60

13. Technical Teachers Training Institute, Madras.

14. Bharathi Women‟s College, Madras.
15. Ethiraj College for Women, Madras.
16. Meenakshi College for Women, Madras.
IV. Madurai Kamaraj University
1. Lady Doak College, Madurai.
2. Madura College, Madurai.
3. The American College, Madurai.
4. Arul Anandar College, Karumathur.
5. [Link] College, Dindigul.
6. Thiagarajar College, Madurai.
7. Vivekananda College, Thiruvedagam.
8. Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College, Sivakasi.
9. Fatima College, Madurai.
10. Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai.
11. Sri Meenakshi Government College (Women), Madurai.

V. Manonmaniam Sundaranar University

1. [Link]‟s College, Palayamkottai.

2. S.P. College for Women, Courtallam.

CHAPTER–III
CONCEPTS AND REVIEWS

Stress in work organisation has emerged as a focal theme of research in India and

abroad. Nevertheless, during more than two decades, after the pioneering research work
 61
10
of Khan et al. (1964) , not much headway could be made in discovering the potent

sources of organisational stress other than the role conflict and the role ambiguity-its two

embryonic dimensions. It was MC Grath (1976)11 who pointed out that role conflict and

role ambiguity were only two aspects of the multi-dimensional phenomenon of stress. In

the present study, the concepts involved in stress are discussed.

Stress

Stress is an adoptive response. It is the body‟s reaction to an event that is seen as

emotionally disturbing, disquieting, or threatening. The stress has been defined as both

dependent and independent variables. In stress as the independent variable or response-

based model of stress, the stress depends upon various stressor agents whereas in the

stress an the independent variable or stimulus-based model of stress, the stress creates

strain and health problems.12

Sources of Stress

Stress can emanate from a variety of sources. Pestonjee (1992) 13 has identified

three important sectors of life from which stress may originate.

1. R.L. Khan, [Link], and R.P. Quinn, (1964), Organisational Stress: Studies in
Role Conflict and Ambiguity, New York: Wiley, pp.212-213.
2. J.E. Mc Grath, (1976), “Stress and Behaviour in Organisation”, In M.D. Dunnettee
(Ed.), Handbook of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Chicago, Rand Mc
Nally, pp.103-105.
3. Ton Cox and Colin Mackay, (1981): Stress, Work Design and Productivity, Edited
by [Link] and [Link], John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp.43-44.
4. [Link], (1992), Stress and Coping: The Indian Experience, Sage
Publications, New Delhi, pp.127-129.
 62
i) Job and Organisation: These refer to the totality of the work environment, such as

job description, work culture, inter-personal relationships and compensation

offered.

ii) Social Sector: Denotes the socio-cultural milieu of a person. It may include

religion, caste, language, attitudes and beliefs of others, the political and legal

environment, and so on.

iii) Intrapsychic sector: This encompasses those aspects which are intimate and

personal such as an individual‟s values, abilities, temperament, personality, needs,

expectations and health.

 63
14
Brown (1984) has listed five categories of sources of stress.

i) Customary anticipated life events (any major change in life) such as marriage,

divorce, beginning/ending of school, children leaving home and retirement.

ii) Unexpected life events (any major life event which occurs suddenly), for example,

unexpected bereavement, sudden loss of job, major accident, becoming aware of a

terminal illness.

iii) Progressive, accumulating situational events (any continuously recurring problems

in life‟s activities) like daily hassles, job and family stress, school stress and

competition.

iv) Personality aspects (any personal traits that create social problems), such as poor

communication, low self-esteem, insecurity, lack of confidence, poor decision-

making and fear of failure.

v) Value-dependent traits (circumstances generating thought-feeling conflict), for

instance, revolutions, broken homes, moral dilemmas such as cheat or fail, and peer

pressure vs personal conscience.

5. B.B. Brown, (1984), Between Health and Illness: New Notions on Stress and the
Nature. [Link] and [Link] (1981), Stress Work Design and Productivity,
John Wiley & Sons Ltd., pp.93-97.
 64
15
Cartwright and Cooper (1997) identified six major sources of work stress.

These are:

i) Factors intrinsic to the job-These are related to poor working conditions, shift work,

long hours, travel, risk and danger, poor technology, work underload and overload.

ii) Role in the organisation: When a person‟s role in the organisation is clearly defined,

stress can be kept to a minimum. Pareek (1993) has provided a fairly

comprehensive list of stresses commonly encountered with reference to one‟s role

in the organisation.

iii) Relationships at work: Selye (1983) pointed out that good relationships between

members of a group is a key factor in individual and organisational health. There

are three critical interpersonal relationships at work: relationships with one‟s boss,

those with one‟s sub-ordinates, and those with one‟s colleagues.

iv) Career development factor: Includes the degree of job security, fear of job loss,

obsolescence of one‟s skills and capabilities and retirement. For many workers,

peer progression is of over riding importance. Performance appraisals can be an

extremely stressful experience.

v) Organisational structure and climate: Non-participation at work and a general lack

of control in the organisation are related to a variety of stress related symptoms.

vi) Non-work pressures: Include pressures on the home front due to job stress. The

dual career family model may be source of stress for women as well as men. It

6. S. Cartwright, and Cooper (1997): Managing Workplace Stress, Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage Publications, New Delhi, pp.114-115.
 65
comprises the amount of time they are able to devote to their jobs, the degree of

mobility they have, the acceptance of transfer change, if the wife is also working.

Job Stress

An important part of one‟s life that causes a great deal of stress is one‟s job or

work. Work related stress is of growing concern because it has significant economic

implications for the organisation. According to Dua (1994)16, the commonly seen

stressors include:

1. Intrinsic job factors such as poor working conditions, work overload and monotony.

2. Role in organisations, for example, role conflict and role ambiguity.

3. Career development, for instance, lack of promotional opportunities, policies and job

insecurity.

