Lay Theories of Workplace Stress – Evidence from a Romanian Exploratory Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24837/pru.v9i2.377Keywords:
stress source, gender differences, intuitive beliefsAbstract
This study aims at investigating Romanian employees’ intuitive beliefs concerning the causes of workplace
stress as well as the solutions for reducing it. Another objectives aim to measure the gender differences at the level
of these beliefs and the relation between these beliefs and the tenure. Atotal of 104 employees (50% women) who
occupy various hierarchic levels in different organizations completed a questionnaire derived from the questions
used in Rydstedt, Devereux, & Furnham’s study (2004). The questionnaire contains items for the causes of workplace
stress as well as for the solutions for reducing it. Factor analysis provided a solution with 6 factors for causes
and 5 factors for solutions. Age difference and conflict, gender differences, and supervisor attitude and job satisfaction
are the factors that reveal significant differences between men and women. Also, results show a negative
significant correlation between the tenure in organization and the factor named excess information and hierarchy.
Identifying its own employees’ beliefs regarding stress can contribute to the organizational strategies development
for the reduction and control of occupational stress.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Bellamy, P. A., & Ramsey, K. (1994). Barriers to
woman working in corporate management. Canberra:
Australian Government Publishing Service.
Bellman, S., Forster, N., Still, L., & Cooper, C. L.
(2003). Gender differences in the use of social
support as a moderator of occupational stress.
Stress and Health, 19, 45-58.
Bogathy, Z. (Ed.). (2007). Manual de psihologia muncii
ºi organizaþionalã. Iaºi: Polirom.
Bowling, N., Beehr, T., Bennett, M., & Watson, C.
(2010). Target personality and workplace victimization.
Work and Stress, vol.24, issue 2, 140-158.
Brenninkmeijer, V., Demerouti, E., le Blanc, P., van
Emmerik, I., & Hetty, J. (2010). Regulatory focus
at work: The moderating role of regulatory focus
in the job demands-resources model. The Career
Development International, Vol 15(7), 708-728.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2005). Personality
and Intellectual Competence. London:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Cooper, C.L., Dewe, P.J., & O’Driscoll, M.P. (2001).
Organizational Stress: A Review and Critique of
Theory, Research, and Applications. Thousand
Oaks: Sage Publications.
Day, A. L., & Livingstone, H. A., (2003). Gender differences
in perceptions of stressors and utilization of
social support among university students. Canadian
Journal of Behavioral Science, 35, 73-83.
Devereux, J., Hastings, R., & Noone, S. (2009). Staff
Stress and Burnout in Intellectual Disability Services:
Work Stress Theory and its Application.
Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities,
22, 561-573.
Di Maggio, P.J., & Powell, W.W. (1983). The iron cage
revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective
rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological
Review, 48, 147-160.
Directiva 89/391/CEE a Consiliului Comunitãþii Europene
din 12 iunie 1989 pentru promovarea îmbunãtãþirii
sãnãtãþii ºi securitãþii lucrãtorilor la locul
de muncã. Retrieved from http://www.mmuncii.ro
Lay Theories of Workplace Stress – Evidence from a Romanian Exploratory Study
104
Volumul_09_nr_02.qxd 10/19/2011 12:46 PM Page 104
Dweck, C.S., Chiu, C., & Hong, Y. (1995). Implicit
Theories and Their Role in Judgments and Reactions:
A World From Two Perspectives. Psychological
Inquiry, vol.6, No.4, 267-285.
Fein, E.C., Vasiliu, C, & Tziner, A. (2011). Individual
values and preferred leadership behaviors: A study
of Romanian managers. Journal of Applied Social
Psychology, vol.41 (3), 515-535.
Furnham, A. (1997). Lay theories of work stress. Work
& Stress, 11, 68-78.
Gavreliuc, A., & Maricutoiu, L. (2004). Barometrul
spiritului antreprenorial. Regiunea Vest a
Romaniei. Timiºoara: Ed. Brumar.
González-Morales, M. G., Peiró, J. M., Rodríguez, I., &
Greenglass, E. R. (2006). Coping and distress in
organizations: The role of gender in work stress.
