Workplace Stress: Conditions, Impacts, Research, and Methodologies

This report investigates the impact of stress on individuals within a working environment, exploring its effects on time management, relationships, focus, and health. It examines how stress can lead to poor time management due to overwhelming workloads, strained relationships with peers and supervisors, lack of focus affecting memory and concentration, and negative health conditions including cardiovascular issues. The research employs questionnaires, interviews, observations, and focus groups to gather data from employees and employers across different organizations. Analytical findings reveal that stress is increasingly impacting workers' lives, with a significant percentage attributing stress to top management practices. The report also highlights the physiological mechanisms behind stress, such as alarm reactions to perceived threats, and discusses the implications for organizational performance and employee well-being. Desklib provides this report as a resource for students studying organizational psychology and workplace management.

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 1
DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS
By (Name)
Name of the Course
Name of the Instructor
Name of the University
City and state
Due date

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 2
IMPACT OF STRESS AT WORK
Research question
To what extent do you think that stress is capable of affecting various individuals within
a particular working environment?
Introduction
A workplace is known to be an environment that constitutes a wide range of individuals
originating from different backgrounds. Normally, quite a number of activities takes place within
different working environments where people normally relate with one another in different ways
(Khamisa et al. 2015). Stress is one of the major issues that has caused various impacts in the
lives of different people. It is normally experienced in different ways depending on the situation
which an individual is subjected to. Stress, has always been given a different meaning in the
initial years where different individuals have been able to come on board with different
perceptions regarding what it entails under various circumstances. Originally, stress was known
to be a form of pressure from the surrounding environment that led to the straining effects within
a particular individual. The widely accepted definitions in this current world are one of some
known forms of interaction that takes place between the situation and a particular individual. On
the other hand, it is the psychological together with the physical state that normally comes on
board when the resources that belong to a given individual are not sufficient enough to cope up
with the required demands and even pressure that is related to the entire situation (Abbas, Raja
2015). Due to this, stress is a condition that is likely to come on board inform of different ways
among various personalities. One of the adverse issues related to it is that it can undermine the

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 3
achievement of various types of goals that have been set by either an organization or an
individual (Marine et al. 2006). Stress can be caused by a variety of ways depending on the
situation that both the organization and the individuals working within it are going through.
Impacts of stress at work
Aforementioned, stress is known to cause a lot of impacts within a workplace thus
affecting the lives of various individuals in a negative way. the following are some of the
impacts that are associated with stress within any given workplace;
Poor time management- The positive outcome attached to stress is that it has the capability of
jumpstarting the adrenalin of a given personality thereby motivating him or her to carry out
different tasks within the shortest time possible in relation to the impending deadlines that are yet
to be attained (Yu et al. 2015). On the other hand, any situation that involves an overwhelming
condition of workload, lack of appropriate and reliable support together with too many demands
that might occur at once are known to be capable of contributing various frustrating conditions
and panicking among the workers who are assigned different tasks within a particular working
environment, this normally comes as a result of insufficient time to complete the provided work
in real time (McCraty, Atkinson and Tomasino 2007). The stress of not being able to manage a
given time frame in an appropriate manner will always lead to the fueling of employees'
resentment most so towards their respective companies and at the same time will be able to
negatively influence their respective commitments and loyalty in their daily lives and
experiences (DeFrank and Cooper 2008).
 Strained relationships- Stress is one of the major factors that contribute to burning out in
various jobs together with strained interactions that normally occur with peers and

