Workplace Stress (AQA A Level Psychology): Revision Note

Workplace stress: workload & control

• Karasek (1979) linked two major factors in his job demands-control model of workplace stress

  • workload

  • control

• Workload refers to the stressful demands of a job, e.g., having too many tasks to complete in a short amount of time

• Control refers to how much meaningful influence an employee has over how, when and where work gets done, e.g., being able to complete tasks at home or in the office

  • Karasek argued that job control acts as a buffer against the negative effects of job demands, so that workloads only become stressful for those who lack control over their work

Research which investigates the effect of workload and control

• Bosma et al. (1997) carried out a prospective study of over 10,000 civil servants who were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire measuring workload and job control

• Participants were examined for symptoms of coronary heart disease (CHD) and followed up after 5 years

• The researchers found no correlation between workload and illness, suggesting job demands were not a significant workplace stressor

• However, participants who said they had little control over their jobs had a higher chance of developing CHD five years later

• The effect held even when risk factors such as lifestyle, smoking and diet were statistically accounted for, and it was also true across all job grades

  • A later analysis by Bosma et al. (1998) confirmed that the relationship was not affected by individual differences in personality, such as anger and competitiveness, or by coping styles

Evaluation of workplace stress

Strengths

• Research evidence supports the claim that high workload and lack of control contribute to stress-related illnesses

• Johansson et al.(1978) conducted a natural experiment on Swedish sawmill workers comparing 14 'finishers', whose repetitive work was machine-paced, demanding and carried out in isolation, with cleaners who had more control, greater flexibility and more contact with other workers

  • Adrenaline and noradrenaline levels in the finishers' urine were already higher than the cleaners' before work began, increased further over the day while the cleaners' levels decreased, and the finishers also had more stress-related illness and higher absenteeism

    • This suggests that overload and lack of control create chronic physiological arousal even at rest, which in turn leads to the production of stress hormones and the development of stress-related illnesses

Limitations

• The job demands-control model is simplistic, as how much stress a worker experiences is the outcome of a complex interaction between the kind of work they do and how well they use coping mechanisms

  • There is also likely to be a difference between the objective amount of control or support an employee has and their perception of how much they have

• Some research shows that too much control can also be a source of workplace stress

  • E.g. Meier et al. (2008) used a detailed questionnaire measuring feelings of stress (job strain) and found that employees with a low sense of self-efficacy reported more strain in jobs that gave them more control, while for employees with high self-efficacy beliefs low control was more stressful

• Whether control is stressful depends on self-efficacy: the degree to which someone believes they have the capability to perform tasks successfully

  • It makes sense that someone who believes they are not up to the job is going to find having a lot of control over that job stressful

Issues & Debates

• Most workplace stress research uses a nomothetic method, aiming to uncover general laws by studying large groups

  • This allows broad conclusions to be drawn but ignores individual differences that could affect stress, such as personality, job satisfaction or coping style

• The job demands-control model suggests that workplace stress is determined by external factors like high workload and low control, implying that employees have little choice in how they respond

  • However, people may exercise free will by using coping strategies (e.g., time management, seeking support), showing that stress responses are not entirely pre-determined