4. Poor relationship at work.

5. Organisational culture.

Over and above these, there are extra-organisational stressors that interact with on-

the-job factors. These are family problems, personal problems and social problems.

Pestonjee (1992) identified three sources of stress: a) job and organisation, b) the

social sector, and c) the intrapsychic sector. The total amount of stress emanating from

these three sectors will depend on the stress tolerance limit of the person. The Dynamics

of job stress is presented below: (Cartwright and Cooper 1997).

7. J.K. Dua, (1994), “Job Stressors and their effects on Physical Health, Emotional
Health and Job Satisfaction in a University”, Journal of Educational
Administration, 32 (6), pp.59-78.
 66
Sources of Stress Symptoms of Stress Diease

Intrinsic to the job Individual symptoms

Role in the organisation Raised Blood pressure
Relationships at work Depressed Mood Coronary Heart Disease
Career development Individual Excessive Drinking Mental illness
Organisational structure Irritability
Non-work factors Chest pains

Organisational Symptoms
High absenteeism Prolonged strikes
High Labour Turnover Frequent and severe
Industrial Relations accidents
Difficulties Apathy
Poor Quality Control

Sources of Job Stress

Marshall and Cooper (1981) identified the sources of stress at work as shown

below:

I. Intrinsic to job
i) Too much work, qualitative/quantitative
ii) Too little work
iii) Time pressures/deadlines
iv) Poor physical working conditions
v) Too many decisions
II. Role in Organisation
i) Role ambiguity
ii) Role conflict
iii) Too little responsibility
iv) No participation in decision-making
v) Responsibility for people
vi) Responsibility for things
vii) Lack of managerial support
 67
viii) Increasing standards of acceptable performance
ix) Organisational boundaries (internal and external)
III. Relation within Organisation
i) Poor relations with boss
ii) Poor relations with collegues and subordinates
iii) Difficulties in delegating responsibility
iv) Personality conflicts
IV. Career Development
i) Over promotion
ii) Under promotion
iii) Lack of job security
iv) Fear of redundancy/retirement
v) Fear of obsolescence
vi) Thwarted ambition
vii) Sense of being trapped
V. Organisational Structure and Climate
i) Restrictions on behaviour
ii) Lack of effective consultation and communication
iii) Uncertainty about what is happening
iv) No sense of belonging
v) Loss of identity
vi) Office polities
VI. Organisation Interface with Outside
i) Divided loyalties
ii) Conflicts with family demands
VII. Intrinsic to individual
i) Personality
ii) Inability to cope with change
iii) Declining abilities
iv) Lack of insight into own motivation and stress
v) Ill-equipped to deal with inter personal problems
 68
vi) Fear of moving out of area of expertise

The researcher can be grouped into three categories, one giving the stimulus

oriented, the other response oriented and the third transaction oriented Definition of stress

depending upon their suitability, persuasion and field of study. Hall and Mansfield

(1971)17 and Khan et al. (1964)18 belong to the first category who regard stress as an

external force operating on an individual, was perceived as a threat.

Rajeswari Besonitz et al. (1955)19, Parkar and Decotiis, (1983)20 and Rajeswari

(1992)21 believe in the response-oriented approach. They feel that stress should be

conceived as an organism‟s response to internal and external processes that go beyond

the limits of its physical, psycho-physiological and integrative capacities. Among the

supporters of interaction or transaction-oriented concept are Beehr and Newman (1978)22,

8. D.T. Hall, and R. Mansfield, (1971), “Organisational and Industrial Response to

External Stress”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 16 (1), pp.160-173.
9. R.L. Khan, D.M. Wolfe, and R.P. Quinn, (1964), Organisational Stress: Studies in
Role Conflict and Ambiguity, New York: Wiley, pp. 205-207.
10. H. Besonitz, I.H. Pershey, and R.P. Grinher, (1955), Anxiety and Stress, McGraw
Hill, New York, pp.110-112.
11. D.F. Parhar, and T.A. Decotis, (1983), “Organisational Determinants of Stress”,
Organisational Behaviour Performance, 32 (8), pp.160-177.
12. [Link], (1992), “Employee Stress: A Study with Reference to Bank
Employees”, Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 27 (3-4), pp.47-57.
13. [Link], and J.E. Newman, (1978), “Job Stress, Employee Health and
Organisational Effectiveness: A Facet Analysis Model and Literature Review”,
Personnel Psychology, 31 (4), pp.665-691.
 69
23 24
Lazarus (1971) and Schular (1984) , Stress, they feel, involves an interaction of the

person and environment.

Social Support and Job Stress

Social support has been one of the most widely studied social phenomena in past

20 years; it has also been one of the most difficult to pin down conceptually and

operationally (Gottlieb,25 1985, Shumaker and Brownwell,26 1984). The different sources

of social support range from special relationships to support from family and friends to

success of support in work place (i.e. supervisors and co-workers).

Work Place Sources of Support

The role of supportive communication in organisations has been primarily

considered when examining job stressors (Ray & Mioller, 1991).27 Both supervisors and

co-workers are in optional positions to provide support because of their understanding of

14. [Link], (1971), “The Concept of Stress and Disease”, In [Link] (Ed.), Society,
Stress and Disease, London, Oxford University Press, pp.24-25.
15. R.S. Schular, (1984), “Definition and Conceptualisation of Stress and Organisation”,
Organisational Behaviour and Human Performance, 24 (3), pp.115-130.
16. B.H. Gottlieb, (1985), “Social Networks and Social Support: An Overview of
Research, Practice and Policy Implication”, Health Education Quarterly, 12 (3),
pp.5-22.
17. [Link], and A. Brounell, (1984), “Toward a theory of Social Support: Closing
Conceptual Gaps”, Journal of Social Issues, 40 (5), pp.11-36.
18. E.B. Ray, and K.I. Miller, (1991), “The Influence of Communication Structure and
Social Support on Job Stress and burnout, Management Communication Quarterly,
4 (1), pp.506-527.
 70
28
the stresses inherent in the work place. It is possible that supervisors and co-workers

could relieve job stress by sharing information and resources, offering suggestions, and

helping realize that they are not alone.