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 4
different supervisors. These forms of strained relationships tend to weaken the bonds that
exist between different workers within a given organization. This further reduces their
performance (Scott et al. 2015).
 Lack of focus among the workers- Once stress is experienced within a workplace, lack of
focus will automatically emerge among the employees and employers within the working
environment. It affects the ability of an individual to remember different things taking
place within the surrounding most so those issues that they already know in their mind
(Chaudhuri et al. 2015). In order to efficiently process new information, one is normally
expected to perfectly apply both the analytical together with a variety of the physical
tasks that require higher levels of concentration (Leung, Liang and Olomolaiye 2015).
When an individual is mentally exhausted and at the same time is going through
conditions of tension and anxieties that occur as a result of a stressful environment, there
is a high probability that the individual is likely to make quite a number of mistakes that
can affect both the individuals and the entire organization in a negative way.
 Negative health conditions- In addition to sleep disorders, problems associated with
vision and even headache, stress has gone further to affect the cardiovascular together
with several other systems that are present within the body (Aizer, Stroud and Buka
2016). This is when the health of a particular individual starts to deteriorate compared to
their initial conditions.
The current workplaces that are found in this modern society are known to be stressing us out
and even go as far as negatively impacting on our health conditions. Employees have been
among those who have been working for too many hours where such like working conditions
have been highlighted to be the major causes of high blood pressure together with being a host of

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 5
different other health-related diseases (Goldhagen et al. 2015). The absence of job control plus
the economic conditions of insecurity has got the capability of contributing to stress-related
conditions. A combination of working for a long period and at the same time having high levels
of stress can literally lead to the loss of life of a given individual. Quite a number of researchers
have been able to come on board to show some of the negative impacts of workplace stress that a
number of individuals normally experience within their respective work environments (Meyer
2015). As far a research is concerned, the mortality rate that deals with excess stress can only be
compared to some of the major causes of death which includes heart disease and even accidents
(Kushlev and Dunn 2015).
Methodology
Quite a number of methods were brought into consideration by this research with an
intention of coming up with the appropriate outcome. The following are some of the appropriate
methods; the use of questionnaires, interviews, together with the use of focus groups.
 Questionnaires-Questionnaires were presented to different parties where they were
supposed to provide appropriate answers regarding the impacts of stress at work. To
come up with the appropriate conclusion, different working organizations were presented
with the questionnaires where both their employees and employers were supposed to give
their perspectives by responding to the questions in a reasonable manner. Additionally,
the organizations that were subjected to the research questions were selected from
different regions but not from one particular point. A total of ten questions were present
in each questionnaire that perfectly described issues related to stress at work.
 Interviews- The research made sure that an interview was carried across different
personalities in order to come up with a firsthand set of information. Some of the

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 6
individuals that were fully involved in the whole interview process were the employees
within the selected organizations, they were interviewed various issues pertaining their
daily experiences with stress and how it has gone further to affect them in their work-
related positions (Lipton et al. 20115). The interviews were made at different times
probably when each and every individual was facing his or her stress-related condition.
 Observations- The use of observation techniques pertaining various scenarios is another
technique that was employed by this research to extract the first-hand information from
various employees and employers pertaining how work-related stress has impacted in
their lives in one way or another. The observations were made at different working hours
and appropriate information was recorded for further analysis of the whole situation. The
above-mentioned research methods were carried out in a systematic manner without
making any assumptions in order to bring on board appropriate information that is fir for
analysis and come up with one of the relevant information so far.
 Implementation of focus groups- Different types of focus groups was also utilized by this
research to bring out a clear meaning on the impacts that are likely to emerge as a result
of stress being experienced in different working environments. the focus groups were put
into groups of ten which included both the men and women where they were asked
several questions regarding what they have felt and encountered in relation to tress in
their respective work environments (Gunasingam et al. 2015). The information that was
provided by each and every individual within the focus groups was properly documented
to be used for further analysis in the research.

