Page 270 - DMGT106_MANAGING_HUMAN_ELEMENTS_AT_WORK

Managing Human Element at Work

Notes Out of all the characteristics of Type A personalities, hostility and anger are the most “toxic”
contributors to coronary heart disease for both men and women. Type A managers need to be
more open to feedback about themselves and try to make positive changes based on the
feedback. Suggestions would include being less distrustful of others and not doubting their
motives; trying to reduce the intensity of their anger, frustration, and rage; and learning to treat
others with kindness and consideration.
12.4.2 Hardiness and Optimism

Two other important individual differences related to stress are hardiness and optimism.
Research suggests that some people have what are termed hardier personalities than others.
Hardiness is a person’s ability to cope with stress. People with hardy personalities have an
internal locus of control, are strongly committed to the activities in their lives, and view change
as an opportunity for advancement and growth. Such people are seen as relatively unlikely to
suffer illness if they experience high levels of pressure and stress. On the other hand, people
with low hardiness may have more difficulties in coping with pressure and stress.

Optimism is the extent to which a person sees life in positive or negative terms. A popular
expression used to convey this idea concerns the glass half filled with water. A person with
a lot of optimism will tend to see it as half full, whereas a person with less optimism (a
pessimist) will often see it as half empty. In general, optimistic people tend to handle stress
better. They will be able to see the positive characteristics of the situation and recognize that
things may eventually improve. In contrast, less optimistic people may focus more on the
negative characteristics of the situation and expect things to get worse, not better.
Other research suggests that women are perhaps more prone to experience the psychological
effects of stress, whereas men may report more physical effects. Finally, some studies suggest
that people who see themselves as complex individuals are better able to handle stress than
people who view themselves as relatively simple. We should add, however, that the study of
individual differences in stress is still in its infancy. It would, therefore, be premature to draw
rigid conclusions about how different types of people handle stress.

Early conceptualizations of hardiness are evident in Maddi’s work, most
notably in his descriptions of the ideal identity and premorbid personality
in 1967.

12.4.3 Life Stressors

Stress in an organizational setting can also be influenced by events that take place outside the
organization. Life stressors generally are categorized in terms of life change and life trauma.

12.4.4 Life Changes
Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe first developed and popularized the notion of life change
as a source of stress. A life change is a meaningful change in a person’s personal or work
situation. Holmes and Rahe reasoned that major changes in a person’s life could lead to stress
and eventually to disease. Holmes and Rahe identified a list of life events (a partial list is
presented in Table 12.1) that can have a major or minor impact on individuals. They assigned
points to each of these events depending on their intensity. There are 42 life events identified
by them. Each event’s point value supposedly reflects the event’s impact on the individual. At
one extreme, a spouse’s death, assumed to be the most traumatic event considered, is assigned
a point value of 100. At the other extreme, minor violations of the law rank only 11 points. The
points themselves represent life change units, or LCUs. Note also that the list includes negative
events (divorce and trouble with the boss) as well as positive ones (marriage and vacations).
Holmes and Rahe argued that a person can handle a certain threshold of LCUs, but beyond
that level problems can set in. In particular, they suggest that people who encounter more than

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