Home Sources of Support

A myriad of research has found that support from family and friends can have

positive effect on a wide range of physical and psychological outcomes (Allrecht and

Adelman, 1987). However, the beneficial effects of home sources of support may also be

the cause of stress. (Lehmann and Worng 1984), Because there has been no research

specially addressing the impact of home source of support on this type of stress, the

positive effect of social support should not be assumed.

19. K.I. Miller, [Link], [Link], and J.S. Lyles, (1990), “An Integrated Model of
Communication, Stress and Burnout in the Work Place”, Communication Research,
17 (1), pp.300-326.
 71

Consequences of Stress

The effects of stress is considered in terms of costs to the individual, the work

environment and society. The effects on individual include cardiovascular and

respiratory disorders, metabolism malfunction, cancer, mental illness and psychosomatic

disease. This is followed by a discussion of the behavioural response to stress, including

smoking, alcohol consumption and accident involvement. And finally, organisational

costs including absenteeism, poor industrial relations and labour turnover are considered.

The interactive nature of the symptoms of stress is shown below.

Health Effects

Cognitive effects Subjective effects

Behavioural Physiological
effects effects

Organisational
effects

Organisational Role Stress

Any organisation may be perceived as a system of roles. These roles are different

from positions or offices in the organisation. According to Katz and Kahn (1996) 29,

office is a relational or power-related concept, while role is an obligation concept. Office

is concerned with the hierarchical positions and privileges, whereas role refers to the

obligations attached to that office. Thus office defines the power of the holder. Role

determines the obligations of the person holding that office. Pareek (1994) has defined

20. J.C. Katz, and R.C. Kahn, (1996), The Social Psychology of Organisations, New
York: Wiley, pp.156-157.
 72
role as a set of functions, which an individual performs in response to the expectations of

others and his own expectations about the role. There are two role systems: role space

and role set. Both have a built-in potential for conflict. Such a conflict is called as role

stress.

1. Role space conflict: It refers to conflicts between the self, a person‟s role and other

roles occupied by him. Role stress may take various forms namely self- role

distance, role stagnation and inter-role distance.

2. Role set conflict: While role space conflicts arise from the incompatibility between

the self and the roles played by the person, role set conflicts denote in-compatibilities

amongst the varying expectations that „significant others‟ have from the role

encumbent. Among the important role set conflicts are the role ambiguity, role

expectation conflict, role overload, role erosion, role inadequacy, personal

inadequacy and role isolation.

Udai Pareek‟s (1983)30 contribution to the organisational role research lies in

identifying as many as ten different types of Organisational Role Stress (ORS). They are:

1. Inter-role distance Stress – Conflict between Organisational and Non-

organisational roles.
2. Role Stagnation Stress – Feeling of being struck up in the same role.
3. Role expectation stress – Conflicting demands originating from colleagues.
4. Role erosion stress – Role has become less important or some body else
gets the credit.

21. Udai Pareek (1983), Role Stress Scale, ORS Scale Booklet, Answer Sheet and
Manual, Ahmedabad, Navin Publication, pp.230-233.
 73
5. Role overload stress – Too much work or doing things of considerable
importance.
6. Role Isolation stress – Absence of strong linkages of one‟s role with other
roles.
7. Personal inadequacy – Absence of adequate skills, competence and training
stress format the demands of one‟s role.
8. Self-role distance stress – Gap between one‟s concept of self and demands of
role.
9. Role Ambiguity stress – Lack of clarity about the demands of the role.
10. Resource Inadequacy – Human or material resources allocated are inadequate
stress to meet the demands of the role.
 74
REVIEWS

Karuna Sharma and Mahajan (2003)31 found that the age, salary and work

experience influenced the various types of role stress among the clerical cadre employees

of nationalised banks. It was also evident that both more and less experienced women

suffered by more stress than their counterparts. More experienced men experienced more

stress on Role Stagnation and Resource Inadequacy whereas women felt more stress on

Inter-role distance, Role erosion and role isolation.

Vander Pompe and Hepus (1993)32 revealed that there was no significant

difference among male and female managers regarding the stress. Both work and life

support were negatively correlated with work stress and only work support was

negatively correlated with work stress, which was strongly related to reducing work

stress and was positively related to each measure of strain.

Usha Sree, et al. (1995)33 reported significant effect of gender role difference

alone on job stress. Masculine and androgynous subjects were undergoing more stress

than others.

22. Karuna Sharma and Sadhana Mahajan (2003), “Gender Differences in Stress as
affected by some Demographic Variables in Bank Employees”, Indian Journal of
Applied Psychology, 40 (6), pp.17-24.
23. G. Vander Pompe, and P. Hepus, (1993), “Work Stress, Social Support and Strains
among Male and Female Managers: Stress and Stress Management at Work Place”,
Anxiety Stress and Coping: An International Journal, 6 (3), pp.215-218.
24. S. Usha Sree, B.V. Seshu Reddy, and P. Vindya, (1995), “Gender, Gender Role and
Age Effects on Teacher‟s Job Stress and Job Satisfaction”, Psychological Studies, 40
(2), pp.72-76.
 75
34
Amudha Devi and Velayudham (2003) pointed out that the Government and

private staff had an equal amount of job satisfaction. The work autonomy, occupational

status and work schedule were perceived as ingredients of job satisfaction with their

autonomy, status and the type of work schedule concerned.

