUncamp (5th ed) Sudbury MA Jones and Bartlett

EdwardsJ R t amp Cooper C L (19flB) The impacts of positive psychological states on physical health A review and theoretic~t1 rrltmewurk Social Science Medicine 27(12) 1147-1459

Estrada C A lsen AM amp YouoJo M J (1994) Positive nt1hct improves creative problem solving and influences reported aources ofprltctice satisfaction in physicians Motivation and Emotion 18 ~85-29ti

Estrada C A 11l1l A M amp Young M J (1997) Positive affect fucilitvtcs integmtion of information Elnd decreases anchoring in reasoning among physicians OrganizaJionai Behavior and Human Decision Procussns 72 117-135

Farren C (1999) Stress and productivity What tips the scale Strategy and Leadership 27 36-37

Florian V Mikulincer M amp taubman 0 (1995) Does hardiness contribute to mental health during a stressful real-life situation The roles of appraififll and coping Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 68 687-695

) HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS 117

FolkmanSbull amp MoskowitzJ 1 (2000) Positive affect and the othl~r Hide of coping American PsycIwIogit55647-654

Ganster D C bullbull amp Schaubroeck J (1991) Work stress and employee health Journal of Managemnnt 17 235-271shy

George J M amp Drief A p (1992) Feeling good-doing good A conceptual analysis of mood at work-organizational spontaneity relationship Psych()l()gic(~l Bulletin 112 31O~329

GrayJfoft p amp Anderson J G (1981) Stress among hospital nursing sta1r Its causes and effects Social Sdence Medicine 15 639--647

Hazan C amp Shaver P It U99() Love and work An attachment tiuoretical perspective Journal of Penmnulity and Social Psychology 52 511-524

Huy Q N (1999) Emotional capability emotional intelligence and radital thangeAcademy of Management Rlt~l)tew 24 S2ir-N5

lsan A M Rosen7w~iR A S amp Young M J (1991) Thc infimmce of positiYe affect on clinicuJ problem solving Medical lJt~isivn Making 11 221-227

KDhn R L WolfeR P QuinnR p SnoekJ D amp RoaenthalR A (1961) Organutatinnal strcml Studies in role crmlict and ambiguity New York Wi1ey

Karnsek R A (1979) Job demands job decision latitude and mental strain Implications for job redesign Adrninistratioe ScienCE Quarterly 24 285-308

Kobasa S C (979) Streslfullife events personality and health An inquiry into hardincss Journal of Persortality arul Social ~Ychology 37 1-11

Kobasu S C Maddi S R amp Kahn S (1982) Hardiness and health A prospective study Journal of Personalify and So(iuI Psychology 42 168-177

Lamrus R S (19~) Fn)m psychological stress to the emotions A history of changing outlooks In L W Porter amp- M R Rosenzweig (Eds) Annual Review ofPsyclwlogy (VoL 44 Pl 1middot-21 Palo Alto CA Annual Reviews

Lazarus R 8 DeLongis A Folkman S amp Gruen R (1985) StreM and adllptational outcomes The problem of confounded measures American Psychoogi~l 40 77(-779

Lazarus It S amp Folkman R (1984) StITss appraisal and copiIJ New York Springer Lefcourt H M amp Davidson~Katz K (1991) Locus of control and health In C R Snyder

amp D R Forsyth FJds) Handbook of SQ(ial and clinical psychology (pp 246-266) New York Pergamon Press

Maddi S (1998) IlurdifBBs in health and effectiveness In II S Friedman (Ed) Enf1ciopcumiddot din of mpoundntal health (Vn 2 pp 321-335) San Diego CA Academic Press

McCrae R R amp CAlSta P T Jr (1191) The stability of personality Observations and evaluations Current Di~ctionti in Psychological Sdrnce 3 173-175

Mishrn A K amp Spreitzer C M (19913) Explaining how survivors wpond 10 downsizing The roles of trust empowmmfut jUHtice and work redeffign A(~ademy of Managenwnt Review 29 567-588

Mittai Vbull amp Rosa W T Jr (199f1) The impact of positive and negative affect Illld iSllue framing en issue interpretution uud risk taking Organizational Rehavior and Hlunan Dtgttiston ProNlte$ 76 298-l24

