Work Pressure and Stress
How do symptoms of stress differ from male to female?

Date: 25/05/2012

Module code: MN1010N
Tutor: Chaidi Fourali
By Edou Mota
ID no: 11016465

Contents
Abstract3
Hypothesis 14 Hypothesis 24
Introduction4
Methodology5 Sample4 Data Collection4 Data Analysis4 Findings4 Literary Review4
Discussion5
Conclusion6
References7

Abstract
Work-related stress occurs when people may be presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenges their ability to cope. According to Hans Selye, acknowledge internationally as the “father of stress research” (1936), defined stress as “the nonspecific response of the body to any demand placed upon it”. Researchers continue to struggle today in an effort to agree on exactly what is stress and how it can be measured (AIS, 1979). Stress is a word that comes from the Latin word stringere meaning to draw tight, Cannon (1929) defined stress in terms of the internal physiological state of subjects exposed to threatening or exciting situations, e.g. the raised adrenaline secretion that can be observed in the well-known ‘fight or flight’ reaction (Arnorld and Randall et al., 2010)
For several decades, occupational health researchers have been concerned with factors at work that may cause stress (Innstrand et al., 2012). Work-related stress and work pressure draw attention of many researchers due to the increase in illness and health issues derived from work. Moreover, an interest in examination of the differences in psychological symptoms and the variation in the reaction relative to the gender was demonstrated. Depression, anxiety, panic, loss of confidence, change in emotional reaction and more are known as psychological driving factors of work-related stress. In order to analyse the dimension and the impact of work pressure on stress, the first hypothesis of this research established as: “ Stress is mainly due to work pressure”, and in addition, to have a better understanding if there is difference in the symptoms of stress expressed by male and female, the second hypothesis was articulated as: “There is a difference in stress symptoms between males and females”. The research was based on self-report questionnaires handed out to different types of organizations. Previous researches reinforce the results of this study. Indeed, the hypothesis were proved and strengthened by the research done in this questionnaire. There are evidences of a positive relationship between stress and work pressure and the findings show a significant difference in the symptoms expressed by males and females. Implications of the findings are discussed in the paper.

Hypothesis 1
Stress is mainly due to work pressure Hypothesis 2
There is a difference in stress symptoms between males and females.

Introduction
Prior studies reported that the UK’s largest private sector union, Britain’s work places are becoming more stressful (AMICUS, 2002). A Health and Safety Committee report found that between 2001 and 2002, 32.9 million working days had been lost due to work-related illnesses (King, 2005), in addition Karasek and Theorell (1990) reported that employees in high-strain jobs were at a particularly increased risk of various health problems. Physiological measures are problematic, since a number of factors may influence health other than work-related stress. Therefore this paper focused on analysing this subject, by simply measuring work-related stress by asking people directly about how they feel about their jobs or specifically the different psychological symptoms related to work-related stress. The objective is to prove that work pressure is a driving element of stress and to compare the differences between male and female concerning the symptoms of work-related stress.

Methodology
Resources that supported this research was journals, books, articles and exploratory studies between 1990-2010. Aiming to clarify the same subject of this paper, thus this report wishes to add value to this specific study through a questionnaire and literature review.
Sample
Primary research - a 38-question questionnaire handed out to 40 participants (20 males and 20 females) randomly selected from different work industries and different work shifts. 27.5% of workers were part-timers; 5% Independent workers; 2.5% subcontractors; 65% full time workers. The participants were between 18 and 40 years old.

Data collection
The questionnaire organized by 3 sections, in the first section the purpose was to investigate the situational aspects of the life of participants; the second section leaned on issues related to the work life of the participants and finally the last section the objective was to find out the health problems of the participants before and after the current occupation.

Data analysis
When measuring and analysing the data of the first hypothesis in order to produce graphical representation of the results as well as a T-test to prove that “Stress is mainly due to work pressure” the questions from the self-report that were examined was: question 35, are you affected by stress; question 36, do you think that stress is related to work pressure; question 37, which are the reasons of the work pressure; and finally question 38, participants were asked to provide some symptoms of stress. Firstly analysing questions 35, 36 and 37; participants could only opt between yes/no. On the other hand, question 38 had 5 more options of answer. The graphical representation for the results was Pie as shows in figure 1. Regarding questions 35 and 36 the strength of an agreement between variables could not be represented graphically due to the design of questionnaire, in other words, there was evidences of a strong relationship between stress and work pressure, however the method of the responses could not be put into a graphical representation (scatter diagram). In the case of the second hypothesis “There is a difference in stress symptoms between males and females” it was measured by looking at questions 35 and 38, which aimed to find out the causes of the work-related stress and the participants were asked to provide symptoms that are visible and palpable, in order to compare these symptoms between male and female as showed in the graphical representation in figure 1.2.
Findings
The results regarding the first hypothesis were partially supported by the primary research. 22 out of 40 participants affirmed to be stressed and 81% out of these 22 participants affirmed that their stress is due to work pressure or work load. Participants were also asked to explain the reasons for their work stress; note here that the data collected show highest scores on excessive workload and long working hours. Participants indicated higher scores on symptoms related to psychological reactions to stress. The data collected the sample was divided in two, and there are evidences of different symptoms between the two groups of participants (male and female). Firstly looking at the female group, a higher percentage (50%) of anxiety symptoms were registered, as well as an increase of emotional reaction. Yet the male group shows a higher score in the loss of motivation, commitment and confidence with a 25% of participants in this group. Changes in the sleep pattern also shows relevant results with 30% in the female case, and 20% for male participants. Additionally, the only symptoms that the male group scores higher results in comparison with the female group, was on symptoms of confusion/indecision, unable to cope and a significant increase in smoking or drugs. Overall, note that female participants present more symptoms of stress and higher scores. Female scores are in general higher, possibly due to a huge sample of the female group that was stressed 75%, in contrast 35% of males. Additionally a t-test result showed a significant difference between male and female group regarding their symptoms, with a value of 0.5495855.