Uma Bhowon and [Link]-Kion (2004)35 revealed that perception of inequity, role

overload and inadequacy of role authority were the key aspects of stress confronting

employees. Dimensionwise analysis indicated that different ingredients of work stress

encountered employees with varying vigour and gravity. The study also indicated that

employees‟ perception of organisation structure and processes determined stress

experience of inequality. The organisational climate was also identified as a contingency

variable for stress.

Panchanathan (1997)36 found the relationship between the creative personality and

occupational stress among the problem solving executives, who were classified into

Generator, Conceptualizer, Optimizer and Implementer. The negative relationship

between the occupational stress and creative personality was also identified among four

groups of problem-solvers.

25. [Link] Devi, and A. Velayutham, (2003), “Job Satisfaction of Women

Lecturers Working in Private and Government Colleges”, Indian Journal of Applied
Psychology, 40 (6), pp.25-28.
26. Uma Bhowon and [Link]-Kion (2004), “Organisational Climate and Stress: A Study of
Managers in Mauritius”, Psychological Studies, 49 (1), January, pp.45-51.
27. N. Panchanathan, (1997), “Need for Stress Reduction among Problem-solving
Executives”, Abhigyan, 15 (4), pp.21-24.
 76
37
Ashish Roy (1997) found that junior scientists faced more role stress in role

stagnation and role erosion whereas the senior scientists faced role overload. A

significant relationship was identified in Inter-role distance among the boss and

colleagues, in role expectation conflict among boss and wife; in role erosion among boss

and subordinates, in role isolation among parents and subordinates, in personal

inadequacy among boss and parents; and in self-role distance among boss and

subordinates.

Deosthalee (2000)38 concluded that the type of organisation in which female

executives worked had no impact on the stress experienced by them. In an organisation

the stress experienced by female executives was significant, as higher the position lesser

the stress experienced by them.

Srivastava (2004)39 concluded that private and public sector workers significantly

differed in terms of overall welfare activities. The public sector provided better welfare

facilities to their workers in comparison to the private sector. Public sector workers had

more favourable attitude towards management regarding all aspects compared to private

sector workers.

28. Ashish Roy (1997), “Executive Stress and Social Support-An Exploratory Study”,
Abhigyan, 12 (4), pp.25-31.
29. Parwin G. Deosthalee, (2000), “Type of Organisation and Position held in
Organisation as a source of stress among female executives”, NMIMS Management
Review, 7 (1), January-June, pp.72-75.
30. [Link], (2004), “Impact of Labour Welfare on Employee attitudes and Job
Satisfaction”, Management & Labour Studies, 29 (1), February, pp.31-40.
 77
40
Anne Marie and Zhen (2004) felt that the nature of relationship between

organisational commitment and performance were similar in the case of role

performance, altruism and conscientiousness. There was a stronger positive relationship

between commitment and each of the performance measures for low collectivism group

whereas the high collectivism group had a weaker relationship.

Singh and Singh (2004)41 found that the stress had been found associated

positively and significantly with poor organisational structure and climate; poor

interpersonal relations; work inhibitors; lack of resources; inconsiderate superior and role

ambiguity. But stress had not been found associated significantly with work load, unmet

financial needs, job in security, rigid roles and monotonous job.

Cummins (1990)42 suggested role conflict and ambiguity, work overload, under

utilisation of skills, resource inadequacy and lack of participation as the main categories

of work stressors.

Lim and Hian (1999)43 conducted a study to identify key factors at the work place

which generate stress among information personnel in Singapore. Lack of career

31. Anne Marie Francesco and Zhen Xiong Chen (2004), “Collectivism in Action”,
Group and Organisation Management, 29(4), August, pp.425-438.
32. Lakhwinder Singh and Raghbir Singh (2004), “Identifying Stressors at work-A case
of Employees in the Electronics Industry”, Decision, 31 (1), January-June, pp.51-71.
33. R. Cummins, (1990), “Job Stress and the Buffeting Effect of Supervisory Support”,
Group and Organisational Studies, 15 (1), pp.92-104.
34. [Link], and [Link], (1999), “Occupational Stress among Information
Technology Personnel in Singapore”, [Link]/e/info/asian/ap199/
Singapore 0.2.
 78
development, work overload, risk-taking and decision-making, and employee morale and

organisational culture were identified as broad categories of stressors.

Nirmala (2002)44 found that there was significantly a negative relationship

between job performance and occupational stress of cashier-cum-clerks. Four

dimensions of occupational stress namely role overload, role conflict, powerlessness and

intrinsic impoverishment were significantly but negatively related to job performance of

cashier-cum-clerks.

Mihir Kumar Shome (2003)45 concluded that the male and female groups did not

show any significant difference regarding their perception of work environment. The

male employees were involved and committed to their jobs; preferred better relations

with their colleagues, engaged in good planning, were always busy at their work and

preferred variety, change and new approaches for betterment. The female employees

were concerned and committed to their jobs, had a cordial relation with their colleagues

and they felt that the authorities encouraged them to be self-sufficient and make their own

decision.

35. Nirmala (2002), “Occupational Stress and Job Performance: A Study in Banking
Industry”, Prestige Journal of Management and Research, 6 (1-2), April-October,
pp.1-6.
36. Mihir Kumar Shome (2003), “Perception of Work Environment in an Electronic
Organisation: A Study of Gender Differences”, Prestige Journal of Management
and Research, 7(2), October, pp.175-186.
 79
46
Gani and Shah (1999) stated that most of the bank employees experienced

medium to high levels of stress. The dimension-wise analysis revealed that different

ingredients of work stress encountered employees with varying vigour and gravity.

