Occupational Stress and Disease

The link between occupational stress and disease is a difficult one to prove since the workers' characteristics and the stressors outside of the workplace complicate this relationship. There is, however, evidence that supports the conclusion that occupational stress is related to illness and disease. This evidence falls into two categories: physiological and psychological.

Physiological

Physiological arousal accompanies occupational stress. Airplane pilots have been found to have an elevated heart rate and military pilots have elevated blood pressure during takeoff and landing. However, blue-collar jobs that are paced by machines have also been found to be physiologically arousing. Further, jobs that involve a hurried pace and relative lack of control over that pace by the worker lead to increased heart and blood pressure rates.

Many studies have implicated occupational stress in the development of illness and disease. The relationship of cardiovascular disease to occupational stress has been a consistent finding among researchers. In addition to coronary heart disease, work stress has been linked to hypertension, diabetes, and peptic ulcers.

Psychological

Occupational stress also has consequences for your psychological health. For example, it has been found that some occupational stressors can result in low self-esteem, increased job tension, and lower job satisfaction.
Occupational Stressors

Workers report more occupational stress when work objectives are unclear, when they have conflicting demands placed upon them, when they have too little or too much to do, when they have little input into decisions that affect them, and when they are made responsible for other workers' professional development.

Lack of Participation

One of the factors of the workplace and the organization's modus operandi that is related to stress is the degree of participation. Workers' perceptions of the degree of participation in the decision-making process, the degree to which they are consulted on issues affecting the organization, and their involvement in establishing rules of behavior at work have proven to be related to job satisfaction, job-related feelings of threat, and feelings of self-esteem.

Others have found that nonparticipation is related to overall poor physical health, escapist drinking, depression, dissatisfaction with life, low motivation to work, intention to leave the job, and absenteeism.

Role Problems

A clear sense of your role in an organization and a sense that you can 'play the part' are important in keeping stress at a minimum. A variety of role-related problems may arise for workers who lack these feelings.

Role Overload

When job demands are so great that the worker feels an inability to cope, stress will develop. You can imagine the feeling of having too much to do in too little time.

Role Insufficiency

When workers lack the training, education, skills, or experience to accomplish the job, they feel stressed. A poor fit between workers' talents and the organization's expectations creates disharmony and dissatisfaction.

Role Ambiguity

When aspects of the job and workplace are unclear, frustration and stress are likely to develop. Workers should know the criteria for career advancement, the priorities of the organization, and generally, what is expected of them.

Role Conflict

Sometimes, workers are caught in a bind. Two supervisors each expect something different. The worker may be faced with conflicting demands. This is the 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' dilemma.

On the next page we will begin our discussion of Stress Management Strategies.