IMPACT OF STRESS ON MORALITY OF TEACHERS IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITY : A CASE STUDY IN LUCKNOW

Inspira-Journal of Commerce, Economics & Computer Science 71
ISSN : 2395-7069 (Impact Factor : 1.7122) Volume 02, No. 02, April- June, 2016, pp. 71-79
IMPACT OF STRESS ON MORALITY OF TEACHERS
IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITY : A CASE STUDY IN LUCKNOW
Smriti Srivastava ∗
Prof. H.K. Singh ∗∗
Shailesh Kumar Singh∗∗∗
Abstract
At present scenario life is full of deadlines, hassles, demands and frustrations. For many
people, stress is so common place that it has become a part of their life. Stress isn’t always bad.
In small doses, it can help you perform under pressure and motivate you to do your best but
your mind and body pay the price by constantly running in emergency mode. You can protect
yourself by recognizing the signs and symptoms of stress and taking steps to reduce its
harmful effects. Define stress as a "relationship between the person and the environment that
is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering his or
her wellbeing." Stress is a common human experience frequently blamed for much of the ill
health individuals’ experience. Much focus is been given to the effect of stress on health and
wellness. Research demonstrates a strong relationship between psychological stress and
health. This paper shows that how stress can be harmful for the human body that an
individual can be move onto suicide. Stress effects a human mind by which the power of
thinking totally get changed, firstly stress change the human psychology and afterwards it
effects the human attitude, motivation, personality, behavior, inspiration, positive thinking,
decision making etc. Here not only the stress has been described but also mention that how
you can check your stress level and how you can manage it.
Keywords: Stress, Fight-or-flight-or-freeze, Hassles, Frustrations, Epistemology, Morality.
Introduction
What is Stress ?
Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset in
some way. When you sense danger—whether it’s real or imagined—the body's defenses kick
into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight-or-freeze” reaction,
or the stress response. The stress response body’s way of protecting you. When working
properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can
∗
Research Scholar, Maharishi University of Information Technology (MUIT), Lucknow, U.P.
∗∗
Professor, Faculty of Commerce, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, U.P.
∗∗∗
Research Scholar, Maharishi University of Information Technology (MUIT), Lucknow, U.P.

72 Inspira- Journal of Commerce, Economics & Computer Science: April- June, 2016
save your life—giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to
slam on the brakes to avoid an accident. The stress also helps you rise to meet challenges.
Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, sharpens your
concentration when you’re attempting the game-winning free throw, or drives you to study
for an exam when you'd rather be watching TV. But beyond a certain point, stress stops being
helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your
relationships, and your quality of life.
What is Morality
Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner, character, proper behavior") is the
differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are distinguished as
proper and those that are improper: In other words, it is the disjunction between right and
wrong. Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of conduct from
a particular philosophy, religion, or culture, or it can derive from a standard that a person
believes should be universal .Morality may also be specifically synonymous with "goodness"
or "rightness." Moral philosophy includes moral ontology, or the origin of morals, as well
as moral epistemology, or what is known about morals. Different systems of expressing morality
have been proposed, including deontological ethical systems which adhere to a set of established
rules, and normative ethical systems which consider the merits of actions themselves. An
example of normative ethical philosophy is the Golden Rule which states that, "One should treat
others as one would like others to treat oneself.” Immorality is the active opposition to morality
(i.e. opposition to that which is good or right), while amorality is variously defined as an
unawareness of, indifference toward, or disbelief in any set of moral standards or principles.
Signs and Symptoms of Stress Overload
The following table lists some of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress.
The more signs and symptoms you notice in yourself, the closer you may be to stress overload.
Cognitive Symptoms Emotional Symptoms
• Memory problems
• Inability to concentrate
• Poor judgment
• Moodiness
• Irritability or short temper
• Agitation, inability to relax
Physical Symptoms Behavioral Symptoms
• Aches and pains
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Nausea, dizziness
• Eating more or less
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Isolating yourself from others
Keep in mind that the signs and symptoms of stress can also be caused by other
psychological or medical problems. If you’re experiencing any of the warning signs of stress,
it’s important to see a doctor for a full evaluation. Your doctor can help you in recognizing
whether your symptoms are stress- related or not.
Causes of Stress
The pressures and situations that cause stress are known as stressors. We usually think
of stressors as being negative, such as an exhausting work schedule or a rocky relationship.
However, anything that puts high demands on you or forces you to adjust can be stressful.
This includes positive events such as getting married, buying a house, going to college, or
receiving a promotion. Of course, not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be
self-generated, for example, when you worry excessively about something that may or may
not happen, or have irrational, pessimistic thoughts about life.