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 7
Analytical findings
After carrying out the research through the aforementioned methods, there was a variety
of findings that were obtained as a result of all the research methods. The research came up with
a finding which clearly stated that the rate at which stress is impacting negatively in the lives of
various workers and even employers in different work environments is increasing on a daily
basis (Pransky, Robertson and Moon 2008). An approximated percentage of 70% of the
individuals who were interviewed were able to clearly state that stress is become a major threat
both in their lives and in the lives of their colleagues and is slowly replacing several other
deadliest diseases that have endangered the lives of people of the past years. On the other hand,
about 40% of the respondents who were subjected to interview questions clearly stated that the
top management officials within their respective organizations play a crucial role when it comes
to causing a lot of threat within the working environment. The worst situation is that this has
even led to the quitting of jobs by various employees since it reaches a point where they can't
bear the situation anymore and the only option is to quit and look for conducive environments
that tend to be friendly with what they deliver. As per the information collected by the above
methods, an approximation of 10% of deaths are being experienced almost on a yearly basis in
quite a number of working environments where this has mainly been caused by stress-related
conditions (Tyssen et al. 2009). on the other hand, the poor performance of employees within
their organizations is one of the major impacts that normally results from stress thereby this has
led to the decline of almost 30% of different organizations over the past five years. A number of
individuals who were interviewed, most of them being the employees of various chosen
organizations were able to say that the bosses who appear to be the major cause of stress are
sometimes not aware of what they are capable of causing. Apparently, various individuals who

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 8
normally go through these impacts of stress are always afraid to stand out and speak for
themselves in relation to the situation that they are always going through. This is why at some
point; the issue tends to move to higher levels where it is not easy to deal with it.
Normally, the degree of stress that is experienced fully relies on the functioning
associated with the two perspective psychological mechanisms (Giorgi et al. 2015). Alarm
reaction is one of the first steps that clearly explains how stress is caused. This normally occurs
during situations when an individual is confronted with different types of threats thereby leading
to psychological arousal as one of the first response that is being encountered by a particular
individual. This then leads to the tension that is transmitted to various muscles located within the
body accompanied by a higher rate of breathing together with heat beat (Zander et al. 2015).
Adaptation is another mechanism as to how stress is caused, it normally allows us to try as much
as possible to cease any kind of response most so when an individual learns that the stimuli that
exist in the surrounding environment is no longer associated with any kind of threat to his or her
safety (Blaze and Roth 2015). Conditions of stress are normally experienced when either of the
above-mentioned mechanisms tends not to function in an appropriate manner or even when an
individual finds it very difficult to switch from one condition to the other (Khoury et al. 2015).
There are different types of workplace factors that are known to be causing stress among the
workers or even the employers within an organization. Normally, any given workplace is
presented as an important source that is associated with either demands or pressures that are
likely to trigger the emergence of stress together with several other conditions of social resources
specifically meant to counteract stress (Nielsen et al. 2015). Some of the workplace
characteristics that have got the potential of leading to an emergence of stress within a given
work place can always be categorized as those to clearly do with the content of a particular

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 9
amount of work that a person is always subjected to and on the other hand, there are those that
are related to both the social and organization condition within the workplace. some of the
factors that are normally intrinsic to a particular type of job are known to include; an overloaded
work condition, long periods of working hours and even pressure that is related to time. various
tasks that are always unclear or even some of the conflicting roles together with various
boundaries can lead to the emergence of stress (Kandola, Bowman and Birch‐Machin 2015). The
possibilities that are attached to any kind of job development play an essential role as some of
the important buffers whereas on the other hand, specific issues like under promotion, lack of
appropriate and reliable training and even different aspects of insecurities being recognized as
some of the stressful conditions. In most circumstances, there are always two types of stress that
mainly include the relationships that are being encountered within a given workplace and the
culture towards which the organization operates (Cropanzano, et al. 2010). The managers and the
top management officials who are always critical and even unsupportive in terms of their
operations are known to be capable of catalyzing situations that are related to stress. An
organizational culture most so the one that is associated with unpaid overtime situations are some
of the major factors that cause stress within individuals (Luthar, Cicchetti and Becker 2009). On
the other hand, a given culture that tends to involve a number of individuals when it comes to
issues pertaining decision making, keeping them informed about each and every aspect that is
happening within the organization together with the provision of appropriate amenities have got
the potential of reducing levels of stress.
Over the past, a number of employees working for their respective organizations have
tried their level best to come up with relevant bodies that have got the potential of championing
for their rights when it comes to matters pertaining stress-related situations being caused by any