There was ample evidence that the stress sensation was dependent upon the type of

ownership of organisation. The technological and operational changes in the industry

were not so stressful whereas the inter-group and superior-subordinate relationship at

work was not so distasteful and the employees were not much disturbed on account of

conflicting orders and expectations.

Sharma and Sharma (1997)47 found that the organisational characteristics were

relatively more important predictors of job satisfaction than task characteristics.

Together these two sets of situational factors explained 29.17 per cent of the variance in

job satisfaction, while no significant amount of variance in job satisfaction was explained

by the personal related factors.

Chakrapani (1996)48 revealed that the most important variables significantly

correlating with several of the stress-indicator-response measures, were family support,

ego strength, health and radicalism. Both family support and religion were involved here

as institutional factors in altering the stressor character of unemployment.

37. A. Gani, and Faroog A. Shah, (1999), “Job stress among banking employees: An
Empirical Study”, Paradigm 2 (2), January, pp.21-39.
38. Madan Pal Sharma and Baldev R. Sharma (1997), “Determinants of Job Satisfaction:
Situational or Personal?” Abhigyan 15 (4), pp.1-9.
39. C. Chakrapani, (1996), “Unemployment as a Stressor: Role of socio-psychological
factors”, The Indian Journal of Social Work, 57 (4), October, pp.578-586.
 80
49
Ray and Miller (1994) examined the impact of demographic variables namely

job type, job tenure, work shift and nature work on the perception of home work stress.

None of these variables had a significant impact on the perception of home/work stress.

The important factors revealing the work stress identified by the analysis were

home/work stress, support from supervisors, co-workers, administration, family-size,

emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and depersonalization.

Harigopal and Ravikumar (1979)50 suggested that a manager‟s satisfaction with

company was influenced by his job attitudes and role perceptions at the middle and lower

management levels. The job attitude and role stress variables together accounted for 44

per cent of the variance of company satisfaction. The role ambiguity was significantly but

negatively associated with the company‟s satisfaction.

Ravikumar (1985)51 identified seven major sources of executive stress namely job,

relation within organisation, organisational structure and climate, organisational interface

with external world, career development, individual manager and determinants of stress.

Asha Balagangadharan and Afneeda, (2004)52 concluded that patient groups and

the normal group did not differ in their level of stress tolerance. With regard to the

40. Eileen Berlin Ray and Katherine I. Miller (1994), “Social support, Home/work stress,
and Burnout: Who can help?”, Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 30 (3),
September, pp.357-373.

41. K. Harigopal, and Ravikumar, (1979), “Company satisfaction in relation to certain job
attitudes and role stress variables”, Indian Journal of Applied Psychology, 16 (2),
pp.61-67.
42. R. Ravikumar, (1985), “Management of Executive Role Stress”, SEDME, 12 (4),
December, pp.15-22.
 81
personality characteristics, the rheumatoid arthritic patients exhibited more of inertia

compared to osteoarthritic or normal groups. The personality characteristics of inertia

and activation were positively related to the perceived stress of patients.

Timothy Judge and Remus Ilies (2004)53 showed that mood did spill over outside

the work environment in that the affective states experienced at work influenced mood,

measured later in the day, at home. The results indicated that psychological mechanisms

through individual‟s mood and job satisfaction were inter-connected across work and off-

work spheres and across time, and of the ways in which stable dispositions influenced

these mechanisms.

Ritu Lehal (2001)54 found that the responsibility, reward initiative and risk,

warmth and the like were important sub factors of organisational climate. Faculty

communication system, improper and delayed grievance handling and decision making

were responsible if an executive perceived that the climate was unfavourable to him.

43. Asha Balagangadharan and A. Afneeda, A. (2004), “A comparative study of the

personality and stress tolerance level of rheumatoid arthritic and osteoarthristic
patients with that of normal”, Journal of Psychological Researchers, 48 (2), pp.71-
76.
44. Timothy A. Judge and Remus Ilies, (2004), “Affect and job satisfaction: A Study of
their relationship at work and at home”, Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(4),
pp.661-673.
45. Ritu Lehal (2001), “A Study of Organisational Climate in Electronics Industry in
Punjab”, South Asian Journal of Management, 8 (3 & 4), pp.35-45.
 82
55
Mathur and Mehta (1996) showed the considerable significance of job

involvement of managers in organisations with organisational effectiveness. A

significant positive correlation was identified among job satisfaction, achievement

climate with the job involvement, whereas a significant negative correlation was

identified between control climate and job involvement.

Kumar and Kulkarni (1996)56 provided a framework for appraising the

performance of the teachers working in the institutions of technical education. It

included four aspects namely teaching, research, extension and other activities. These

aspects were given different weightage for different categories of teachers, namely

lectures, readers and professors.

Panchanathan, et al. (1998)57 found that an individual‟s quality decision-making

skills were associated with their level of achievement motivation. Individuals with

relatively high level of skills are more often found to make quality decisions and

individuals with low skills are found to make defective decisions. An orientation towards

the vocational and skill achievements was found to significantly influence the

vigilant/quality decision-making skills.

46. Purnima Mathur and Ashok Mehta (1996), “Job Involvement in relation with job
satisfaction and motivational climate”, Udyog Pragadi 19 (1), July-September,
pp.64-68.
47. Satischandra Kumar and Rupali Kulkarni (1996), “Stress, Strain and coping styles
among Indian Commercial Pilots”, Udyog Pragati, 14 (1) July-September, pp.70-74
48. N. Panchanathan, V. Suresh, and D. Amalor, (1998), “Achievement, Motivation and
Quality Decision Making”, The Indian Journal of Technical Education, 21 (2),
April-June, pp.30-33.
 83
58
Yitzhak Fried (1993) mentioned that the work stress studies had largely failed to

recognize the potential positive effects of union representatives as a source of social

support that could help in reducing the adverse effect of stress at work. Work stress

studies had also ignored the importance of the individual relations to climate in

determining the success of organisational programmes to reduce employees level of work

stress.