Morrill A C lckovica J R Golubchikov V V Berens R K amp Rodin J ll996) Safer sex Social and paycholoifielll predictors of behavioral maintenance and chang among heterosexual women Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 64 819-828

Nelson D L amp Quick J c (20M) Organizational behavior foundations reaiities and challenges (3rd ed) Cincinntti OH South-Western

Nelson D L Quick J C amp Joplin J (1991) Psychological contracting end newoomer social ization ~ An attachment tmQry fou ndation Journm ofSocial lkJmvior andPersonalmiddot ity 6 55-72

Nelson D L Quick J C amp SlmtHons B L (200l) Preventive management of work stross Cunent themes and future challenges In A Baum T Revpnaon amp 1 Sin~t (Eda) Handbook of walth psychology (pp 349-364) Mahwah NJ Erlbaum

OueUette S C (993) Inquiries into hardiness In L Goldberger amp R Breznitz HamJbook of strettS TJworetiml and clinical aspects (2nd ed pp 202-240) New Free Preas

Ouellette S C amp DiPlacido J (Z001) Personalitys role iu the protcetkm und enhancement of health Where the rest-UlCh haa been whpre it is stuck how it might move In A

1 114 NELSON ANTgt SIMMONS

studies of the happy-productive worker hypothesis provide additional supshyport for the need to develop a model (jf eustress generation One study found that a pleasantnesamiddotbased measure of dispositional affect predicted rated job perforrrumce although the same was not true of state positive afect in thi study (Wright amp Staw 1999) A second set of studies found that psychological wellmiddotbeing wa predictive of job performance for 47 hushyman service workers (Wright amp Cropanzano 20(0) UnfortunatelYj psycho logical wen~being was operationalized as the absence of the negative eg how often have you felt depressed or very unhappy) again supporting the prevailing primacy of distress

A model of eustresB generation recognizes that the interpretation of and response to work demands can be positive as welJ as negative Managers interested in eustress generation might identify which aspects of the work employeuros find most engaging and then more important identify why indishyviduals find tho work pleasurable and consider what could be done to enhance the positive aspects of the work experience Similar to the Quick et a1 (1997) concept of primary distress prevention this could he thought of as primary euatresa generation via job redesign Aclflrdingly we suggest that job redesign effort must be assessed for their ability to generate the eustress as well as to prevent distress It 1S important to note that any assignment of positive valence to work demands must be employce-gener~ ated and should not be considered a Ione size fits an gtolution

If hopeful employees are healthy employees then the generation of hope in workers as an indicator of eustress merits additional attention TIle ability to genetate hope aIllong an organizations members may be pArticularly important during radical (~hange efforts When people believe that their actions will lead to positive results they may be more willing to altcept difficult and uncertain challenges_Managers can generate hope by establishing goals that are meaningful to aU members allocating the organizational reRotlJCcs necessary fur individuals to excel at their jobs and maintaining a frequent and inspirational dialogue with theit constituents (Htiy 1999) Others have suggested that trust in management and proceshydural justice may result in primalY appraisals that result in more hopeful employees during periods of organizational downSizing by reducing the extent to which downsizing is evaluated as a threat (Mishra amp Sprmtzcr 1998)

An example of an organizational resource that may be important for generating both manageability and hope is information Rolc ambiguity h~B been shown ~J1~ve a st~~g~~~31tiveimpact On hope (Simnionsamp NelSOh~20U1) RoTe ambiguity is the confusion a peisonexpenertces related tQ not understanding what is expected not knowing how to perform or change to meet new expectations or not knowing the conseqnence~ of failing to meet expectations (Nelson amp Quick 2000) Relationships between employees and their superviorR that are open and supportive can reduce the role ambiguity and increasf satisfaction Managers who are easily accessible who actively share information regarding current as well as evolving expectations with their constituents and who encourage their

) 1]5HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS

management staff to do the same should establish a solid foundation for the generation of hope by Jessening role amhiguity

In parallel to the preventive stress management model secondary euatres8 generation would target the individual response to work demands Strategies for identifying and then managing negative responsen or coping arC well-documented (Quick et aL ]997) Similar strategies are needed to help individuals identify and manage or savor positive responses