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 10
member within the working environment, unfortunately, they have not been able to succeed due
to lack of support and appropriate rules and regulations intended to govern the entire situation.
Employees being part of the interview process of this research, more than 90% of them were able
to support the implementation of new rules and regulations that will be able to prevent a good
number of stress-related conditions within their working stations and at the same time offer high
levels of motivation that will keep pushing them to higher levels of success.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is beyond any reasonable doubt that the impact of stress at work is one
of the current issues being faced by different people with a larger percentage of them being the
employees. When this issue is not well addressed, it might end up affecting a large population of
individuals thereby subjecting them to dangerous situations that might even end up impacting
negatively as far as their health conditions are concerned. It is a high time the government
together with individual organization clearly came on board to address this issue through the use
of a number of essential strategies. What is disadvantageous about stress-related conditions is
that apart from affecting people at an individual level, it has the potential of lowering the
performance of an organization thus leading to huge amounts of losses. On the other hand, there
should be the creation of awareness across different parties since this is the only way to clearly
show them how stress is capable of causing quite a number of destructions specifically within a
given individual. The awareness is likely to equip them with important aspects as to how best
they can handle or even avoid any situation that might subject them to stress. This, on the other
hand, will help to perfectly lower the number of victims being affected by stress on a daily basis.
Appropriate rules and regulations should also be set on board to ensure that quite a number of
issues are placed in order and even go ahead as motivating people within a particular working

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 11
environment. These rules and regulations should work in such a way that they have all the
capabilities of strongly supporting individuals who are going through stress by solving out their
conditions in an advanced and appropriate manner. Additionally, there is the need to come up
with accurate technological advancements that can be able to carry out the allocation of various
parcels without even making a single error. Through this, any external influence from different
personalities will be minimized thus avoiding situations related to unethical behavior. The
technology should also be capable of being reliable whenever it is required to perform different
tasks. Employers, on the other hand, should also learn some of the best ways through which they
can perfectly relate with their employees in order to create a strong positive bond between them
for an efficient and better performance within the organization. According to this research, it is
clear that employers are the major cause of stress at work as a result of them subjecting their
employees under various environmental conditions that are not favorable. For example, giving
their employees a huge load of tasks to perform within the shortest time possible thereby leading
to conditions that are related to tension and finally leading to the emergence of stress among the
same employees. When employers realize the importance of being positive to their employees at
work then a higher percentage of stress being experienced at different workplaces shall have
been minimized as much as possible.

DEALING WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF STRESS 12
References
Abbas, M. and Raja, U., 2015. Impact of psychological capital on innovative performance and
job stress. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences/Revue Canadienne des Sciences de
l'Administration, 32(2), pp.128-138.
Aizer, A., Stroud, L. and Buka, S., 2016. Maternal stress and child outcomes: Evidence from
siblings. Journal of Human Resources, 51(3), pp.523-555.
Blaze, J. and Roth, T.L., 2015, July. Evidence from clinical and animal model studies of the
long-term and transgenerational impact of stress on DNA methylation. In Seminars in cell &
developmental biology (Vol. 43, pp. 76-84). Academic Press.
Cropanzano, R., Howes, J.C., Grandey, A.A. and Toth, P., 2010. The relationship of
organizational politics and support to work behaviors, attitudes, and stress. Journal of
Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and
Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 18(2), pp.159-180.
Chaudhuri, O., Gu, L., Darnell, M., Klumpers, D., Bencherif, S.A., Weaver, J.C., Huebsch, N.
and Mooney, D.J., 2015. Substrate stress relaxation regulates cell spreading. Nature
communications, 6, p.6365.
DeFrank, R.S. and Cooper, C.L., 2008. Worksite stress management interventions: Their
effectiveness and conceptualisation. Journal of managerial psychology, 2(1), pp.4-10.