Arie Shirom and Ada Mayer (1993)59 found that the stress variables among the

teachers were disciplining students, Home-work conflict, physical conditions, extra-

curricular duties, parent-teacher conflict, teacher-principal conflict and overload.

Nandaram and Bert (1993)60 revealed that the union members did report

experiencing a variety of role stressors as a consequence of their union activities and that

these stressors were associated with emotional exhaustion. Problems that were found to

be most strongly associated with the feeling of uselessness and the wish to quit were

qualitative overload.

49. Yitzhak Fried, (1993), “Integrating domains of work stress and industrial relations:
Introduction and Overview”, Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 14 (1), pp.397-
399.
50. Arie Shirom and Ada Mayer (1993), “Stress and Strain among Union lay officials and
rank-and file members”, Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 14 (1), pp.401-413.
51. Sharda [Link] and Bert Klandermans (1993), “Stress experienced by active
members of trade unions”, Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 14 (1), pp.415-
431.
 84
61
Pestonjee and Azeem (2001) stated that the university teachers had a lower level

of stress and burnout. They had a low feeling of emotional exhaustion and

depersonalization and high feeling of personal accomplishment, which reflected a low

burnout in them. A significant difference among professors, readers and lecturers was

identified in their level of role stress and turnover. Lecturers were found to be the most

stressed group probably because they were less experienced with higher workload,

problem of clarity and other factors.

Syed Zafar and Jeyakumaran (2004)62 identified the important causes of stress as

the changing managing styles, the growing requirement to manage people, career

prospects, organisational structure, climate at work and home interface, conflict between

being a specialist or a generalist, conflict between being an individual and a team player,

inadequate support and recognition from ones‟ boss; poor work equipment and premises;

excessive organisational change and fear of losing one‟s job.

Geeta Seshu (2003)63 found that the youngsters working at call centers were

increasingly seeking help for work-related stress, irregular sleeping hours, unhealthy food

habits and chronic fatigue.

52. [Link], and Syed Mohd. Azeem (2001), “A Study of Organisational Role
Stress in Relation to Job Burnout among University Teachers”, Unpublished Research
Work, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
53. Syed Zafar, and M. Jeyakumaran, (2004), “Job stress-A Killer Disease”, OD
Communication, December-January, pp.3-5.
54. Geeta Seshu (2003), “Stress Amidst Sunshine”, The Hindu, Business Line, June, 8.
 85
64
Vasumathi, et al. (2003) found that small entrepreneurs were affected by stress

caused by achievement and affiliated need-related stressors. Power-need related stressors

were not significant to affect them. Secondly, entrepreneurs adopted silent, less-

expensive, tradition-bound stress reduction strategies, in preference to other type of stress

coping styles.

Boyd and Gumpet (1983)65 identified four causes of stress. They were:

[Link], 2. Immersion in business, 3. People problems and 4. Need to achieve.

Panchaksari, et al. (2001)66 revealed that the personal and socio-psychological

variables considered for the study did not have any significant association with job

involvement and job satisfaction. But the job performance was significantly associated

with age, qualification and experience, while salary, rural background, training and

countries visited did not influence job performance.

Kelloway et al. (1993)67 expressed the identification of job satisfaction as an

outcome of industrial relation stress. The effect of negative industrial relation stress on

55. A. Vasumathi, S. Govindarajalu, [Link], and R. Amudha, (2003), “Stress and

Coping Styles of an Entrepreneur-An Empirical Study”, Journal of Management
Research, 3 (1), April, pp.43-49.
56. David P. Boyd and David E. Gumpert (1983), Coping with Entrepreneurial Stress,
Harward Business Review, March-April, pp.46-56.
57. [Link], P. Kumaresan and R.G. Geetha Devi, (2001), “Job performance and
satisfaction of sericulture scientists”, Indian Journal of Training and Development,
31 (4), October-December, pp.77-84.
58. E. Kevin Kelloway and Julian Barling and Afsar Bhah, (1993), “Industrial Relations
stress and job satisfaction: concurrent effects and mediation”, Journal of
Organisational Behaviour, 14 (1), pp.447-457.
 86
job satisfaction was fully mediated by negative mood, positive industrial relations stress

which had both direct and indirect effects on job satisfaction. The negative industrial

relations stress had a substantial effect on negative mood, and the positive industrial

relations stress had a much smaller impact on positive mood.

Omar Bin Sayeed (2002)68 revealed that there were serious problems with the

study that had failed to distinguish between Human Resource Development facilitators

and resultant practices. In fact, due to this reason the HRD facilitators and practices lost

their relative independence as two separate domains of HRD. The linkages between the

practices/facilitators together and the profit maximization of the company were not

confirmed as otherwise noted by many other researchers in this field.

Mahesh Prabha and Rodrigues (2003)69 found that the employees in the

organisation indicated a high level of satisfaction in the dimension of safety and security

whereas, training and development were rated poorly. Scope for advancement and

participative management were the other poorly perceived dimensions of organisational

climate. Even though, there was no significant difference between non-executives and

executives in most of the dimensions of organisational climate, the non-executives had a

relatively negative attitude to the organisational climate in their organisation.

59. Omar Bin Sayeed (2002), “Understanding HRD System: A Critical Appraisal of HRD
practices and facilitators”, Vision, July-December, pp.87-98.
60. Mahesh Prabhu and Lewlyn, L.R. Rodrigues (2003), “Organisational Climate and its
influence upon job satisfaction: A study in public sector organisation in India”, South
Asian Journal of Management, 10 (4), pp.13-23.
 87
70
Mala Sinha (2001) found a significant difference among males and females

regarding their employment related attitudes. All females and males belonging to lower

classes displayed low motivational state, by having unfocused job aspirations, external

control, and a less supportive family. The present study also showed that fathers were

better support givers to males than females. Men belonging to socio-economically

disadvantaged class displayed deficits in motivational state just as the women in the study

did.

