The “Course Topics” series from Manage Train Learn and Slide Topics is a collection of over 4000 slides that will help you master a wide range of management and personal development skills. The 202 PowerPoints in this series offer you a complete and in-depth study of each topic. This presentation is on "Stressors".

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Stressors
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MTL Course Topics
STRESS
MANAGEMENT
Stressors

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Stressors
Stress Management
MTL Course Topics
The Course Topics series from Manage Train Learn is a large collection of topics that will help you as a learner
to quickly and easily master a range of skills in your everyday working life and life outside work. If you are a
trainer, they are perfect for adding to your classroom courses and online learning plans.
COURSE TOPICS FROM MTL
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ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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INTRODUCTION
A "stressor" is any factor which triggers a stress response.
This can be any stimulus which is felt to be or perceived to
be a threat to us. In itself, the stressor is not responsible for
our stress; it is the combination of the stressor and our
reaction to it that causes stress.

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VULNERABLE TIMES
A vulnerability to stress may be due to personality factors as
well as the situations we find ourselves in. In the workplace,
the following are likely to be the most vulnerable to stress:
1. those who feel under-valued
2. those undergoing phases of personal re-adjustment,
possibly a change of job or a change in relationships
3. those who experience no sense of satisfaction or
challenge in their lives
4. those who are stuck in a rut, possibly in the middle of
an organisation or in the middle of a career
5. those who feel unable to control their environment
whether because of pressures from above or from
below
6. those who feel inadequate
7. those who are forced by circumstances to perform
outside their normal comfort zones without any
support.

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STRESSORS
Anything can act as a stressor if it causes pressure we
cannot handle.
The following are six of the most common stressors met at
work and non-work:
1. the environment causes stress from its artificiality, pace
and speed, and indifference to individual needs
2. the jobs we do cause stress according to the need to
perform, often in situations of danger
3. the workplace causes stress when we are unable to cope
with the demands of others
4. our personalities cause stress when we drive ourselves to
do things because of our own high expectations or the
expectations of others
5. life events cause stress cumulatively if they come at us at
a rate that we cannot handle
6. we, ourselves, cause stress by driving ourselves to behave
in ways that are unhealthy.

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THE ENVIRONMENT
The environment in its broadest sense is often cited as the
number one stressor in our lives, particularly for those of us
who live in urbanised or industrial surroundings.
1. we are surrounded by the products of our high-
technology inventiveness but suffer noise, pollution and
a constant assault on the senses
2. we join organisational life and find ourselves trapped
into an endless merry-go-round of working and
acquiring from which we find it difficult to escape
3. we feel that our self-worth can only be measured in
how we rate against our fellow men and women. So we
compete against them for higher and higher prizes.

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JOBS
Professor Cary Cooper of the University of Manchester has
produced stress ratings for different occupations. He awards
three stars (high) to pilots, actors and the police; two stars
(medium) to fire and rescue services, broadcasters and
personnel managers; and one star (low) to buyers, librarians
and printers.
Statistically, the greatest toll of stressful work appears to fall
on doctors, dentists, managers and administrators.
Some quiet jobs have stressful moments. Kasl's studies of
stress in 1978 showed that the stress felt by tax accountants
rockets as they approach the end of the financial year.
One of the drawbacks to Cooper's ratings is the tendency to
equate dangerous jobs with stress. In many jobs, people
thrive on stress and the excitement that goes with it.

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BURN-OUT
"Burn-out" is the term used for emotional exhaustion in a
job. It typically creates a callous de-personalised view of
others. In the caring professions such as nursing and social
work, burn-out creates carers who no longer care.
Burn-out leads to thoughts of leaving or changing work,
symptoms of frustration, depression and excessive
defensiveness, plus the belief that nothing will make a
difference to the problem.
Burn-out is both common with the novice who throws him
or herself into a job only to become quickly disappointed; as
well as the person who becomes disillusioned after years in
the same job.
Gaines and Jermier studied 208 police officers in 1983 and
found high incidences of burn-out. Professional support and
the support of colleagues and supervisors is essential for
helping people get through burn-out.

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THE WORKPLACE
The workplace is a breeding ground for stress. The
workplace intensifies acquisitive as well as competitive
behaviour; forces people into relationships which they may
not want or like; and gives people jobs that they are not
suited for or happy with.
In 1975, Robert Caplan researched the reasons people gave
for feeling stress at work. They were as follows:
1. under-use of skills: 59%
2. job complexity: 47%
3. job ambiguity: 39%
4. role conflict: 33%
5. responsibility for others: 32%
According to Dr Vernon Coleman, 60% of employees feel
their lives are significantly stressed, 50% had difficulty
concentrating and 40% said stress was ruining their love life.

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WORKPLACE STRESSORS
Surveys into workplace stress suggest that, while a majority
of people are happy at work, many of us lead miserable lives
because of the intolerable, and often private, burden of
stress. Some of the principal workplace stressors are:
1. a job whose demands are too great
2. a job whose demands are too low
3. unsocial hours
4. poor or unsafe conditions
5. working with people we detest
6. working for a boss we detest
7. win-lose game-playing and office politics
8. the use of bullying and harassment
9. dishonest practices by those around us
10. pressures to perform
11. the pace of change
12. job insecurity.