International Journal of Stress Management, Vol.
13, Issue 2, 228-248.
Guillet, L., Hermand, D., & Mullet, E. (2010). Cognitive
processes involved in the appraisal of stress.
Stress & Health, 18, 91-102.
Gupta, V., & Sahu, K. (2009). Organizational role stress
and job satisfaction among male and female vocational
teachers. Indian Journal of Community Psychology,
Vol 5(1), 62-67.
Hankin, B.J. (2010). Personality and depressive symptom:
stress generation and cognitive vulnerabilities
to depression in a prospective daily diary
study. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology,
29, 369-401.
Harkness, A., Long, B., Bermbach, N., Patterson, K.,
Jordan, S., & Kahn, H. (2005). Talking about work
stress: Discourse analysis and implications for
stress interventions. Work & Stress, 19, 121-136.
Hastings, R. P., & Brown, T. (2002). Behavioural
knowledge, causal beliefs and self-efficacy as predictors
of special educators’emotional reactions to
challenging behaviours. Journal of Intellectual
Disability Research 46, 144-150.
Hibbard, D.R. (2000). The influence of two dimensions
of competitiveness on achievement, adjustment,
and interpersonal relationships among high school
seniors. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section
B: The Sciences and Engineering, Vol
61(2-B), p. 1111.
Huberman, M. (1989). The professional life cycle of
teachers. Teachers College Record, 91, 31-57.
Jianakoplos, N., & Bernasek, A. (1998). Are women
more risk averse? Economic Inquiry 36, 620-626.
Johnson, D., & Gleason, T. (2009). Gender Differences
in Game Show Contestant Behavior under Risk.
Social Science Quaterly, vol.90. issue 2, 243-261.
Karasek, R., & Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy Work:
Stress, Productivity and the Reconstruction of
Working Life. New York: Basic Books.
Kinman, G., & Jones, F. (2005). Lay representations of
workplace stress: What do people really mean
when they say they are stressed? Work and Stress,
192, 101-120.
Kohler, J. M., Munz, D. C., & Gratwitch, M.J., (2006).
Test of a dynamic stress model for organizational
change: Do males and females require different
models? Applied Psychology: An International
Review, 55, 168-191.
Larkin, J., & Pines, H. (2003). Gender and Risk in
Public Performance. Sex Roles, 49, 197-210.
Lazarus R.S. (1995). Psychological stress in the workplace.
In R. Crandall, & P.L. Perrewe (Eds.),
Occupational Stress: A Handbook (pp. 3-15).
Washington: Taylor and Francis.
Lazarus, R. S. (1999). Stress and Coping: A New Synthesis.
New York: Springer.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Coping
and Adaptation. New York: Springer.
Lewig, K.A., & Dollard, M.F. (2001). Social construction
of work stress: Australian newsprint media
portrayal of stress at work, 1997-98. Work and
Stress, 2, 179-190.
Martocchio, J.J., & O’Leary, A.M. (1989). Sex differences
in occupational stress: Ameta-analytic review.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 495-501.
Mazzola, J.J., Schonfeld, I.S., & Spector, P.E. (2011).
What qualitative research has thought us about occupational
stress? Journal of International Society for
the Investigation of Stress, vol. 27(2), 93-110.
Meyer, J.W., & Scott, W.R. (1983). Organizational
environments: ritual and rationality. Beverly
Hills: Sage Publications.
Morris, A. (1996). Gender and ethnic differences in
social constraints among a sample of a New York
City police officers. Journal of Occupational
Health Psychology, 1, 224-235.
Muncer, S., Taylor, S., Green, D.W., & McManus, I.C.
(2001). Nurses’ representations of the perceived
causes of work-related stress: A network drawing
approach. Work and Stress, 15, 40-52.
Ogus, E. D. (2008). Burnout among professionals:
Work stress, coping and gender. Dissertation
Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences
and Engineering, Vol 68(7-B), p. 4876.
