SOAL-SOAL PSIKOLOGI INDUSTRI DAN ORGANISASI
Pertemuan 19 & 20:
Stress di Tempat Kerja
1. How can you tell when you are experiencing stress? Describe some of the mental and
physical characteristics.
a. Stress is the physiological and psychological responses to excessive and usually
unpleasant stimulation and to threatening events in the environment.
b. Stress-related physical problems include: high blood pressure, ulcers, colitis, heart
disease, arthritis, skin diseases, allergies, headaches, neck and lower back pain,
and cancer.
c.
2. Describe the history and purpose of occupational health psychology.
a. Occupational health psychology is the field of study dealing with the health
effects of job-stress and other aspects of well-being.
b. During WWI the British government established the Industrial Fatigue Research
Board.
c. It was proposed as a name in 1990 by Jonathan Raymond. There is now a focus
group (Health and Well-being) in the Organizational Behavior Division of the
Academy of Management. APA launched formal development of the field with
NIOSH. There is now a Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
3. What physiological changes occur in the body in reaction to stress?
a. Adrenaline is released, blood pressure rises, heart rate increases, extra sugar is
discharged into the bloodstream. There is a fight or flight response for males, a
tend or befriend response in females.
b. Prolonged exposure to stress leads to physical and psychosomatic illness,
although stress doesn’t affect everyone the same way.
4. Explain how the accumulative effect of minor hassles and insults of everyday life can
affect your health.
a. Individually they are low levels or stress, but they are hard on the body because
they accumulate.
b. If stressors are frequently found in the workplace, the body remains in a high state
of alertness for long periods of time. Eventually, this can suppress the immune
system, leaving one vulnerable to illness.
5. What are the major job-related factors that can prevent the harmful effects of job stress?
a. Job satisfaction and feelings of control can prevent the harmful effects of job
stress.
b. Challenge related stress is motivating; hindrance related stress is harmful.
6. Explain why air traffic controllers and senior executives may be less affected by stress
than middle-level managers.
a. They have more autonomy and control over their work.
7. Describe characteristics of the Type A and Type B personalities. Why is one type more
susceptible to stress effects than the other?
a. Type A - associated with heart disease, anger, hostility, time urgency, and
depression.
b. Type B - may work as hard as Type As but show fewer stress effects.
c. Type As are thought to be in a continual state of tension. Type Bs experience less
stress at work and at leisure.
8. How do the following personality characteristics account for individual differences in the
reaction to stress: hardiness, self-efficacy, locus of control, and negative affectivity?
a. Hardiness - based on the idea of control that may explain individual differences in
vulnerability to stress. There are three components: control, commitment, and
challenge. Hardy persons develop fewer physical complaints under highly
stressful conditions.
b. Self-efficacy - our belief in our ability to accomplish a task. It is our sense of how
adequate, efficient, and competent we feel about coping with life’s demands.
Those with high levels of self-efficacy feel more control and are more stress
resistant.
c. Locus-of-control - one’s belief about the source of one’s rewards. People with an
internal locus of control believe that job performance, pay, and promotion are
under their control and dependent on their own behavior. People with an external
locus of control believe such events depend on outside forces such as luck.
d. Negative affectivity - a personality dimension characterized by a generalized life
and job dissatisfaction and by a focus on negative aspects of life. Individuals with
negative affectivity do not respond well to stress.
9. Define the concept of organization-based self-esteem. How can it influence a person’s
reaction to job stress?
a. Organization-based self-esteem - a personality dimension relating to our
assessment of our adequacy and worth with regard to our place in the employing
organization.
b. Those with higher self-esteem handle stress better and with fewer harmful side
effects.
10. Why are work-family conflicts generally greater for women than for men?
a. Both men and women report conflicts, but the difficulties are usually greater for
women.
b. The primary responsibility for family life remains with the woman, even though
spouses may help out. Many working women come home to their second job caring for the children and spouse and managing the household.
11. In what ways do work-family conflicts differ among Western, Eastern, and Latin
cultures? In your opinion, what accounts for these differences?
a. In Western (individualistic) cultures there is a greater relationship between
number of hours worked and work-family conflicts than among the more
collectivist Eastern and Latin cultures.
b. Anglos feel guilt over time away from families. Collectivist societies are not as
well off and take long hours of work for granted.
c. Collectivist societies also provide a greater support network.
12. How can organizations reduce problems associated with work-family conflicts?
a. Provide day-care facilities, flexible work-scheduling, supportive supervision,
telecommuting, and opportunities for part-time work.
13. Explain the differences between qualitative work overload and quantitative work
overload.
a. Qualitative work overload involves work that is too difficult. Having insufficient
ability to perform a job is stressful.
b. Quantitative work overload involves too much work to do in the time available.
14. How can work underload be as stressful as work overload?
a. Work underload - work that is too simple or insufficiently challenging for one’s
abilities.
b. It’s related to increased boredom and monotony (a factor in stress) and to reduced
job satisfaction. A certain level of job stress can be stimulating, invigorating, and
desirable.
15. Describe how the following can be a source of stress: organizational change, role
ambiguity, role conflict?
a. Organizational change - is stressful. Those who view change as exciting and a
challenge are less vulnerable than those who resist change or who view it as a
threat.
b. Role ambiguity - a situation that arises when job responsibilities are unstructured
or poorly defined. There are three components: performance criteria ambiguity,
work method ambiguity, and scheduling ambiguity.
c. Role conflict - a situation that arises when there is a disparity between job
demands and the employer’s personal standards.
16. What do surveys of U.S. workers reveal about the stress effects of the terrorist attacks of
September 11th?
a. 90 percent reported having one or more symptoms of stress.
b. The stress reactions did not persist.
c. There probably was greater impact on workers in New York and Washington,
D.C.
17. Describe physical and psychological factors associated with mass psychogenic illness. In
what kinds of jobs is this phenomenon most likely to occur?
a. Mass psychogenic illness - a stress-related disorder manifested in a variety of
physical symptoms that spreads rapidly among a group of workers; popularly
called assembly-line hysteria.
b. This is most likely to occur in production and assembly line type of situations.
c. It is more likely to affect women than men.
18. What are the major causes and components of burnout? What personality characteristics
are related to burnout?
a. Burnout - a condition of job stress that results from overwork. It consists of
emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of accomplishment.
b. It is characterized by exhaustion, apathy, depression, irritation, and following
rules and procedures compulsively. Work quality deteriorates, but not necessarily
work quantity.
c. Those high in neuroticism are more likely to experience burnout; those high in
extroversion and agreeableness are less likely to experience burnout. The
likelihood is higher among Type A personalities and among those low in
hardiness, high in external locus of control, or low in self-esteem.
19. Define job engagement. How does it differ from workaholism? Describe the
characteristics of the person who scores high in job engagement.
a. Job engagement - a workaholic tendency characterized by work enthusiasm, a
high commitment to and involvement in work such that an intense joy is derived
from it. This is a “healthy” form of workaholism.
b. Characteristics include high in energy, involvement, and efficacy.
20. What approaches can organizations take to treat job stress? How do you deal with the
stresses in your own life?
a. Approaches to treating job stress include controlling the organizational climate,
providing control, defining employee roles, eliminating work overload and
underload, allowing employees to bring their pets to work, providing stressmanagement programs and fitness programs.
b. Students will have individual answers as to how they deal with (or don’t deal
with) stress.