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PROFESSIONAL STRESS
The busy stressed executive has long been regarded as the
archetypical stress victim.
In a survey in "International Management" magazine,
executives across the world were asked to say what their
greatest sources of stress were. In Western countries such
as the USA, the UK and Germany, the top 5 were: time
pressures and deadlines; work overload; long working
hours; taking work home; and the demands of work on
family relationships.
The survey showed variations in each country for the
highest stressor. In the UK, it was "the amount of travel
required"; in Sweden, "demands on private life"; in Japan,
"keeping up with new technology"; in Germany, "attending
long meetings"; and in the USA, "inadequate subordinates".

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PERSONALITY
In the 1950's, Dr Meyer Friedman and Dr Ray Rosenman
discovered a high level of heart disease amongst men who
displayed certain personality characteristics. They called
these types: Personality type A in contrast to Personality
type B who displayed fewer of the characteristics.
According to their research, type A's were 6.5 times more
likely to have coronary problems than type B. Friedman and
Rosenman found that similar rates were found among
Trappist monks, suggesting that personality and not
environment was the key factor.
In recent years, a further personality type, the paddling
ducks, who appear on the surface to be coping well but
underneath are paddling away furiously, have been
identified and categorised as type C.

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PERSONALITY TYPE A
The key features of Personality type A, the most susceptible
to stress-related disease are:
1. very competitive
2. strong, forceful personality
3. does everything quickly
4. ambitious
5. strives for promotion at work and social advancement
outside work
6. wants public recognition
7. feels restless when inactive
8. speaks quickly, walks quickly, eats quickly
9. thrives on doing several things at once
10. very impatient
11. extremely time-conscious, revels in having deadlines to
meet
12. always arrives on time.

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PERSONALITY TYPE B
The key features of Personality type B, the low stress
personality, are:
1. not competitive at work or play
2. an easy-going manner
3. goes about things slowly and methodically
4. not overly ambitious
5. is fairly content with present position at work and
socially
6. has no desire for public recognition
7. slow to be aroused to anger
8. speaks slowly, is unhurried in walking and eating
9. is happier to do things one at a time
10. very patient
11. not time-conscious; forgets about deadlines and
commitments
12. is often late.

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PERSONALITY TYPE C
The key features of Personality type C, the paddling ducks,
are:
1. over-achievers who do more than they need
2. hyperactive in a quiet, non-demonstrative way
3. plodders
4. stoic, they suffer in silence
5. dependable
6. cheerful
7. believe they can relax only after work is done
8. never give in to illness or fatigue
9. find it hard to say "No" to any request
10. perfectionist
11. driven by fear of failure
12. set very high expectations of self
13. difficulty in expressing their feelings
14. difficulty in admitting their vulnerability.

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LIFE EVENTS
The Social Readjustment Ratings Scale was devised by two
American doctors, H. Holmes and R. H. Rahe, who noticed
the connection between stressful life events and the onset
of health problems in over 5000 of their patients. Some of
the problems included infectious illness and injuries.
The scale lists 41 life events which, when they happen to
someone, require different levels of personal adjustment. At
the top of the scale is: death of a spouse and divorce.
Midway are: retirement and pregnancy. At the bottom are
trouble with the boss, changes at work and Christmas.
Each event is given a rating, the largest being 100. By adding
up the number of events which have occurred in the last six
or nine months, an individual can arrive at a stress
vulnerability score. A score of 300 or more is regarded as
high vulnerability.

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OURSELVES
Much of the stress we feel in our lives originates with
ourselves and our own self-image. When our self-image is
fashioned by what we think others expect, as it is in our
growing years, then much of the stress we feel comes from
not meeting others' expectations.
In order to live up to what others expect, we therefore
devise strategies which we believe will obtain others'
approval. For much of the time we are unaware of these
strategies. Only when we recognize that they are a driving
force in us, do we realise that they are our responses to
stressful situations. These so-called "drivers" often make
stressful situations worse by driving us on to do better than
before.
There are nine commonly recognised drivers. We can each
display symptoms of each driver, but in each of us one
driver will predominate throughout our lives.

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THE NINE PERSONAL DRIVERS
The nine personal drivers are the motivations we have to
protect ourselves from danger, to be better than others and
to be liked by others. They are:
1. the drive to be perfect: to do everything well and to be
even better at the next job than the present one
2. the drive to be nice to others: to relate well to everyone
you meet
3. the drive to succeed in others' eyes
4. the drive to be oneself: unique and special
5. the drive to be in control through knowing what is
happening in your environment
6. the drive to be safe and avoid risk
7. the drive to be happy and avoid pain
8. the drive to be strong and control others
9. the drive to not have to do anything you don't want to
do.

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THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn