COURSE: MODEL TECHNIQUES FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT

NAME: FESTUS UWAKHEMEN ASIKHIA

STUDENT ID#: UPD71055HPS80208

MAJOR: PSYCHOLOGY

PROGRAM: POST DOCTORATE

30^TH OF MARCH 2021

Background of the Study

A phenomenal experience by individuals in the 21st century, common to all races, skin types, and cultural traits, is the phenomenon of stress that, according to Nekzada&Tekeste (2013), has been increasing exponentially in recent times. This increase in stress levels can be identified as a result of workplace dynamic nature, increasing occupational hazards, and economic challenges beguiling developing nations, which has made people adjust their jobs to meet up with enlarged families and multiple dependents.

Stress on its own is seen as a medical condition and situation, but some research works, particularly those of Rumbol et al. (2012) and Uma (2011), have pointed out that not all stress is medically diagnosed. However, the accumulation of stress could lead to mental health challenges, which tend to skyrocket into more worsening situations amounting to the Loss of life or permanent deformity. At this point, the need for stress management comes into the picture, as it has become an underlying truth that daily socio-economic activities bring a certain level of stress with them, especially those created by workplace environments. Vahle-Hinz et al. (2014) assert that stress is standard for our daily lives provided it does not exceed unhealthy medical limits. Stress management is a failsafe tactic deployed to keep stress levels at healthy limits, especially occupational stress that arises from job restructuring, geographical mobility of labor, globalization, and many other economic challenges. In managing stress, several techniques and strategies are usually applied. A combination of these techniques results in model techniques that could be administered to mitigate the health effects of stress and the social and socio-economic tendencies. (Lin, 2013, Soyiu & Campbell, 2012)

Description of the Subject

Stress is derived from the Latin word ‘stringere,’ meaning ‘to tighten.’ Through centuries it has given different meanings to different people. In the 17th century, it was associated with hardship and distress. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was linked with Physics and Engineering when people were concerned with stress in the form of load. Now people talk of stress concerning mental pressure in performing a specific task or worrying about situations. 

According to McEwen (2008), the brain is the central organ of the stress response and determines the stressful, behavioral and physiological responses to potential and actual stress factors. The brain is naturally a target for stress, and it changes structurally and chemically in response to both acute and chronic stress. In contemporary times, the stress response can be an asset for raising performance levels during critical events such as working in a university environment, an important meeting, or situations of actual danger or crisis.

 However, if stress becomes persistent and all body organs and systems (the brain, heart, lungs, vessels, and muscles) become chronically increased or reduced, this may cause physiological or mind perversion in the future. Severe stress can also be harmful in certain situations.

The common signs of stress usually exhibited by individuals show in the form of  Appetite – increase or decrease, Sleep – increase or decrease, Breathlessness, body heat variations,  Nervous twitches, Nausea, Muscular tension, Emotional – Sense of failure, Loss of confidence, Low self-esteem,  Irrational thinking,  Inability to concentrate and loss of interest amongst others. A global survey suggests that the workplace annual cost of stress is approximately $300 billion (Swaminathan & Rajkumar, 2013).

The burden of chronic diseases related to stress is rapidly increasing worldwide. It has been calculated that, in 2011, terminal diseases contribute approximately sixty percent of the fifty-six point five million total reported deaths in the world and approximately 46% of the global burden of disease (World Health Organization, 2015). The aggregate burden of non-communicable diseases is expected to increase to 57% by 2020. It has been projected that, by 2020, chronic diseases will account for almost three-quarters of all deaths worldwide,  75% of deaths due to stroke and 70% of deaths due to diabetes will occur in developing countries (World Health Organization, 2016). Most of these chronic diseases have their roots in individuals’ poor and negative health behaviors, especially adults. 

As a chronic and life-threatening practice that plays a vital role in developing cardiovascular diseases and has contributed a more significant percentage to the global mortality rate, the tendencies of stress pile-up or accumulation must be controlled, hence the need for stress management and stress management techniques. (Spector & Goh, 2001)

Theories Related to Stress and Stress Management

Several theories have discursive underpinnings in the subject matter of stress and stress management, especially when it comes to work-related stress. A few of these theories would be discussed below.

Health Belief Theory

Health Belief theory emphasizes individuals’ perception concerning health-related matters, which predicts actions that can affect such an individual’s health. This theoretical model defines the crucial factors that affects individuals’ behavior towards their health and itemizes stress-related activities as a congenial one with attendant adverse effects if not properly managed. The theoretical model highlights specific emotional and social health issues related to drug usage, physical fitness, nutrition, and alcohol use as factors that can steer up stress-related challenges; hence they are positioned as stressors. The model points out the implementation of self-efficacy as well as positivity of minds as actions that can serve as stress management techniques and is often linked to the general model of health belief Model cited by Thorgeen & Wincent (2013) 

2.2.2 Social Cognitive Theory

Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) describes the impact of people or groups of persons as regards to their level of exposure and experience on issues that have links to stress and stresses. According to the theory, these issues connect the environment with social support opportunities to instill values and self-awareness, and purposeful living in people’s activities. The theory opines that positive health behavior and actions can reduce the efficacy of stress, hence inadvertently curbing the effects of stress-related diseases. Crucial aspects of the theory that can help manage the effect of stress include the action of self-control, observatory learning, reinforced learning, and the action of self-efficacy. (Fowler, 2016)