Ommundsen, Y., Haugen, R., & Lund, T. (2005). Academic
Self-concept, implicit theories of ability and
self-regulation strategies. Scandinavian Journal of
Educational Research, 49, 461-474.
Pitariu, H.D. (2003). Stresul profesional la manageri:
corelative ale personalitãþii în contextul tranziþiei
socioeconomice din România. Revista de Psihologie
Organizaþionalã, vol. III, nr. 3-4, 1-16.
Pollok, K. (1988). On the nature of social stress: Production
of modern mythology. Social Science and
Medicine, 26, 381-392.
Rodriguez, M.G. (2003). Job stress and perceptions
among Hispanic professionals of prejudice and
discrimination in the workplace. Dissertation
105
Lay Theories of Workplace Stress – Evidence from a Romanian Exploratory Study
Volumul_09_nr_02.qxd 10/19/2011 12:46 PM Page 105
Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and
Social Sciences, Vol 63(7-A), p. 2711.
Roxburgh, S. (1999). Exploring the Work and Family
Relationship: Gender differences in the influence
of parenthood and social support on job satisfaction.
Journal of Family Issues, 20, 771-788.
Rydstedt, L.W., Devereux, J., & Furnham, A. (2004).
Are lay theories of work stress related to distress?
A longitudinal study in the British workforce.
Work and Stress, 3, 245-254.
Sharpley, C., & Gardner, J. (2001). Managers’ understanding
of stress and its effects in the workplace.
Journal of Applied Health Behavior, 3, 24-30.
Shirom, A., Oliver, A., & Stein, E. (2009). Teachers’
stressors and Strains: A Longitudinal Study of
Their Relationship. International Journal of Stress
Management, 16(4), 312-331.
Spielberger, C.D., Vagg, P.R., & Wasala, C.F. (2001).
Health psychology and work stress: a more positive
approach. In L.E. Tetrick, & J.C. Quick (Eds.),
Handbook of Occupational (pp. 185-200). Washington:
American Psychological Association.
Sternberg, R.J. (1997). Cognitive conception of expertise.
In P.J. Feltovich, & K.M. Ford (Eds.), Expertise
in context: Human and machine (pp. 149-
162). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press and American
Association for Artificial Intelligence.
Watson, S.B., Goh, Y.W., & Sawang, S. (2011). Gender
influences on the work-related stress-coping process.
Journal of Individual Differences, Vol. 32,
Issue 1, 39-46.
woman working in corporate management. Canberra:
Australian Government Publishing Service.
Bellman, S., Forster, N., Still, L., & Cooper, C. L.
(2003). Gender differences in the use of social
support as a moderator of occupational stress.
Stress and Health, 19, 45-58.
Bogathy, Z. (Ed.). (2007). Manual de psihologia muncii
ºi organizaþionalã. Iaºi: Polirom.
Bowling, N., Beehr, T., Bennett, M., & Watson, C.
(2010). Target personality and workplace victimization.
Work and Stress, vol.24, issue 2, 140-158.
Brenninkmeijer, V., Demerouti, E., le Blanc, P., van
Emmerik, I., & Hetty, J. (2010). Regulatory focus
at work: The moderating role of regulatory focus
in the job demands-resources model. The Career
Development International, Vol 15(7), 708-728.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2005). Personality
and Intellectual Competence. London:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Cooper, C.L., Dewe, P.J., & O’Driscoll, M.P. (2001).
Organizational Stress: A Review and Critique of
Theory, Research, and Applications. Thousand
Oaks: Sage Publications.
Day, A. L., & Livingstone, H. A., (2003). Gender differences
in perceptions of stressors and utilization of
social support among university students. Canadian
Journal of Behavioral Science, 35, 73-83.
Devereux, J., Hastings, R., & Noone, S. (2009). Staff
Stress and Burnout in Intellectual Disability Services:
Work Stress Theory and its Application.
Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities,
22, 561-573.
Di Maggio, P.J., & Powell, W.W. (1983). The iron cage
revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective
rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological
Review, 48, 147-160.
