Stress Theory Of Job Demand Control

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Question 1 Stress is a leading of cause of mortality in the world (DeLongis, 1986). Indeed, it can result in many kinds of diseases but the most prominent are coronary heart disease, other vascular diseases like strokes and depression (DeLongis, 1986). This is why stress in the workplace has to be addressed since an adult will roughly spend a third of his life working (DeLongis, 1986) and therefore what Pamela is experiencing in her workplace should be addressed urgently. The stress theory of job demand-control (JDC) is applicable to her specific case and it will be demonstrated in which ways. The JDC theory is a contemporary and interactional theory which means that it will consider the interaction between Pamela and her environment therefore…show more content…
The second type of jobs are the “active jobs” where there are high demands but with high control, this represents the optimal job with a healthy level of job strain that an employee should face and these jobs lead to well-being as well as personal growth (Karasek, 1979; Leka & Houdmont, 2010). Thirdly the are “low strain jobs” with low demands and high control and finally the “passive jobs” which refer to jobs with both low demand and control which by nature result in demotivation due to a lack of intellectual stimulation and positive challenges which would push the employee to perform better (Karasek, 1979; Leka & Houdmont, 2010). “Passive jobs” have the potential to result in employee frustration which is a form of stress (Karasek, 1979). The JDC theory highlights the health outcomes of “high strain jobs” such as Pamela’s where her mental and physical well-beings are suffering from the consequences of an imbalance between her job demands and the level of job control she has over them. Pamela is reporting severe symptoms induced by work stressors: she feels burn out after only 3 weeks of performing her job, she is also experiencing recurrent migraine headaches and stomach cramps and her sleeping patterns…show more content…
Her work demands are out of control because they are not performable by a single employee which is however what is happening. Indeed, she cannot reduce her own work load due to the lack of social support from her work colleagues to whom she cannot delegate tasks to since she does not trust their skills. The absenteeism and high turnover rate also force her to do more work. Additionally, she has no time management: she has long working hours and even has to use her weekends to catch up on paperwork. Her emotional wellbeing is compromised as she is experiencing a work family conflict because she does not get to spend time with her toddler, so she is also experiencing role juggling between being an employee and a mother. On the other hand, because her boss compliments her, she feels pressure to keep up with his impression of her and so she has to suppress the emotions she really feels. This phenomenon is called emotional dissonance (Lewig & Dollard, 2003) where the emotions she actually feels are different to the emotions she is displaying. The effects of all these factors are already showing in her life: she is experiencing psychological, physical and emotional symptoms of stress and if she is to keep this job, the organisation must intervene (Randall & Nielsen,

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