CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1. Khanaka (2000) stated that management of stress is difficult unless the individual
experiencing stress is not aware of the specific causes or sources of stress. The things
or conditions that can cause stress are called stressors or loads.
2. Briner (2000) has identified in the research on Stress management: Effectiveness of
interventions, that seven interventions as stress management techniques. They are
stress management training, employee assistance programmes, job-redesigning, stress
audits, risk management, improvement in health and the establishment of standard
management practices.
3. Christalline (2000) conducted a research on Stress and the improvement of working
conditions, in various departments of large French hospital, centre for handicapped
adults and a help centre for unemployed people. The findings of the study indicated
that stress was an integral part of a managers work load. Stress could be treated by
organizing and improving the serenity of the person and his /her activities which
could be done through a programme of activity management methods with the
advantage of not necessarily impinging directly on the psychology of individual on
the group dynamic.
4. The Economic Times (2001) states that the World Health Organization (WHO)
predicts that by 2020, depression is expected to it has become increasingly
important for organizations to evolve approaches and policies that enhance the health
of their employees and keep the level of occupational stress at its optimum
5. Daga and Hussain (2001) in their study on A study of social family role stress and
social support among working women, and found out the effect of social support on
social and family role stress on 300 working Indian women and reported that social
support acts as a buffer against stress
6. Cooper et al. (2001) pointed out in their research on Organizational stress: A
review and critic of theory, research and applications, that often organizations
mistakenly assume that stress is not their problem but an individuals problem. The
first step towards management of organizational stress is the recognition that stress is
 also an organisational problem and not merely an individuals problem. Despite
widespread acknowledgement of the detrimental impact of stress on individuals and
as a consequence on organizations, the amount of attention given by organizations
towards understanding the causes of organizational stress and taking measures to
ameliorate stress from work settings has been limited. There are many reasons for this
lack of action on the part of organizations. Mainly managers beliefs about who is
responsible for managing employees levels of strain is always in question.
7. Messmer (2002) had suggested after conducting research on Avoiding stress and
burnout, that one cannot eliminate stress at work, but it is possible to learn to cope
with stressful situations more effectively by assessing priorities, effective delegations,
positive outlook, receiving assistance or counseling etc.
8. In the study on Emotional Intelligence and the bottom line stress in the super
market, Wustemann L. (2002) has stated that the training has increased the levels of
morale and the quality of working life and has marginally lowered the stress levels.
9. The findings of the study conducted by Wah L. (2002) on The emotional tight rope
indicated programs to reduce employee stress to include sabbaticals, appointing toxic
healers, or emotional healers, to shoulder the burdens of intra-organizational
emotional stress.
10. Shailendra Singh and Arvind (2002) identified three categories of strategies,namely
strategies which act on the source of stress, strategies which act on the symptomatic
effects of stress and which acts as an escape from the source and effects of stress.
11. Russ Newman (2005) in his research on Empirical dimensions of coping with job
related stress, showed that attending to the things that stress an employees feelings
like unable to implement decisions or little or no control over their own schedules
goes a long way in creating an atmosphere that is less stressful, has less absenteeism
and allows greater productivity.
12. Haslam and Reicher (2006) stated in their studies on Stressing the group: Social
identity and the unfolding dynamics of responses to stress, that social support has
long been recognized as an effective mechanism for coping with stress. The fact that
ones network of superiors, co-workers, associates, family and friends can provide
valuable information, resources and emotional support is a well-known truth. It can
therefore be hypothesized that a higher level of social support leads to lower role
stress.
13. Shubhasheesh Bhattacharya (2006) in his article pointed out that Repeated stress
will create extra burden for the heart, the blood vessels, and the kidneys. This will
cause the wear and tear of the system. Thus, repeated activation would cause fatigue
and may damage the heart and other major systems. In recent times, the number of
heart related diseases have gone up. Because of modern life style and stress, many
young, middle, and aged people are affected by heart related diseases. Some of the
techniques used for stress managements are physical exercises, massaging,
psychological techniques and regular practice of meditation etc. which could help
ones body to respond to stress better.
14. Marantz (2006) in his article,: Stress management, more important than ever,
stated that common reactions to stress include eating or avoiding food, smoking,
pacing, drinking or having emotional breakdowns. These were often the signs that
stress levels had built to an un-healthy level as per the analysis made in this study.
The author suggested developing positive attitudes, finding a friend or a mentor who
would listen to ones problems on a regular basis to deal with the stress is a healthier
fashion.