Heaney et al. (1993)71 revealed that those employees who were involved in the

stress project reported more frequent participation in decision-making, were more likely

to perceive management and supervisors as soliciting and adopting employee ideas, and

were less depressed than those employees who did not highly involve in the participation

action in stress project.

Kumar and Patnaik (2002)72 showed that the HRD climate had a positive and

substantial relationship with all the components of attitude towards work namely job

properties, organisational policies and practices, power and control, relationship with

others and other facets of work situation. The HRD climate had not contributed towards

61. Mala Sinha (2001), “Gender, Socio-Economic Class and Employment Related
Attitudes”, Journal of Management Research, 1 (3), May-August, pp.160-171.
62. Catherine A. Heaney, Barbara A. Israel, Susan [Link], Elizabeth A. Baker,
James S. House and Margrit (1993), “Industrial Relations, Worksite, stress reduction
and employee well-being: A participatory action research investigation”, Journal of
Organisational Behaviour, 14 (1), pp.495-510.
63. Sharad Kumar and Sabita Patnaik (2002), “Human Resource Development Climate
and Attributes of Teachers in JNVs”, Indian Journal of Training and Development,
32 (2), April-June, pp.31-37.
 88
improvement of role efficacy of its teachers. There was a positive relationship of HRD

climate with all the components of job satisfaction namely pay satisfaction, security

satisfaction, social satisfaction, supervisory satisfaction and growth satisfaction.

Rodrigues (2004)73 stated that faculty members had rated highly the dimensions

namely interpersonal relationship and training and development. Poor rating dimension

of participative management indicated a lack of involvement of the teaching faculty in

the decision making process at different levels namely setting syllabi, curriculum design,

developmental plans, supervision, counselling and mentoring.

Madhavan (1996)74 identified the profile of teacher competency. These were

develop/revise curriculum, utilize infrastructural resources, deliver instruction, use

learner-centered delivery methods, evaluate student performance, participate in

profession development, use motivational strategies, manage class room, counsel

students, administer department, organise co-curricular activities, analyse teacher

performance, evaluate institution and programme, promote institutional growth, organise

industrial linkages and maintain good relations with community.

64. Lewlyn L.R. Rodrigues (2004), “Correlates of Human Resource Development,

Climate Dimensions: An Empirical study in Engineering Institutes in India”, South
Asian Journal of Management, 11(2), January-March, pp.81-92.
65. M. Madhavan, (1996), “Strategies for Quality Improvement in Technician Education
System”, The Indian Journal of Technical Education, 19(4), October-December,
pp.17-20.
 89
75
Jayawardane (1995) suggested that individuals who attached greater importance

to work values, prestige, participation, relationship with superiors, independence, variety,

achievement, and a lower value on economic returns would get highly involved when the

organisation provided a meaningful job. This involvement led to greater commitment in

turn resulting in an increase of productivity.

Minter (2003)76 found that work-related stress affected 40 million employees in

the European Union, 28 per cent of the workforce. European union officials estimated

the annual bill for job stress was $20 billion. Some 50 to 60 per cent of absenteeism had

been tied to work related stress.

Varhol (2000)77 mentioned the relationship between organisational factors and

stress, suggesting that different aspects of organisational design could significantly

influence perceptions of job stress. Stress and accompanying depression in the work

place was now the second most disabling illness inflicting workers after heart disease.

Mukta Singhvi and Kamlesh Singh (2004)78 found that inside density had a

significant effect on mental stress but outside density did not. The reason for this could

be the fact that people seemed to be less affected by the area and people living outside

66. A.K.L. Jayawardane, (1995), “Work Values and Employee Involvement”, South
Asian Journal of Management, 2 (1-4), January-March, pp.15-21.
67. Minter (2003), Easing the Stress: Will employees heed the doctor‟s advice and stop
pushing employees so hard, occupational hazards.
68. P. Varhol, (2000), Identify and Manage work related stress: Industry Trend or Event,
Electronic Design, Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 4(1), pp. 20-26.
69. Mukta Singhvi and Kamlesh Singh (2004), “Mental Stress: Role of Population
Density and Gender Differences”, Journal of Psychological Researches, 48 (2),
pp.91-95.
 90
their residences. They were affected by the number of persons present inside their

immediate homes.

Hossain (1997)79 concluded that the occupational stress was one of the important

predictors of job performance. Stress could be either helpful or harmful to job

performance, depending upon its degree. Anxiety, irritation, depression and annoyance

in combination with unpleasant emotional experience of work were considered as

occupational stress.

Magid Igbaria and Tor Guimaraes (1999)80 showed that role ambiguity was

negatively correlated with age and organisational tenure and positively correlated with

education. Role conflict was negatively correlated with organisational tenure. Overall

job satisfaction and satisfaction with supervision were positively correlated with age and

organisational tenure. Satisfaction with work and co-workers was positively

related to age, and satisfaction with promotion was positively related to organisational

tenure.

Naval Karrir and Amulya Khurana (1999)81 identified the significant differences

in quality of work life of managers in all three sectors namely public, private and co-

operative with respect to small size organisations. Managers from small size

70. [Link] (1997), “Some correlates of performance in manufacturing industries”,

Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 8 (1), pp.35-41.
71. Magid Igbaria and Tor Guimaraes (1999), “Antecedents and Consequences of Job
Satisfaction among Information Center Employees”, Journal of Management
Information Systems, 9 (1) pp.146-173.
72. Naval Karrir and Amulya Khurana, (1999), “Relationship between size of the
organisation and quality of work life of Indian Managers”, Paradigm, 3(1), January-
June, pp.76-90.
 91
organisations in public sector experienced the best quality of work life. There was

significant difference in managers from large size organisations with respect to quality of

work life followed by private and co-operative sector organisations.