This will first require the previously mentioned effort to identify valid eustress responses desCTlbe them in terms that clearly differentiate them from distress responses) and link them to health benefits in the same way that distress responses have been linked to health consequences If the health benefii has significant valence for the individual and the expectancy that eustress could promote the health benefit is firmly estahlished then the individual could choose strategies to enhance their exposure to demands thai they appraise to be appreciably positive

The key to eustresS generation may be helping individuals develop competencies for recognizing eUltreHS in themselves and others to compleshyment exi~ng competencies for recognizing distress TIle challenge for reshysearchers wHl be to propose validate improve and articulate ways that the presence ofthe pOBitive can be rampoguized and understood as more than just the absence of the negative

In situations in which jobs have a high degree of controt individuals can savor eustress by enhancing their exposure to the demands that they believe precipitated the responses recognized as positive For example if an individual identifies a trllstingrelationship with a supervisor as a source of hope for them at work then the j ndividual might engage in behaviors that make themselves more trustworthy in the eyes of the supervisor Having linked ttusting relationships with a positive response for themshyselves at work individuals may also seck to develop more trusting relation ships with otherS at work especially with those whom they may have a stressful relationship with In this example of dealing with a stressful relationship the eustress-generation approach of promoting the positive stands in contrast to the distress prevention approach of avoiding the stressor by avoiding the person (Quick ct aI 1997)

rn situations where jobs do not have a high degree of control orgarrizashytionlj can facilitate individuals savoring the positive TIlis may be chaUeng~ ing because as a result of cognitive appraisal eustre8s recognition and interest in eustreuross generation will always be highly individualistic Yet (Wen in jobs with high demands and low del1sion latitude the potential for positive appraisals remains For example the previously cited study of soldiers participating in a US peacekeeping mis$ion in Bosnia showed that the soldiers found meaningfulness in the challenge of their mission (Britt et al 2001) Recall that a factDr such as witnessing the destruction caUBCd by warring factions was associated with reporting greater positive benefits because in the context of the mission the destruction was likely seen as justification for the misdon which added meaning to the soldiers work The degree of enstress experienced by the soldiers did not result

)

116 NELSON amp1D SIMMONS

from witnessing the destruction rather it resulted from the organization providing the opportunity for purpooeful engagement by defining a clear mission that was perceived beneficial and then providing the resources necessary to accomplish the mission (Le manageahility)

This chapter has proposed a more positive) holistic approach for under~ standing work stress by incorporating eustress the posith-re response to stress This approach is embedded in a view of health that emphasizes the presence of the positive mental spiritual and physical well-being in addition to the absence of diaease and dysfunction A tremendous opportushynity exists for researchers to clarifY and validate thi~ more holistic approach to stress and health rhia is a worthy endeavor the goal of which is to inftuence a change in the refrain of many workers from Im stressed out to Im engaged~

References

Ainsworth M D S amp Bowlby J (1G91) An ethological approach to personality American PsycJwlogist 46 333 341

Antonovsky A (l987) flnrauirliflg Ow of haalth San Frandsco~ Jossey-Bass Antonovsky A (1993) The structure propertiea of the sense of coherence scale Social

Science and Medicine 16 725-733 Artinian B M (1997) Situational sense of coherence Deuroveiopment and measurement of

the construcL In B M Artinian amp M M Conger (Eds) The onW1$)stem model Integratshying tMOry Clltd PNctite (pp 18-30) Thousand Oaks CA

Barnett R C (1998) Toward 11 review and reoonceptualizutior Genetic Soclat and General Psychology Monographs 124 125--182

Barnett R C amp Marshnll N L (1992) Worker and mother roles spillover effects and psychological dietress Women amp Health 18 9-40

Barnett R C Marshall N L amp Sayer A (1992) Positive-spillover effect8 from job to home A closer look WOhlen amp Health 19

BriLt T W Adler A B amp p T Dlriving benefiUi from stressful events The role of engagement in msningcful and hardiness Journal of Occupational Hh Psydwlogy 6 53-