Directiva 89/391/CEE a Consiliului Comunitãþii Europene
din 12 iunie 1989 pentru promovarea îmbunãtãþirii
sãnãtãþii ºi securitãþii lucrãtorilor la locul
de muncã. Retrieved from http://www.mmuncii.ro
Lay Theories of Workplace Stress – Evidence from a Romanian Exploratory Study
104
Volumul_09_nr_02.qxd 10/19/2011 12:46 PM Page 104
Dweck, C.S., Chiu, C., & Hong, Y. (1995). Implicit
Theories and Their Role in Judgments and Reactions:
A World From Two Perspectives. Psychological
Inquiry, vol.6, No.4, 267-285.
Fein, E.C., Vasiliu, C, & Tziner, A. (2011). Individual
values and preferred leadership behaviors: A study
of Romanian managers. Journal of Applied Social
Psychology, vol.41 (3), 515-535.
Furnham, A. (1997). Lay theories of work stress. Work
& Stress, 11, 68-78.
Gavreliuc, A., & Maricutoiu, L. (2004). Barometrul
spiritului antreprenorial. Regiunea Vest a
Romaniei. Timiºoara: Ed. Brumar.
González-Morales, M. G., Peiró, J. M., Rodríguez, I., &
Greenglass, E. R. (2006). Coping and distress in
organizations: The role of gender in work stress.
International Journal of Stress Management, Vol.
13, Issue 2, 228-248.
Guillet, L., Hermand, D., & Mullet, E. (2010). Cognitive
processes involved in the appraisal of stress.
Stress & Health, 18, 91-102.
Gupta, V., & Sahu, K. (2009). Organizational role stress
and job satisfaction among male and female vocational
teachers. Indian Journal of Community Psychology,
Vol 5(1), 62-67.
Hankin, B.J. (2010). Personality and depressive symptom:
stress generation and cognitive vulnerabilities
to depression in a prospective daily diary
study. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology,
29, 369-401.
Harkness, A., Long, B., Bermbach, N., Patterson, K.,
Jordan, S., & Kahn, H. (2005). Talking about work
stress: Discourse analysis and implications for
stress interventions. Work & Stress, 19, 121-136.
Hastings, R. P., & Brown, T. (2002). Behavioural
knowledge, causal beliefs and self-efficacy as predictors
of special educators’emotional reactions to
challenging behaviours. Journal of Intellectual
Disability Research 46, 144-150.
Hibbard, D.R. (2000). The influence of two dimensions
of competitiveness on achievement, adjustment,
and interpersonal relationships among high school
seniors. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section
B: The Sciences and Engineering, Vol
61(2-B), p. 1111.
Huberman, M. (1989). The professional life cycle of
teachers. Teachers College Record, 91, 31-57.
Jianakoplos, N., & Bernasek, A. (1998). Are women
more risk averse? Economic Inquiry 36, 620-626.
Johnson, D., & Gleason, T. (2009). Gender Differences
in Game Show Contestant Behavior under Risk.
Social Science Quaterly, vol.90. issue 2, 243-261.
Karasek, R., & Theorell, T. (1990). Healthy Work:
Stress, Productivity and the Reconstruction of
Working Life. New York: Basic Books.
Kinman, G., & Jones, F. (2005). Lay representations of
workplace stress: What do people really mean
when they say they are stressed? Work and Stress,
192, 101-120.
Kohler, J. M., Munz, D. C., & Gratwitch, M.J., (2006).
Test of a dynamic stress model for organizational
change: Do males and females require different
models? Applied Psychology: An International
Review, 55, 168-191.
Larkin, J., & Pines, H. (2003). Gender and Risk in
Public Performance. Sex Roles, 49, 197-210.
Lazarus R.S. (1995). Psychological stress in the workplace.
In R. Crandall, & P.L. Perrewe (Eds.),
Occupational Stress: A Handbook (pp. 3-15).
Washington: Taylor and Francis.
Lazarus, R. S. (1999). Stress and Coping: A New Synthesis.
New York: Springer.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Coping
and Adaptation. New York: Springer.
Lewig, K.A., & Dollard, M.F. (2001). Social construction
of work stress: Australian newsprint media
portrayal of stress at work, 1997-98. Work and
Stress, 2, 179-190.