15. West (2006) in his study,Management ;Stress: coping strategies for employers,
explained that since stress was very often caused by how a person copes in the job,
rather than the job itself; ; it was important to make sure that at the recruitment stage
itself, an individuals skills are to be tested accurately and made sure if it matches to
the demands of the job. The study suggested training during the course of
employment and increasing the control an employee has over the work might help to
reduce stress.
16. Forter et al. (2006) The purpose of the present study is to analyze the roles of direct
action, coping and palliative coping in the relationship between work stressors and
psychological well being as well as their possible interactions, in a sample of 464
bank employees. Heirar Chitals regression analysis showed main effects of direct
action coping on well being. Palliative coping predicts higher levels of psychological
distress. Contrary to what was expected, the interactions between work stressors and
direct action coping were not significant. Palliative coping interacted with work
stressors when predicting psychosomatic complaints.
17. The interaction 74 Andrew Maratz U., Mississippi. Editorial: Stress Management
More Important than Ever, (2006). Anna West Management: Stress; coming
strategies for employers (2006).
18. Aldwin and Carolyn (2007) stated in his publication on Stress, coping and
development, that primary appraisal is influenced by both person and environmental
factors and triggers the selection of coping processes. problem-focused coping is
directed at managing the problem, while emotion-focused coping processes are
directed at managing the negative emotions. Secondary appraisal refers to the
evaluation of the resources available to cope with the problem and may alter the
primary appraisal. In other words, primary appraisal also includes the perception of
how stressful the problem is, realizing that, one has more than or less than adequate
resources to deal with the problem that affects the appraisal of stressfulness. Further,
coping is flexible in that the individual generally examines the effectiveness of the
coping on the situation, if it is not having the desired effect, then he/she will generally
try the different strategies.
19. Talib and Aziz (2008)stated that the detrimental effect of stress on individuals and
organizations is widely recognized. Stress is not only troublesome but also expensive
as well. Therefore, organizations have given enough attention to understand the
causes of organizational stress. Yet comprehensive response to tackle the problem is
missing. There are two aspects for the management of organizational stress. One is
the individual effort of the employee to manage stress at a personal level.
20. VasudhaVenugopal, (2010), an increasing number of IT professionals have been
finding it difficult to handle emotional stress, according to experts. An occupational
hazard,' the stress related to work needs to be addressed without delay, they
emphasize. Coping with stress and striving for mental health welfare should be a
matter of concern for all and not treated simply as a lifestyle problem of the IT
phenomenon', says Nithya Chandrasekaran, a consultant physician for many IT
companies in the city.
21. Deshmukh N.H. (2009), Stress and life satisfaction among working and non working
women from similar levels of socio economic status of the society, resulted that there
was no significant difference in physical and family stress among working and non
working women. Role stress was significantly higher among working than non
working women. Life satisfaction was better in working women than non working
women.
22. Gillian E. Hardy, David Woods and Toby D. Wall (2003), Psychological distress
particularly depression was found to predict absence, with higher levels of distress
predicting a greater number of days and number of times absent. Job satisfaction and
psychological distress independently predicted levels of absence. The psychological
distress absence relationship was not moderated by demographic variables.
23. Michael R. Frone (2008), the relationship of work stressors, those work over load
and job insecurity, to employees alcohol use illicit drug use resulted, support the
relation of work stressors to alcohol and illicit drug use before work, during the
workday, and after work.
24. Shane Schick, (2007), stressed IT professionals who use a balance of problem-
focused coping strategies and emotion-focused coping strategies are most successful
in dealing with the stress of staying perpetually up-to-date.
25. Vijay V. Raghavan, (2010), The effect of flexible work schedule, employee support
and training, and telecommuting as potential coping resources to relieve stress.
Perceived workload, role ambiguity, work facilitation, and decision latitude are
potential stressors of IT professionals. Removing role ambiguity and improving work
facilitation reduce work-related stress and allowing employees to have flexible work
schedules ease their perceptions of workload.
26. SahanaCharan, (2007), High work pressure, long hours in front of the computer and
a fast-paced lifestyle, if these factors team up to weaken your physical health, here is
one more strong reason why they are simply unhealthy: mental health professionals
are now convinced that an increasing number of persons working in the IT and IT-
enabled services sector fall prey to depression, because of the high stress they
undergo.
27. Murali Raj, (2009), Depression is usually related to work and stress these people
undergo because of the pressure to perform better, compete with other colleagues and
meet tight deadlines. Most of their work is target-oriented and if targets are not met, it
can lead to anxiety. Peers are not very supportive as they also competing in the same
field. Moreover, insecurity about the job may lead to feelings of expression.