Figure 1

Figure 1.2

Literary review
Yerkes and Dodson (1908) argued that, task factors to the job include the concept of workload as potential source if stress, both overload and underload is acknowledged as stressors. Distinctions of workload are identified: quantitative overload/underload, results from the employee being given too many or too few tasks to complete in a period of time. On the other hand qualitative overload/underload is when the individual does not feel capable of complete the given task due to lack of skills or potential of the worker. Which partially supports the hypothesis “Stress is mainly due to work pressure” in this study (Sutherland, 1981). Both qualitative and qualitative overload may result in the need for an individual to work excessive hours. The American Institute of Stress (AIS) for example, found out that up to 90% of all health problems are related to Stress. A survey by the US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health reveals that stress-related conditions are one of the most health issues of the 1990’s and that psychological disorders are one of the ten leading occupational health problems (Hillebrandt, 2008).
Considering the second hypothesis “There is a difference in stress symptoms between males and females” one consistent finding from previous studies states that women are two times more likely to experience psychological reactions than are men (Shih, 2006). There are factors that may moderate the impact of stress on an individual (e.g. personality characteristics, low social support etc.) The experience of stress can alter the way the person feels, thinks and behaves and can also produce changes in their physiological function (Stansfeld et al., 1999).
McDonald and Doyle (1981) argued that psychological reactions to stress are common and experienced by people who are stressed. These reactions include depression, fatigue, anxiety, hostility and aggression, as showed in this study. Furthermore, being anxiety known as the most common reaction to stress. Also suggested that the excessive workload was significantly related to a number of other different symptoms (e.g. poor work motivation, job dissatisfaction, escapist drinking, low self-esteem and more cigarette smoking) leading to absenteeism (Sutherland, 1981).
Discussion
Stress is a extremely complex subject, since Selye (1936) started, researchers continue to struggle today in an effort to agree on exactly what is stress and how to be measured. There were some limitations to this study, such as the size of sample of the participants, the design of the questionnaire, which could be more carefully established with more key questions, instead of having too many questions that did not helped to analyse the subjects, making it too long for the participants unnecessarily. Perhaps the study would be more reliable, if expanded the research across different countries or cities to get participants with different backgrounds. The above findings clearly display strong positive relations between work pressure and stress. However these findings are merely narrative correlations because of the responses of the participants being yes/no became unable to put these responses into a graphical representation to get a more clarify understanding of the subject. The validity of the result of the T-test can also be questioned, due to the responses of the two groups being again yes/no options, therefore could not provide a more reliable result.

Conclusion
Evidences that supports the veracity of both hypotheses “Stress is mainly due to work pressure” and “There is a difference in stress symptoms between males and females” were showed. The study findings highlighted the importance of examining sex differences not only at the level of individual variables but in the relationships among study variables in future research. Generally the female participants are more stressed than male participants with evidences of major symptoms of stress levels. The secondary research confirmed the findings of the primary research. Moreover, work pressure coming from the excessive workload and the long working hours seemed to be the main factor of stress. Females show more symptoms of stress in general and are more affected by anxiety while males are more affected by the loss of confidence. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) are generally recognized as the key contributors to the transactional perspective of stress and coping (Suls, David, & Harvey, 1996), and their model of stress and coping remains the most prevalent and widely accepted one. Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) model of stress and coping proposed three processes impacting the relationship between the stressor and the stress outcome: primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, and coping. The model suggests that a stressful experience serves as input into an ongoing, cognitive appraisal process. This process assesses the significance of work-related stressors for employees’ well being (primary appraisal) and the availability and likely success of various coping options (secondary appraisal) that might be used to manage the stressors (Watson S. et al, 2011).

4.0 References
Arnold J. and Randall R. et al. (2010) Work psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace 5th ed. Essex: Pearson Educated Limited.
E. McKenna (2000) Health and work:Stress. Business psychology and organizational behavior. East Sussex
Furnham,A (2005), Stress at work, the psychology of behavior at work, 2nd ed. London: Routledge Press Inc., pp. 353-393.
Hillebrandt J. (2008) Work-related stress and organizational level interventions- addressing the problem at the source. Santa Cruz: GRIN Verlag Innstrand S., Langballe E. & Falkum E. (2012) A Longitudinal Study of the Relationship between Work Engagement and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression. Stress & Health: Journal Of The International Society For The Investigation Of Stress, 28 (1), 1-10.
J.Hillebrandt (2007) Work-related stress and organizational level interventions- addressing the problem at source, Switzerland: Grin Verlag
Lazarus S., & Folkman S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.

McDonald and Doyle (1981) Stress and health. The Stresses at work, 1st ed. London: N. McDonald and the workers’ Educational Association, pp. 30-44
McDonald and Doyle (1981)Social Relations and psychological pressures at work. The Stresses at work, 1st ed. London: N. McDonald and the workers’ Educational Association, pp.45-55
M.King (2005) Surviving stress at work, Canada: Trafford.
Shih J. (2006) Sex differences in Stress Generation: An examination of Sociotropy/Autonomy, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, pp. 434-445
Sutherland,J and Cooper,L (1990)Chapter 3. Understanding stress. London: Chapman and Hall, pp.25-58
S. William and L. Cooper (2002) What is stress, Managing workplace stress. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. pp.1-10
Watson S., Goh Y., & Sawang S. (2011) Gender Influences on the Work-Related Stress-Coping Process. Journal of the Individual Differences, vol.32 (1), pp. 39-46.