Cohen S amp EdWWdsJ R (1988) PmsonaliLy ch8lilcterlatics as moderators ofthe relationshyship betw~n stress and disorder In W J Neufeld (Ed) AavtlnCes in the investigation ofpsychological stres$ (pp 235-283) New York Wiley

~Frank R S amp tVltluctwich J M (199b) Stress on lJtejnb An e1lccntivc update Academy of Management Executive 12 55-00

Edlin G Golanty E amp Brown K M (1996) Health and weUncamp (5th ed) Sudbury MA Jones and Bartlett

EdwardsJ R t amp Cooper C L (19flB) The impacts of positive psychological states on physical health A review and theoretic~t1 rrltmewurk Social Science Medicine 27(12) 1147-1459

Estrada C A lsen AM amp YouoJo M J (1994) Positive nt1hct improves creative problem solving and influences reported aources ofprltctice satisfaction in physicians Motivation and Emotion 18 ~85-29ti

Estrada C A 11l1l A M amp Young M J (1997) Positive affect fucilitvtcs integmtion of information Elnd decreases anchoring in reasoning among physicians OrganizaJionai Behavior and Human Decision Procussns 72 117-135

Farren C (1999) Stress and productivity What tips the scale Strategy and Leadership 27 36-37

Florian V Mikulincer M amp taubman 0 (1995) Does hardiness contribute to mental health during a stressful real-life situation The roles of appraififll and coping Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 68 687-695

) HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS 117

FolkmanSbull amp MoskowitzJ 1 (2000) Positive affect and the othl~r Hide of coping American PsycIwIogit55647-654

Ganster D C bullbull amp Schaubroeck J (1991) Work stress and employee health Journal of Managemnnt 17 235-271shy

George J M amp Drief A p (1992) Feeling good-doing good A conceptual analysis of mood at work-organizational spontaneity relationship Psych()l()gic(~l Bulletin 112 31O~329

GrayJfoft p amp Anderson J G (1981) Stress among hospital nursing sta1r Its causes and effects Social Sdence Medicine 15 639--647

Hazan C amp Shaver P It U99() Love and work An attachment tiuoretical perspective Journal of Penmnulity and Social Psychology 52 511-524

Huy Q N (1999) Emotional capability emotional intelligence and radital thangeAcademy of Management Rlt~l)tew 24 S2ir-N5

lsan A M Rosen7w~iR A S amp Young M J (1991) Thc infimmce of positiYe affect on clinicuJ problem solving Medical lJt~isivn Making 11 221-227

KDhn R L WolfeR P QuinnR p SnoekJ D amp RoaenthalR A (1961) Organutatinnal strcml Studies in role crmlict and ambiguity New York Wi1ey

Karnsek R A (1979) Job demands job decision latitude and mental strain Implications for job redesign Adrninistratioe ScienCE Quarterly 24 285-308

Kobasa S C (979) Streslfullife events personality and health An inquiry into hardincss Journal of Persortality arul Social ~Ychology 37 1-11

Kobasu S C Maddi S R amp Kahn S (1982) Hardiness and health A prospective study Journal of Personalify and So(iuI Psychology 42 168-177

Lamrus R S (19~) Fn)m psychological stress to the emotions A history of changing outlooks In L W Porter amp- M R Rosenzweig (Eds) Annual Review ofPsyclwlogy (VoL 44 Pl 1middot-21 Palo Alto CA Annual Reviews

Lazarus R 8 DeLongis A Folkman S amp Gruen R (1985) StreM and adllptational outcomes The problem of confounded measures American Psychoogi~l 40 77(-779

Lazarus It S amp Folkman R (1984) StITss appraisal and copiIJ New York Springer Lefcourt H M amp Davidson~Katz K (1991) Locus of control and health In C R Snyder

amp D R Forsyth FJds) Handbook of SQ(ial and clinical psychology (pp 246-266) New York Pergamon Press

Maddi S (1998) IlurdifBBs in health and effectiveness In II S Friedman (Ed) Enf1ciopcumiddot din of mpoundntal health (Vn 2 pp 321-335) San Diego CA Academic Press

McCrae R R amp CAlSta P T Jr (1191) The stability of personality Observations and evaluations Current Di~ctionti in Psychological Sdrnce 3 173-175