28. Kamala Balu, (2002), most stress management programmes focus attention on the
individual either assisting employees or help them to cope with job-related stressors.
There is more concern in organizations with coping with the consequences of stress
rather than eliminating or reducing the actual stressors themselves. Wide range of
stress reducing programmes for employees rather then interventions to change the
 nature of work which would bring a more effective solution for the problem.
Employee assistance programmes such as counseling and support services for
employees have shown a promising approach of dealing with stress, however their
effectiveness is limited. Training or counselling employees to cope with stress are just
short-term solutions but have long-term benefits for mental health and well-being.
29. Elkin and Rosch (1990) have summarized a wide range of other strategies which are
directed towards increasing worker autonomy, participation and control. These
strategies include: redesigning tasks, redesigning the physical work environment, role
definition and clarification, establishing more flexible work schedules, participative
management, employee-centered career development programmes, providing
feedback and social support for employees and more equitable reward system
30. Anandamurugan (2010) stated in the publication on Tips for stress management
A guide to coping with stress Effective ways to beat stress that a strong family unit
develops the tools to solve stressors, reducing stress for the entire family. Problems
that pressurize families may be either be individual stressors that are carried over to
the whole family such as school suspension, addiction, mental disorder or physical
illness or family crisis
31. Ranamanikham and Vasanthal (2008) conducted a study on the relationship
between students academic stress and adjustment in relation to their academic
achievement. The findings are (i) there was a significant positive correlation
between academic stress and academic achievement
32. Naresh Kumar (2008) investigated in a study on the sources of academic stress and
their influence on the scholastic achievement that (i) the urban students were higher
in their level of stress as compared to the rural area students. (ii) the overall
achievement is positively and significantly associated with the level of scholastic
achievement.
33. (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2004) Stress (psychology), an unpleasant state of emotional
and physiological arousal that people experience in situation that they perceive as
dangerous or threatening to their well-being. (Auerbach et al, 2007/Encarta 2008).
34. According to WHO (2011), Stress arise from a wide range of work circumstances
and becomes worse due lack of support, low skill discretions, high job demands and
organizational condition.
35. (Hallin et al.2007.) More recently recognized stressor include workplace bullying,
discrimination in the workplace and sexual harassment. Upstream determination of
 psychosocial working condition include the state of the economy and the contractual
arrangements under which workers are employed (Benach et al., 2007; Quinlan &
Bhole, 2009), with many recent studies looking at contigent work or precarious
employment and its relationship with working conditions and health (Benach &
Muntaner, 2007; Cranford et al., 2003;
36. Lamontangne et al; 2009; Quinlan et al; 2001 Tompa et al; 2007). Despite many
beneficial health effects of work, jobs with poor psychosocial quality can be more
harmful to health than being unemployed, as a recent Australian study has
demonstrated (Broom et al., 2006) Kreitner, Kinicki & Buelens (1999:503) define
stress as, ..an adaptive response, mediated by individual characteristics and/or
psychological process, that is consequence of any external action, situation or event
that places special physical and/or psychological demands upon a person.
37. Cryer, Mccraty & Childre (2003:103) refer to stress as .two simultaneous
events: an external stimulus called a stressor, and the emotional and physical response
to that stimulus (fear,anxiety,surging heart rate and blood pressure, fast breathing,
muscle tension, and so on) . Good stressors (a ski run, a poerty contest) inspire you
achieve. Stress also affected the human immune system.
38. Although chronic stress typically produces suppression of a wide range of immune
system parameters, acute stress has been found to stimulate certain aspects of an
immune functioning (McEwen, 2000) . Specifically, acute stress can trigger aspects of
an immune system acute phase response, even in the absence of an infectious agent
(Deak, Meriwether, Flashner, spencers, Abouhamze, Moldawer, Grehn,
Watkins, & Maier, 1997).
39. Zohu,Kusnecov,shurin,Depaoli, Rabin,1993) Thus acute phase activation is
potentially another physiological marker of stress that might be useful in human
studies. Recent animal studies have provided evidence for stress-induced impairments
in memory consolidation (Cahill & McGaugh, 1996:
40. Priyanka Das1, Alok Kumar Srivastav (2015) they have identified that banks must
manage people at work to improve physical work environment, If the organizations
enhance the psychological well-being and health of the employees, the organizational
revenue will increase and there will be employee retention as well. Because of A
Healthy Employee is a Productive Employee. they concluded that the level of stress
among the select public sector banks are found to be limited and if the necessary
action taken by the management that will help to relieve the stress of the employees
and also help to impact more productive employees that will help the banks to achieve
greater heights