978-0132729833 Chapter 4 Solution Manual

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C H A P T E R F O U R

Coping with

Organizational Life:

Emotions and Stress 4

Lecture Outline

Understanding Emotions and Mood

Properties of Emotions

Types of Emotions

The Basic Nature of Mood

The Role of Emotions and Mood in

Organizations

Are Happier People More Successful

in Their Jobs?

Why Are Happier Workers More

Successful?

A*ective Events Theory

Managing Emotions in Organizations

Developing Emotional Intelligence

Coping with Emotional Dissonance

Controlling Anger Before it Control

You

The Basic Nature of Stress

Stressors in Organizations

Cognitive Appraisal Process

Bodily Responses to Stressors

Major Causes of Stress in the Workplace

Occupational Demands

Con0ict Between Work and

Non-work

Role Ambiguity: Stress from

Uncertainty

Overload: So Much Work, So Little

Time

Responsibility for Others: A Heavy

Burden

Lack of Social Support: The Costs

of Isolation

Adverse E*ects of Organizational Stress

Lowered Task Performance

Desk Rage

Stress and Health

Reducing Stress: What Can Be Done?

Employee Assistance Programs

Stress Management Programs

Wellness Programs

Managing Your Own Stress

The 3rst part of the chapter describes the

problematic nature of stress in organizations. The

chapter begins with a discussion of the nature of

emotions and moods and their role in organizations.

The question of whether happier people are more

e*ective on the job is raised. Managing emotions in

the workplace and speci3cally the development of

emotional intelligence is explored. The discussion of

key stressors identi3es both cognitive and physical

response to stress in organizational life. Stress

reactions can have damaging behavioral,

psychological, and/or medical e*ects. Major causes

of stress in the workplace include occupational

demands, con0ict between work and non-work, role

ambiguity, and overload. Stress reduction programs

in organizations include employee assistance

programs (EAPs), wellness programs, and stress

management programs.

ANNOTATED OUTLINE

1. UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS AND MOOD

A. Properties of emotions

1. Emotions are overt reactions that express feelings about events

a. Emotions always have an object – someone or something

triggers emotions.

b. The spread of spread of emotions is contagious – emotional

contagion – the tendency to mimic others’ emotional

expressions, converging with them emotionally.

c. Expression of emotions is universal – the same facial

expressions are used throughout the world.

d. Culture determines how and when people express emotions –

display rules – the degree to which it is considered acceptable

to express emotions.

B. Types of Emotions

1. Self-conscious emotions versus social emotions

a. Self-conscious emotions refer to feelings that stem from

within while social emotions refer to people’s feelings based

on information external to themselves.

2. The circumplex model of a*ect summarizes emotions in terms of two

key dimensions: activated-unactivated and pleasant-unpleasant.

C. The basic nature of mood

1. Scientists de3ne mood as an unfocused, relatively mild feeling that

exists as background to our daily experiences.

2. THE ROLE OF EMOTIONS AND MOOD IN ORGANIZATIONS

A. Are happier people more successful on their jobs?

1. Job performance

2. Income

B. Why are happier people more successful?

1. Decision quality

2. Evaluation

3. Cooperation

C. A*ective events theory

1. A%ective events theory identi3es various factors that lead to

people’s emotional reactions on the job and how these reactions a*ect

those individuals.

2. Emotional labor – the degree to which people have to work hard to

display what they believe are appropriate emotions on the job.

3. Daily hassles – unpleasant or undesirable events that put people in

bad moods.

4. Daily uplifts – pleasant or desirable events that put people in good

moods.

3. MANAGING EMOTIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS

A. Developing emotional intelligence

1. Emotional intelligence – consists of four components:

a. Self-awareness

b. Self management

c. Social awareness

d. Relationship management

2. Two dimensions

a. Focus of attention

b. Form of response

B. Coping with emotional dissonance

1. Emotional dissonance – refers to the con0ict between the emotion

you feel and the one you are required to express.

a. Felt emotions – emotions people actually experience

b. Displayed emotions – emotions people actually show

C. Controlling anger (Before it Controls You)

1. Anger – a heightened state of emotional arousal

2. Anger management – systematic e*orts to reduce people’s

emotional feelings of anger and the physiological arousal it causes

4. THE BASIC NATURE OF STRESS

Ninety percent of American workers report feeling stressed at least once a

week and 40 percent describe their jobs as very stressful most of the time.

Stress is the pattern of emotional and physiological reactions occurring in

response to demands from within or outside organizations.

Stressors ― demands, either physical or psychological in nature,

encountered during the course of living.

