Page 271 - DMGT106_MANAGING_HUMAN_ELEMENTS_AT_WORK

Unit 12: Handling Stress at Workplace

Notes
150 LCUs in a given year will experience a decline in their health the following year. A score
of between 150 and 300 LCUs supposedly carries a 50% chance of major illness, while the
chances of major illness is said to increase to 70% if the number of LCUs exceed 300. These
ideas offer some insight into the potential impact of stress and underscore our limitations in
coping with stressful events. However, research on Holmes and Rahe’s proposals has provided
only mixed support. In another research, it was proposed that stressful life events along with
the cognitive appraisal and the personality characteristics of the individual will lead to the
development of personal life stress. However, the essential requirement is that these events
have to be accurately perceived and interpreted by the individual under stress.
12.4.5 Life Trauma

Life trauma is similar to life change, but it has a narrower, more direct, and shorter-term focus.
A life trauma is an upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his attitudes, emotions or
behaviours. According to the life change view, a divorce adds to a person’s potential for health
problems in the following year. At the same time, the person will obviously also experience
emotional turmoil during the actual divorce process. This turmoil is a form of life trauma and
will clearly cause stress, much of which may spill over into the workplace.

Table 12.1: Stress Impact of Life Changes as Measured by Life Change Units

Life Events Mean Life Change Units

Death of spouse 100
Divorce 73
Marital separation 65
Imprisonment 63

Death of a close family member 63
Marriage 50
Being fired from job 47
Marital reconciliation 45

Birth of new family members 39
Major business readjustment 39
Death of a close friend 37
Change to a different career 36

Beginning or ending formal schooling 26
Trouble with boss 23
Change in residence 20
Minor violation of the law 11

Major life traumas that may cause stress include marital problems, family difficulties, and
health problems initially unrelated to stress. For example, a person learns that she has developed
arthritis and this will limit her favourite activity, swimming. Her dismay over the news may
translate into stress at work. Similarly, a worker going through a family break-up will certainly
go through difficult periods, some of which will affect his job performance. For example, the

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