Martocchio, J.J., & O’Leary, A.M. (1989). Sex differences
in occupational stress: Ameta-analytic review.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 495-501.
Mazzola, J.J., Schonfeld, I.S., & Spector, P.E. (2011).
What qualitative research has thought us about occupational
stress? Journal of International Society for
the Investigation of Stress, vol. 27(2), 93-110.
Meyer, J.W., & Scott, W.R. (1983). Organizational
environments: ritual and rationality. Beverly
Hills: Sage Publications.
Morris, A. (1996). Gender and ethnic differences in
social constraints among a sample of a New York
City police officers. Journal of Occupational
Health Psychology, 1, 224-235.
Muncer, S., Taylor, S., Green, D.W., & McManus, I.C.
(2001). Nurses’ representations of the perceived
causes of work-related stress: A network drawing
approach. Work and Stress, 15, 40-52.
Ogus, E. D. (2008). Burnout among professionals:
Work stress, coping and gender. Dissertation
Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences
and Engineering, Vol 68(7-B), p. 4876.
Ommundsen, Y., Haugen, R., & Lund, T. (2005). Academic
Self-concept, implicit theories of ability and
self-regulation strategies. Scandinavian Journal of
Educational Research, 49, 461-474.
Pitariu, H.D. (2003). Stresul profesional la manageri:
corelative ale personalitãþii în contextul tranziþiei
socioeconomice din România. Revista de Psihologie
Organizaþionalã, vol. III, nr. 3-4, 1-16.
Pollok, K. (1988). On the nature of social stress: Production
of modern mythology. Social Science and
Medicine, 26, 381-392.
Rodriguez, M.G. (2003). Job stress and perceptions
among Hispanic professionals of prejudice and
discrimination in the workplace. Dissertation
105
Lay Theories of Workplace Stress – Evidence from a Romanian Exploratory Study
Volumul_09_nr_02.qxd 10/19/2011 12:46 PM Page 105
Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and
Social Sciences, Vol 63(7-A), p. 2711.
Roxburgh, S. (1999). Exploring the Work and Family
Relationship: Gender differences in the influence
of parenthood and social support on job satisfaction.
Journal of Family Issues, 20, 771-788.
Rydstedt, L.W., Devereux, J., & Furnham, A. (2004).
Are lay theories of work stress related to distress?
A longitudinal study in the British workforce.
Work and Stress, 3, 245-254.
Sharpley, C., & Gardner, J. (2001). Managers’ understanding
of stress and its effects in the workplace.
Journal of Applied Health Behavior, 3, 24-30.
Shirom, A., Oliver, A., & Stein, E. (2009). Teachers’
stressors and Strains: A Longitudinal Study of
Their Relationship. International Journal of Stress
Management, 16(4), 312-331.
Spielberger, C.D., Vagg, P.R., & Wasala, C.F. (2001).
Health psychology and work stress: a more positive
approach. In L.E. Tetrick, & J.C. Quick (Eds.),
Handbook of Occupational (pp. 185-200). Washington:
American Psychological Association.
Sternberg, R.J. (1997). Cognitive conception of expertise.
In P.J. Feltovich, & K.M. Ford (Eds.), Expertise
in context: Human and machine (pp. 149-
162). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press and American
Association for Artificial Intelligence.
Watson, S.B., Goh, Y.W., & Sawang, S. (2011). Gender
influences on the work-related stress-coping process.
Journal of Individual Differences, Vol. 32,
Issue 1, 39-46.
Downloads
Published
2020-01-24
How to Cite
Macsinga, I., & Trifa, C. (2020). Lay Theories of Workplace Stress – Evidence from a Romanian Exploratory Study. Psihologia Resurselor Umane, 9(2), 90–106. https://doi.org/10.24837/pru.v9i2.377
Issue
Section
Research articles
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal,it also allows for use of the work for non-commercial purposes and if others remix, transform or build upon the works found in this journal they must distribute the contributions under the same licence as the original.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See: The Effect of Open Access).