Mishrn A K amp Spreitzer C M (19913) Explaining how survivors wpond 10 downsizing The roles of trust empowmmfut jUHtice and work redeffign A(~ademy of Managenwnt Review 29 567-588

Mittai Vbull amp Rosa W T Jr (199f1) The impact of positive and negative affect Illld iSllue framing en issue interpretution uud risk taking Organizational Rehavior and Hlunan Dtgttiston ProNlte$ 76 298-l24

Morrill A C lckovica J R Golubchikov V V Berens R K amp Rodin J ll996) Safer sex Social and paycholoifielll predictors of behavioral maintenance and chang among heterosexual women Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 64 819-828

Nelson D L amp Quick J c (20M) Organizational behavior foundations reaiities and challenges (3rd ed) Cincinntti OH South-Western

Nelson D L Quick J C amp Joplin J (1991) Psychological contracting end newoomer social ization ~ An attachment tmQry fou ndation Journm ofSocial lkJmvior andPersonalmiddot ity 6 55-72

Nelson D L Quick J C amp SlmtHons B L (200l) Preventive management of work stross Cunent themes and future challenges In A Baum T Revpnaon amp 1 Sin~t (Eda) Handbook of walth psychology (pp 349-364) Mahwah NJ Erlbaum

OueUette S C (993) Inquiries into hardiness In L Goldberger amp R Breznitz HamJbook of strettS TJworetiml and clinical aspects (2nd ed pp 202-240) New Free Preas

Ouellette S C amp DiPlacido J (Z001) Personalitys role iu the protcetkm und enhancement of health Where the rest-UlCh haa been whpre it is stuck how it might move In A

)

116 NELSON amp1D SIMMONS

from witnessing the destruction rather it resulted from the organization providing the opportunity for purpooeful engagement by defining a clear mission that was perceived beneficial and then providing the resources necessary to accomplish the mission (Le manageahility)

This chapter has proposed a more positive) holistic approach for under~ standing work stress by incorporating eustress the posith-re response to stress This approach is embedded in a view of health that emphasizes the presence of the positive mental spiritual and physical well-being in addition to the absence of diaease and dysfunction A tremendous opportushynity exists for researchers to clarifY and validate thi~ more holistic approach to stress and health rhia is a worthy endeavor the goal of which is to inftuence a change in the refrain of many workers from Im stressed out to Im engaged~

References

Ainsworth M D S amp Bowlby J (1G91) An ethological approach to personality American PsycJwlogist 46 333 341

Antonovsky A (l987) flnrauirliflg Ow of haalth San Frandsco~ Jossey-Bass Antonovsky A (1993) The structure propertiea of the sense of coherence scale Social

Science and Medicine 16 725-733 Artinian B M (1997) Situational sense of coherence Deuroveiopment and measurement of

the construcL In B M Artinian amp M M Conger (Eds) The onW1$)stem model Integratshying tMOry Clltd PNctite (pp 18-30) Thousand Oaks CA

Barnett R C (1998) Toward 11 review and reoonceptualizutior Genetic Soclat and General Psychology Monographs 124 125--182

Barnett R C amp Marshnll N L (1992) Worker and mother roles spillover effects and psychological dietress Women amp Health 18 9-40

Barnett R C Marshall N L amp Sayer A (1992) Positive-spillover effect8 from job to home A closer look WOhlen amp Health 19

BriLt T W Adler A B amp p T Dlriving benefiUi from stressful events The role of engagement in msningcful and hardiness Journal of Occupational Hh Psydwlogy 6 53-

Cohen S amp EdWWdsJ R (1988) PmsonaliLy ch8lilcterlatics as moderators ofthe relationshyship betw~n stress and disorder In W J Neufeld (Ed) AavtlnCes in the investigation ofpsychological stres$ (pp 235-283) New York Wiley

~Frank R S amp tVltluctwich J M (199b) Stress on lJtejnb An e1lccntivc update Academy of Management Executive 12 55-00

Edlin G Golanty E amp Brown K M (1996) Health and weUncamp (5th ed) Sudbury MA Jones and Bartlett