Smriti Srivastava, Prof. H.K. Singh & Shailesh Kumar Singh : Impact of Stress on …… 73
Effects of Chronic Stress
The body doesn’t distinguish between physical and psychological threats. When you’re
stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, or a mountain of bills,
your body reacts just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation. If you have a
lot of responsibilities and worries, your emergency stress response may be “on” most of the
time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the harder it is to shut off. Long-term
exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every
system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the
risk of heart attack and stroke, contribute to infertility, and speed up the aging process. Long-
term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.
Causing Many Health Problems or Exacerbated by Stress Including:
• Any kind of Pain
• Heart disease
• Digestive problems
• Sleep problems
• Depression
• Weight problems
• Autoimmune diseases
• Skin problems, such as eczema
What is Burnout?
Burnout is a state of mental, emotional and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and
prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands.
As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a
certain role in the first place. Burnout reduces your productivity and saps your energy, leaving
you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel
that life is of no use and even you can commit suicide. Most of us have days when we feel
bored, overloaded, or unappreciated; when the dozen balls we keep in the air aren’t noticed,
let alone rewarded; when dragging ourselves out of bed requires the determination of
Hercules. If you feel like this most of the time, however, you may have burnout.
The Difference between Stress and Burnout
Stress Burnout
Characterized by over engagement Characterized by disengagement
Over reactive emotions Emotions are blunted
Produces urgency and hyperactivity Produces helplessness and hopelessness
Loss of energy Loss of motivation, ideals, and hope
Leads to anxiety disorders Leads to detachment and depression
Causes of Burnout
In many cases, burnout stems from your job. But anyone who feels overworked and
undervalued is at risk for burnout-from the hardworking office worker who hasn’t had a vacation
or a raise in two years to the frazzled stay-at-home mom struggling with the heavy responsibility
of taking care of three kids, the housework, and her aging father. But burnout is not caused solely
by stressful work or too many responsibilities. Other factors contribute to burnout, including your
lifestyle and certain personality traits. What you do in your downtime and how you look at the
world can play just as big of a role in causing burnout as work or home demands.
Burnout Prevention TIPS
• Day Should be Start With a Relaxing Rituals: Rather than jumping out of bed as soon
as you wake up, spend at least fifteen minutes meditating, writing in your journal,
doing gentle stretches, or reading something that inspires you.

• Adopt Healthy Eating, Exercising, and Sleeping Habits: When you eat right, engage in
regular physical activity, and get plenty of rest, you have the energy and resilience to
deal with life’s hassles and demands.
• Boundaries Should be Set: Don’t overextend yourself. Learn how to say “no” to
requests on your time. If you find this difficult, remind yourself that saying “no” allows
you to say “yes” to the things that you truly want to do.
Stress at Work
While some workplace stress is normal, excessive stress can interfere with your
productivity and impact your physical and emotional health. And your ability to deal with it can
mean the difference between success or failure. You can’t control everything in your work
environment, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless-even when you’re stuck in a difficult
situation. Finding ways to manage workplace stress isn’t about making huge changes or
rethinking career ambitions, but rather about focusing on the one thing that’s always within
your control:
Learn How Academic Heads or Teachers Can Reduce Job Stress
It's in a academic head’s best interest to keep stress levels minimum in the workplace.
Heads’ can act as positive role models, especially in times of high stress. If a respected academic
head can remain calm in stressful work situations, it is much easier for his or her teachers’ to also
remain calm. Additionally, there are a number of organizational changes that academic head and
teachers’ can make to reduce workplace stress. These include:
Improve Communication
• To reduce uncertainty about their jobs and futures share information with teachers’.
• Roles and responsibilities of teachers’ should be clearly define.
• Communication should be friendly and efficient, not mean-spirited or petty.
Consult Your Teachers’
• Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions making.
• Scheduling and work rules should be consulting through teachers’.
• Avoid unrealistic deadlines. Be sure the workload is suitable to teachers’ abilities and
resources; Show that individual workers are valued.
• Offer rewards and incentives.
Cultivate a Friendly Social Climate
• Opportunities for providing social interaction among teachers’.
• Establish a zero-tolerance policy for harassment.
• Make management actions consistent with organizational values.
Stress Management
Learn How to Manage Stress
You may feel like the stress in your life is out of your control, but you can always control
the way you respond. Managing stress about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts,
your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. Stress
Management involves changing the stressful situation when you can, changing your reaction
when you can’t, taking care of yourself, and making time for rest and relaxation.
Remember the Four A’s: Avoid, Alter, Adapt, or Accept
• Avoid unnecessary stress. Not all stress can be avoided, but by learning how to say no,
distinguishing between “should” and “musts”.
• Alter the situation. If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Instead of
bottling up your feelings and increasing your stress, respectfully let others know about