A. Stressors in organizations

1. Acute stressors ― bring on some sudden change requiring people to

make unwanted adjustments

2. Episodic stressors ― result of experiencing lots of acute stressors in

a short period of time

3. Chronic stressors ― most extreme stressors that are constant and

unrelenting, and have a long-term e*ect on the body, mind, and spirit

B. Cognitive appraisal process

1. Assessment of the dangers associated with any potential stressor

based on cognitive appraisal ― the process of judging the extent to

which an environmental event is a potential source of stress.

2. Flight response ― instant appraisal of condition of danger

a. Managers need to recognize what they can do to ensure that

potential stressors are assessed accurately.

C. Bodily responses to stressors

1. Strain ― deviations from normal states of human function resulting

from exposure to stressful events.

2. Burnout ― a syndrome of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion

coupled with feelings of low self–esteem or low self–eEcacy, resulting

from prolonged exposure to intense stress and the strain reactions

following from them.

5. MAJOR CAUSES OF STRESS IN THE WORKPLACE

A. Occupational demands

1. Several features of the job determine the levels of stress they

generate.

a. Decision making

b. Constant monitoring of devises or materials

c. Repeatedly exchanging information with others

d. Working in unpleasant physical conditions

e. Performing unstructured rather than structured tasks

B. Con0ict between work and non-work

1. Role con,ict ― incompatibilities in the various sets of obligations

people have within organizations

2. Role juggling ― rapidly switching between demands of work and

family

C. Role ambiguity: stress from uncertainty

1. Role ambiguity ― when people are uncertain about several aspects

of their jobs.

a. Scope of responsibilities

b. What’s expected

c. Time management among various duties

D. Overload: so much work, so little time

1. Quantitative overload ― belief that one is required to do more work

than can possibly be completed in a speci3c period.

2. Qualitative overload ― belief that one lacks the required skills or

abilities to perform a given job.

3. Information anxiety ― pressure to store and process information in

our heads and keep up with it all.

E. Responsibility for others: a heavy burden

1. In general, responsibility for other people is associated with higher

levels of stress.

F. Lack of social support: the costs of isolation

1. Social support ― the friendship and support of others at work.

2. Sources of support help in several ways:

a. Boosting self–esteem

b. Sharing information

c. Providing diversion

d. Giving needed resources

6. ADVERSE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRESS

A. Lowered task performance ― but only sometimes

1. Adverse relationship between stress and job performance does not

always hold.

B. Desk rage

1. Desk rage ― lashing out at others in response to stressful encounters

on the job.

C. Stress and health: the silent killer

1. Estimates suggest that stress is a factor in 50 to 70 percent of all forms

of physical illness.

7. REDUCING STRESS: WHAT CAN BE DONE?

A. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) ― systematic programs within

organizations that provide employees with help for various personal problems

1. Member Assistance Programs (MAPs) are similar programs

administered by trade unions

B. Stress management programs ― training employees in techniques that

they can use to become less adversely a*ected by stress

Winning

Practices

Three Novel Approaches to Fighting the Battle Against Stress

Use Winning Practices Case for class discussion on company investment in e*orts to reduce

the stress of their employees and the bene3ts that are derived from these e*orts.

C. Wellness programs ― systematic e*orts at training employees to promote

healthy lifestyles

D. Managing your own stress

1. Manage your time wisely

a. Time management – the practice of taking control over how

we spend time

2. Eat a healthy diet and be physically 3t

3. Relax and meditate

4. Get a good night’s sleep

5. Avoid inappropriate self-talk

6. Take a time out

Self-Assessment Exercise What Is Your EI?

Students should consider the following upon completion of the exercise.

1. How successful were you at being able to predict the one response in each set of

alternatives that re0ected high emotional intelligence? (In other words, how closely

did your responses to scoring point number 1 match the correct responses indicated

in each scoring point number 2)?

2. How did your EQ compare to what you thought it would be? How did it compare to

those of other people in your class?

3. For item 7, why do you think the high EI answer was alternative “c” instead of “b”?

What does this scoring reveal about standing up for others as an aspect of emotional

intelligence?

You Be the Consultant Suggested Answers

1. Assuming that levels of stress are high in the company, what problems would you

expect to see in individuals, both physiologically and with respect to their job

performance?

Student answers will vary. Key points are presented in bullet form.

2. What steps can the company take to reduce the levels of stress encountered on the

job?

3. You consider the possibility that the stress stems from having the wrong people in

the job. What could you do to ensure that the people who work in your company are

particularly well-suited to the jobs they perform?