2.2.3 Theory of Reasoned Action/Planned Behavior

Two closely associated theories, The Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior, suggest that a person’s health behavior is determined by their intention to perform a behavior. A person’s intention to perform a behavior (behavioral intention) is predicted by 1) a person’s attitude toward the behavior and 2) subjective norms regarding the behavior. Subjective norms result from social and environmental surroundings and a person’s perceived control over the behavior. Generally, positive attitudes and positive subjective norms result in greater perceived control and increase the likelihood of governing behaviorial changes. (Joshi, 2017)

Model Techniques for Managing Stress 

Several techniques can be applied in the management of stress. However,  according to Nekzada & Tekeste (2013),  these techniques are better off reprogrammed and redesigned into models that can be fitted into diverse situations and achieve effectiveness, either in the short-run or in the long-run. Few of the techniques will be analyzed in this study and then modeled using empirical evidence.

 A common technique for managing stress is the concept of self-leadership. According to Houghton et al. (2012), Self-leadership is seen as the act of infusing into one’s desire necessary for personal redirection and inbuilt motivation to actualize dreams and increase efficiency. In specific terms, self-leadership aggravates the potentials for self-taught behavioral-focused and well-prepared strategies produced from an individual’s thought process to optimize their physical activity. Hence, following the work of Joshi (2014), this technique inculcates self-regulation into social cognitive theory, all in a bid to design strategies such as personal observation, goal setting, personal reward system, and self-assessment. With the combination of all these strategies, a model technique based on the research work of  Tenent (2001), in which the self-leadership process of an individual’s mental capacity is utilized to effectively eliminate stress as there is little or no tendency for negative self-talk, which is on its own a significant cause of internally induced stress. Here, energy will be redirected towards setting goals and achieving high-performance objectives that positively transmit the individual’s overall well-being. Although it can be supported by the premise developed during a study conducted by Hussein (2008), which reviewed previous works on health behaviors that could steer stress and induce stress. It analyzed and discovered that several dysfunctional tendencies could arise from lack of self-regulation and could lead to depressive disorders, mental instabilities, and mental paralysis, affecting the person’s nervous system. 

Target Audience

The audience targeted for this research study is the active working population of the United States located within its manufacturing sector, with a significant focus on those working with government or state-owned corporations, privately owned establishments, and entrepreneurs. 

Methods

The research method to be used in this study for the generating of data is the survey method of research. It will, however, be conducted in the form of semi-structured oral interviews and questionnaire administration. The data derived from descriptive research is analyzed using descriptive statistical tools of frequencies and percentages that would reveal the factors resulting in stress for Indian American workers and how it has been managed within their workplace environment.  The sampling technique for the study is the stratified random sampling method, based on the research targeted at collecting data from various strata and segments of India’s labor workforce, ranging from workers in public corporations to private company’s employees to entrepreneurs. The data collected would be analyzed and presented with the cognitive content analysis.  The analyzed data is then presented in descriptive statistics in a frequency distribution, mainly frequencies and percentages. The data will be presented mainly in qualitative means, using content analysis to state observations and make inferences since the concept of stress management is more like an abstract concept that requires a great deal of introspection and analytical efficiency. 

Results

Of all the 110 respondents in the survey, 75 were male, and 35 were females, all employed and working in the Indian manufacturing industry. The result shows in terms of percentage, 70% male and 30% female.

Looking at their educational background, 45% of the respondents have a Masters’s degree, 43% have a Bachelors’s degree, while the rest were still undergraduates undoing internship programs in the various firms. 

The respondents were assessed based on various stress factors that could cause work stress for them from survey questions. One of the participants highlighted in the survey that 67% of the respondents affirmed that work overload was a stressor, while 33% thought work overload was not a stressor. In the case of time deadlines and pressure, 76% affirmed that there have been stress issues due to work deadlines and pressures, while the rest, 24%, thought that there is no form of stress as a result of work pressures and deadlines. Focusing on long working hours, 65% of the respondents indicate that long working hours is a stressor for them, while the rest, 35% of the respondents, thought that there is no form of stress due to long working hours. 

From the survey results analysis shows that work overload, long working hours, time pressures, and deadlines were significant factors that exacerbate workplace environmental stress, especially in developing economies.

Conclusion

A famous adage reads, “You cannot control the wind, but you can certainly adjust the sails.” constructively, it is essential to note that emotion regulation and self-leadership are mechanisms by which individuals can “adjust the sails” in their lives to more effectively cope with the factors that can cause stress within their body system. In essence, this presentation and analysis in this study have created an eye-opening effect on the interrelationship between emotional intelligence, self-leadership, and stress management in the workplace, using the United States’ manufacturing sector case study. The model suggests that the effects of emotion regulation and self-leadership strategies on stress management are inculcated through personal awareness and self-efficacy. This model makes an essential contribution to the literature by being among the first to examine the role of self-regulatory strategies in the context of student stress management behaviors. By equipping students with a better understanding of and practical tools for the process of managing stress, top management and business owners can help those in the workplace to handle occupational stressors effectively and manage workplace stress efficiently with little or no negative impact on their health

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