THE STRESS/SELF-ESTEEM NEXUS: ATTENUATING WORKPLACE STRESS

摘要

Many workplace practices are perceived as intrinsically stressful, for example, dealing with customer complaints. However, the negative impact of such stress is perceived to be greater by some individuals. Some individuals cope better than others and, while there may be constitutional differences between individuals that contribute to the range of stress responses, there may also be psychological factors. This study used a range of psychological tests to measure perceived stress, self-concept, satisfaction with life and self-esteem of 89 undergraduates. These measures form a 'cluster' of dimensions relevant to psychological well-being. The means of all measures were within the normative range for the tests suggesting that the sample was not atypical. All measures correlated highly with perceived stress but when self-esteem was partialled out the correlations were radically reduced. This suggests that self-esteem, in particular, is intimately associated with perceived stress and that the other measures are, to some extent, mere proxies for self-esteem. Such a nexus between perceived stress and self-esteem suggests that if self-esteem is enhanced then the impact of stressful situations may be reduced. We discuss the possibility that work stress with a large cognitive/affective component may be attenuated by management styles that promote self-esteem in the workforce.