your concerns. Or be more willing to compromise and try meeting others halfway on an
issue.
• Adapt to the stressor. When you can’t change the stressor, try changing yourself.
Reframe problems or focus on the positive things in your life. If a task at work has you
stressed, focus on the aspects of your job you do enjoy.
• Accept the things you can’t change. There will always be stressors in life that you can’t
do anything about. Learn to accept the inevitable rather than rail against a situation and
making it even more stressful. Look for the upside in a situation—even the most
stressful circumstances can be an opportunity for learning or personal growth. Learn to
accept that no one, including you, is ever perfect.
Learning to Stay in the Present
A less formal approach to mindfulness can also help you to stay in the present and fully
participate in your life. You can choose any task or moment to practice informal mindfulness,
whether you are eating, showering, walking, touching a partner, or playing with a child or
grandchild. Attending to these points will help:
• Start by bringing your attention to the sensations in your body
• Breathe in through your nose, allowing the air downward into your lower belly. Let
your abdomen expand fully.
• Now breathe out through your mouth
• Notice the sensations of each inhalation and exhalation
• Proceed with the task at hand slowly and with full deliberation
• Engage your senses fully by noticing each sight, touch, and sound
Results and Discussions
Gender Wise Classification
Table 1
Gender Wise Classification
Gender Number of Respondents Percentage
Male 48 40
Female 72 60
Total 120 100
Source: Primary Data
Experience Wise Classification: The demographic profile of the respondents on the basis of
experience group is given in table-2.

Experience Wise Classification
Table 2
Experience Wise Classification
Experience Number of Respondents Percentage
0-6 years 48 40
6-12 years 48 40
More than 12 years 24 20
Total 120 100
Source: Primary Data
Analysis of Stress Creator Factors
Table 3
Analysis of Stress Creator Factor
Opinion
No. of Respondents
Agree Disagree No Response Total
Job Insecurity 113 7 - 120
Poor students behavior and their negative
attitude towards Study
108 12 - 120
Ineffective leadership at Department Level /
Management Politics
102 12 6 120
Lack of Motivation 96 23 1 120
Negative Attitude of Colleagues 72 36 12 120
Excessive Additional duty 48 60 12 120
Involvement in non-teaching duty 96 11 13 120
Lack of Research & Personal Growth
Opportunities
60 37 23 120
Work-home Conflicts 109 - 11 120
Total 120
Source: Field Data