EdwardsJ R t amp Cooper C L (19flB) The impacts of positive psychological states on physical health A review and theoretic~t1 rrltmewurk Social Science Medicine 27(12) 1147-1459

Estrada C A lsen AM amp YouoJo M J (1994) Positive nt1hct improves creative problem solving and influences reported aources ofprltctice satisfaction in physicians Motivation and Emotion 18 ~85-29ti

Estrada C A 11l1l A M amp Young M J (1997) Positive affect fucilitvtcs integmtion of information Elnd decreases anchoring in reasoning among physicians OrganizaJionai Behavior and Human Decision Procussns 72 117-135

Farren C (1999) Stress and productivity What tips the scale Strategy and Leadership 27 36-37

Florian V Mikulincer M amp taubman 0 (1995) Does hardiness contribute to mental health during a stressful real-life situation The roles of appraififll and coping Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 68 687-695

) HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS 117

FolkmanSbull amp MoskowitzJ 1 (2000) Positive affect and the othl~r Hide of coping American PsycIwIogit55647-654

Ganster D C bullbull amp Schaubroeck J (1991) Work stress and employee health Journal of Managemnnt 17 235-271shy

George J M amp Drief A p (1992) Feeling good-doing good A conceptual analysis of mood at work-organizational spontaneity relationship Psych()l()gic(~l Bulletin 112 31O~329

GrayJfoft p amp Anderson J G (1981) Stress among hospital nursing sta1r Its causes and effects Social Sdence Medicine 15 639--647

Hazan C amp Shaver P It U99() Love and work An attachment tiuoretical perspective Journal of Penmnulity and Social Psychology 52 511-524

Huy Q N (1999) Emotional capability emotional intelligence and radital thangeAcademy of Management Rlt~l)tew 24 S2ir-N5

lsan A M Rosen7w~iR A S amp Young M J (1991) Thc infimmce of positiYe affect on clinicuJ problem solving Medical lJt~isivn Making 11 221-227

KDhn R L WolfeR P QuinnR p SnoekJ D amp RoaenthalR A (1961) Organutatinnal strcml Studies in role crmlict and ambiguity New York Wi1ey

Karnsek R A (1979) Job demands job decision latitude and mental strain Implications for job redesign Adrninistratioe ScienCE Quarterly 24 285-308

Kobasa S C (979) Streslfullife events personality and health An inquiry into hardincss Journal of Persortality arul Social ~Ychology 37 1-11

Kobasu S C Maddi S R amp Kahn S (1982) Hardiness and health A prospective study Journal of Personalify and So(iuI Psychology 42 168-177

Lamrus R S (19~) Fn)m psychological stress to the emotions A history of changing outlooks In L W Porter amp- M R Rosenzweig (Eds) Annual Review ofPsyclwlogy (VoL 44 Pl 1middot-21 Palo Alto CA Annual Reviews

Lazarus R 8 DeLongis A Folkman S amp Gruen R (1985) StreM and adllptational outcomes The problem of confounded measures American Psychoogi~l 40 77(-779

Lazarus It S amp Folkman R (1984) StITss appraisal and copiIJ New York Springer Lefcourt H M amp Davidson~Katz K (1991) Locus of control and health In C R Snyder

amp D R Forsyth FJds) Handbook of SQ(ial and clinical psychology (pp 246-266) New York Pergamon Press

Maddi S (1998) IlurdifBBs in health and effectiveness In II S Friedman (Ed) Enf1ciopcumiddot din of mpoundntal health (Vn 2 pp 321-335) San Diego CA Academic Press

McCrae R R amp CAlSta P T Jr (1191) The stability of personality Observations and evaluations Current Di~ctionti in Psychological Sdrnce 3 173-175

Mishrn A K amp Spreitzer C M (19913) Explaining how survivors wpond 10 downsizing The roles of trust empowmmfut jUHtice and work redeffign A(~ademy of Managenwnt Review 29 567-588

Mittai Vbull amp Rosa W T Jr (199f1) The impact of positive and negative affect Illld iSllue framing en issue interpretution uud risk taking Organizational Rehavior and Hlunan Dtgttiston ProNlte$ 76 298-l24

