Stress in organizations

This chapter summarizes research on stress in organizations. We give an introduction into the concepts of stress, stressors, and stress reactions. We present theories on organizational stress and review evidence from empirical research. Particularly, we focus on observational and longitudinal studies that show that stressors at work have a detrimental effect on health and well-being. We discuss resources such as control at work, social support, coping styles, and self-esteem as potential moderators in the stress process. We describe findings from laboratory and field studies on stress and its effect on performance. We address the question whether stress is related to other organizational variables, including organizational commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. We review research findings on stress interventions and discuss stressor reduction, increase of resource, strain reduction, and life-style change as major stress intervention approaches. We suggest directions for future research for increasing knowledge about stress in organizations. Keywords: health; longitudinal research; performance; resources; stress; stress intervention; well-being