The above table shows that opinions or stress creator factors about the teaching and
handling students. 94% of the College teachers assume job insecurity, 90% of respondents
assume Poor students behavior and their negative attitude towards study, and 85% of
respondents assume Ineffective leadership at Department Level / Management politics lack of
motivation, 80% of respondents assume lack of motivation, 60 % of respondents believe
negative attitude of colleagues, 40% of respondents think excessive additional duty, 80 % of
respondents feel involvement in non-teaching duty, 50% of lack of research & personal growth
opportunities and 91% of respondents believe that work-home conflicts are the key stress
creator factors.
Physical and Mental Impact of Stress
Table 4
Impact of Stress
Opinions
No. of Respondents
Agree Disagree No. Response Total
Mood disturbance 108 7 5 120
Psychological distress 113 7 - 120
Negative about career 60 36 24 120
Lowered efficiency 96 23 1 120
Anxiety 114 1 5 120
Lowered morale 72 37 11 120
Depression 112 - 8 120
Cardiovascular disease 96 11 13 120
Fatigue 116 4 - 120
Increased efficiency 53 60 7 120
Increased Effectiveness 35 41 24 120
Total 120
Source: Field Data
The table 4 shows that majority of respondents believe that stress create negative impact
on teachers community.90% of respondents assume that stress create mood disturbance, 94%
of respondents think it create psychological distress, 50% of respondents feel it create negative
about career, 80% of respondents assume it create lowered efficiency, 95% of respondents feel
stress create anxiety, 60% of respondents think it lowered morale, 93% of respondents assume
stress create depression, 80% of respondents create cardiovascular disease, 97% of respondents
feel that stress create fatigue, 44% of respondents assume that it increase efficiency &
effectiveness.

Stress Managing Techniques
Table 5
Techniques Adopted To Manage Stress
Opinion Number of Respondents Percentage
Yoga and Exercise 24 20
Believe in actions rather than fruits 48 40
Playing with children 7 6
Interaction with positive Colleagues 10 8
Reading Motivational Books 14 12
Rest 5 4
Positive Attitude 12 10
Total 120
Source: Field Data
The table 5 indicates the stress managing techniques. 40% of the college teachers accept
‘Believe in actions rather than fruits’ can be used to manage stress and they rank it at I while
only 4% of the college teachers assume rest can be used as stress managing techniques and
rank it at VII. 20% of the college teachers undertake yoga and exercise, 12 % read motivational
books, 10% of college teacher believe in positive attitude, 8% believe in interaction with
positive colleagues, 6% of college teachers play with children's.
Findings
• Stress key factors like Poor students’ behavior and their negative attitude, Job Insecurity
,Ineffective leadership at Department Level, Negative Attitude of Colleagues, Lack of
Motivation, Additional duty, Involvement in non-teaching duty, Personal Growth
Opportunities, and Conflicts of work home has been observed.
• Stress management key techniques like Rather than fruits believe in actions, Yoga and
exercise, Reading Motivational Books, Positive Attitude, Interaction with positive
Colleagues, Playing with children, Rest has been observed. The ‘Rather than fruits
believe in actions’ has been used to manage stress.
Conclusion
Our prehistoric ancestors were free from facing city traffic and short- tempered bosses.,
but they had their share of psychological stress that produced no actual physical bodily insult.
From both a physical vis a vis psychological point, our ancestors lived a much more stressful
existence than we do today. However, we clearly make things worse for ourselves. Take

compulsive exercisers. These people can actually become addicted to strenuous exercise, because
this behavior imposes a severe stress on metabolism and results in the steady release of
endorphin. Responsible for "runner's high," this pain-killer is similar to morphine in its addictive
capabilities. Extreme exercise also releases cortical, which though useful in maintaining
circulatory and respiratory function, can lead to bone loss, hypertension, and death of brain cells.
In yet another scenario, meeting a deadline at work is a source of pressure, but is not life-
threatening, and yet it contributes to ill health by invoking an unnecessary release of stress
hormones i.e. Adrenaline. Are we stressed in today's society? Of course we are. But the
important thing to remember is that all animals, including ourselves, are confronted with
innumerable types of stress and always have been. We should ignore the incessant mantra of
ours being the Age of Stress and put things in a more historical and evolutionary perspective.
So at last I would like to say that there are so many options we have to get rid of stress but we
always try to ignore them just because of our hectic schedule. Today’s fact is we are running
after money and try to earn more and more just to compete other but we never think that this
competitive life has become a reason of losing our health and emotions. Psychologically we are
harming ourselves as well as our family. If we’ll not avoid it today then definitely it can badly
harm our future because stress is increasing day by day but still we have time to save
ourselves by so many mediums and mode as we have discussed above.
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IMPACT OF STRESS ON MORALITY OF TEACHERS IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITY : A CASE STUDY IN LUCKNOW

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