Morrill A C lckovica J R Golubchikov V V Berens R K amp Rodin J ll996) Safer sex Social and paycholoifielll predictors of behavioral maintenance and chang among heterosexual women Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 64 819-828

Nelson D L amp Quick J c (20M) Organizational behavior foundations reaiities and challenges (3rd ed) Cincinntti OH South-Western

Nelson D L Quick J C amp Joplin J (1991) Psychological contracting end newoomer social ization ~ An attachment tmQry fou ndation Journm ofSocial lkJmvior andPersonalmiddot ity 6 55-72

Nelson D L Quick J C amp SlmtHons B L (200l) Preventive management of work stross Cunent themes and future challenges In A Baum T Revpnaon amp 1 Sin~t (Eda) Handbook of walth psychology (pp 349-364) Mahwah NJ Erlbaum

OueUette S C (993) Inquiries into hardiness In L Goldberger amp R Breznitz HamJbook of strettS TJworetiml and clinical aspects (2nd ed pp 202-240) New Free Preas

Ouellette S C amp DiPlacido J (Z001) Personalitys role iu the protcetkm und enhancement of health Where the rest-UlCh haa been whpre it is stuck how it might move In A

118 NELSON ANn SIMMONS

Baum T Revenson amp ] Singer (EdSI Handbonk of health psychology (pp 175~ 193) Mahwah NJ Erlbuum

PeLerson C lt2000) The futuNt of optimism American Psyrhologist 55 44- 55 Peterson C amp Seligman M E P (987) Explanatory style lmd illness ltTournal oPersoTlalmiddot

ity 55 238-265 Quick J C amp Quick J D (1984) Organimlwnal stress and prewnlityen mallctgtmenL New

York McGraw-HUt Quick 1 C Qukk J D Nelson D I amp Hurrdl J J (1997) Prevcnlilf stre88 tfumagcment

in o1anizations Washington DC ImcricaD Psychological Association Rotwr 1 B (1966) Genemli7ed exptmtunciea for internal versus external (nntrul ofreinfurcemiddot

mcnts Psyclwlogiwl Monographs 80 1-l8 Ruseelln (1958) Tllaquo conquest of happiness New York Liwrighl RyiT C D bull amp Singer ll i9DB) Therontoursofpoaitive human health Psychological Inquiry

9 1-28 Salow) p Rothman A r DetweileT j B amp Steward W T (2000) Rmotional states and

physical h~~ulth American Psyehologi8 55 1l0~ 121 ampheie M F amp Carver C S (19921 Effects of optimism nn psy(hnJogical and physicul

wen being I11coretical overview and empirical update Cognitive Therapy and Research 16 201-228

Segerstrom S C TaylorS E Kemeny M E amp Fahey J L (1998) Optimismis associated with mood coping and immlne chang in ntsponse to ulresG Journal of Perllonality and Social Psychology 74 1646~1655

Seligman M E p (l99n Learned optimism New YorK Knopf SeliLITIum M E 1 amp Csikszentmihalyi M (2000) Positive psychology Americtm Psyeholoshy

gist555-14 Selre H (1976J Stre8s in health and di81altC Boston Butterworths Simmons B L (2000) Eusireas at work ACf1mtmting the positive Unpublishe-d doctoral

dissertatiun Oklalmmfl State Univerlilty Simmons B L amp Nelson D 1 (2001) Eustress at work The relationship lretWC1lIJ hope

und health in hospital nurses Health Care MalVJgement [lev-iew 267-18 Simmons B L Nelson D L amp Neal L J (2001) II comparison ofthe positive and negative

work attitudes opoundhome healthciUe and hnspital nurSeuroe Health CaJeuro AiunugementReview 2663-74

Smith C A Haynes K K t41zarus R R amp Pope L K (993) In search or the hot cognitions Attributions appraisals and their relation to emotionJournalofPeTBonalily cmd Social Psychology 65 916-929

Smyth J M amp Pennebaker J W (2001) tnat are the health effects of disclosure In A BaUIll T A Revnnson amp J E Singer (Eds) llandbook ofhealth psyrJorogy Cpp 33tshy348) Mahwah NJ Erlbaum

Snyder C R (1994) The P4lychology of hope You can gel there rom hergt New York Free Frees

Snyder C R Sympson S C basco F BordelS T lt~ Babyak M A amp Higgins R L (1900) Development und vtilidation the stille hope aCJlle Journal of Personality and Social PaYCMkgy 70 321-335

Spreitzer G M (I995) Psychological empowerment in the workplace Dimensions measureshyment and validation Academy of MaJlagement Journal 18 1442-1465

Staw B M Barsade- 8 G (1993) Affect and managerial performance A test of the sadder-hut-wiser VB happier-und-smarter hypothesis Administratitte Science Quarterly 38 304-331

Theorell T amp Karasek It A (1996) Current issues relating to psychosocial job strain and cardiovascular disease research Joumal nfOcC(~pationol Health Psychology 1 9--26

Thomas K Ilk Veltlvluse B (1990) Cognitive elements of empowerment An interpretive modd of intrinsic task motivation Academy ofMaltagemmt Retiew 15 666-middot681

Watson Dbull Clark L A amp Tetlegen A (1988 Development and validation ofbrief meusures of positive and negative atfelt The PANAS scale- Journal of Perronality and l~lJcial Psychology 54 1063-t070

HFALTH PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK STRESS 119

WaLRon n amp Pennebaker J W U9BD HlXllth complaints stress and distress Exploring the central role of negative- affectivity Pryfh()l()~dcal Review 96 234-254

Watson D Pennntmkcr J W amp Folger R (1987) Beyond negative vITectivity Measunng st~es and satisfaction in tM workplace Journal of Organizational Behavior Manageshyment8141-]52

Weidner G Boughal 1 Connor S L Pciper C amp Mendell N R (1997) Relationship ofjob ttrain to standard cQronaly risk factors euro11td psychological characteristkH in women and men or thG family heart study FieaJth Psychology 16 239-247

Westman M l990) The relationship bctween stress and performance The moderating effect of hardiness Human Perfo11tlaflCP- 141-155

Wiebe D 1 (1991) Hardiness and sttCIltS nudaretion A tellt or proposed mcclumisms Journal ofPCT80naUty and Social Psychologygt 50 $9-99

Wiehe V J amp Williams p G (1992) Hardiness und health~ A social psychophysiological perspective on strese and adaptationTournal ofSocwl aoo Clinical Psychology 11 238shy262

World Health Organizatiou (1948) WorldHgtalth Organization conlltilutWn Geneva Allthor Wright L (l988) The TypG A behavior pattern and coronary artery disease American

Psychologist 43 2~14 Wright T A amp Croplttllzano R (~OOO) PkYchologkal well-being aud job satisfadiou IlS

predictors of job performance Journal ofOccupational Psychology 5 84-94 Wright 1 A ampStaw B M (1999) Aflcctandfuvofablc work outlomirO two longitudinaJ tests

flf the happy-productive worker thesis Journal ofOrganimtionallJekaoioT 20 1-23

CopyrigM copy 2003 by the American Psychological Association Ali tlt reserved Except tid permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976 no part of this puhlicution may he reproduced or distributed in lny form or by any means or stored in a database or retrievnl system without the prior written pcrntission of the publisher

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The opinions and atatemens published are the responsibility of the uuthars and such opinions and statements do not necessarily represent the policies of thlJ American Psychological Association

Library of Congress Cataloging-inmiddotPublicatinn Datu Handbook of occupational health psychQlogy I edited uy James Campbell Quick and Lois E Tetrick

p CUL

Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 1-55798-927-3

1 Industrial psychiatry-Handbooks manuals eLe 2 Clinical health psychology-Handbook~ manuals etc 3 Psy(holugy IndustrisJ-Handhooks manuais etc I Quick James C II Tetrick L()is E

RC9675 H358 2002 61689-ltk21

2002022843

British Ubrary Cataloguing-in~Public8tion Data A CIP reCQrd is available from the British Library

Printed in the United States ofAmerica

)

Contents

Handbook 01

Occupational Health Psychology

EJiuJ by

James Campbell Quick and Lois E Tetrick

i _ imiddotii~~_~

Uni er~lttlbiblo)thek Bilrn

l Zentrillibibliothek

raquo11 American Psychological A~ociarion Washington DC

rMI -S113