Raja Muthirulandi (2003)82 stated that the vision of autonomy in colleges

comprised academic innovation, academic excellence, evaluation-internalisation,

innovative teaching and methodologies, accountability and participatory decision making.

Lakshmanan (2003)83 listed out the pre-requisities for a “modern teach” in an

information society. These were socially responsible teacher, teacher of high values and

morality, teacher managing identity crises, learner-centred teacher, accountable teacher,

teacher for professionalism, teacher for global vision and speed, teacher with content

managerial skills, teacher with knowledge in management qualities and teacher with

leadership qualities.

Sudarshan (2003)84 found the shift of pedagogy in business schools. It was

identified as a shift from Guru-Shishya model and teacher-student model to knowledge-

supplier; knowledge-customer model (KS-KC). Under the KS-KC model, the onus

slowly shifted to teachers to deliver knowledge to knowledge customers who had paid for

it like other services.

73. Raja Muthirulandi, (2003), “Autonomy in Government Colleges: Is it Real?”,

University News, 41 (19), May, pp.3-8.
74. [Link], (2003), “Extension programmes in Autonomous Colleges: Theory and
Problems”, University News, 41 (23), June, 2003, pp.7-9.
75. S. Sudarshan, (2003), “Issues in Teaching Management in Business Schools”,
University News, 41 (42), October, pp.23-24.
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85
Xavier Alphonse (2003) revealed that the autonomous system, though a break-

through in higher education, had not adequately responded to the changing needs. It is

felt that higher education today should go beyond autonomy if it should meet the

challenges before it. The changes should be radical and structural rather than superficial.

Some of the desirable changes needed were: flexibility in administration, inbuilt system

of updating curriculum, need-based and job-oriented courses, innovative teaching-

learning methods and learner friendly system.

Srinivasan and Jawahar (2003)86 concluded that there was an adverse relationship

between work stress and psychosomatic systems. It established the need for stress

monitoring and alleviating efforts by organisations. The extensive main effect evidenced

for empowerment pointed to the efficacy of the construct as a supplementary predictor in

stress research. The results supporting empowerment as a moderator of the work-stress-

psychosomatic symptoms relationship suggested that organisations could adopt

empowering strategies such as delegation of authority, participation in decision-making,

natural-task leadership and mentoring for positive results.

76. Xavier Alphonse, (2003), “Autonomy for Colleges: Past Experience and Future
Directions (1978-2003)”, University News, 41, July, pp.5-8.
77. [Link], and P. David Jawahar, (2003), “Empowerment as a Moderator of the
Relationship between work stress and psychosomatic symptoms”, The ICFAI
Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 2(4), October, pp.7-14.
 93
87
Adelina Broadbridge et al. (2003) found that the stress arising from the work of

home domain could have a variety of outcomes in the work place, and similarly could

impact in many ways on relationships and activities at home. The main job satisfactions

mentioned by all the groups were the companionship of their work colleagues. Customers

were regarded as both a source of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Lack of formal or

informal appreciation or recognition by management efforts by staff to manage increased

workloads were also major source of dissatisfaction. Female staff who were within a

relationship still retained the major responsibility for housework and child care duties.

Bandopadhyal (2002)88 found that all psychic components of personality variables

except guilt proneness had a detrimental effect on job satisfaction. Staff nurses working

hard and effectively within a favourable but disciplined organisational culture, having

good human relations at work, future prospects, security, rewards and recognition had

relatively more on job satisfaction.

Amod Kumar Singh et al. (2003)89 concluded that superiors experienced higher

amount of role stress and perception of role efficacy than managers. The managers and

supervisors were significantly different on their experiences of role stresses, but no such

78. Adelina Broadbridge, Vivien Swanson and Christine Taylor (2003), “Changes in
Retailing, Impact on Job Demands, Satisfactions and the work/home interface”, The
ICFAI Journal of Organisational Behaviour, 2 (1), February, pp.21-32.
79. Dr. [Link], “Job satisfaction with Jobs Anxiety and Personality
Variables”, International Journal of Training and Development, Journal 32 (3)
July – September 2002.
80. Amod Kumar Singh, Gopa Bhardwaj and V.D. Pandey, (2003), “Role Efficacy and
Role Stress as Moderators of Organisational Effectiveness”, Abhigyan, 4 (2), July-
September, pp.15-22.
 94
significant difference was found in the perception of role efficacy. An inverse

relationship existed between role stress and role efficacy.

Prabhat Kumar Mishre and Gopa Bhardwaj (2003)90 found the most important

factors inducing stress among the Air Traffic controllers were inter-role distance and

resource inadequacy. The role stress was inversely related to total monthly income.

Significant differences were also seen among three income groups on inter-role distance,

role stagnation, role erosion, personal inadequacy, self-role distance, role ambiguity and

total role stress.

Palamatham (1993)91 revealed that the involvement of the teachers at the thinking,

planning and decision-making levels for bringing about autonomy was rather low. At the

level of implementation their participation had been very high. About 50 per cent of the

teachers in autonomous colleges were involved in some kind of professional

improvement programmes, such as writing research papers and books and participation in

conducting of refresher courses.

Sudha Rao (1995)92 stated that without autonomy, academic excellence was a

farce and without accountability, autonomy was impossible. It was for the UGC,

81. Prabhat Kumar Mishra and Gopa Bhardwaj, (2003), “Evaluation of role stress in
Indian air traffic controllers”, Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 11(4), June,
pp.318-331.
82. Varghese [Link] (1993), “A Study of the Management of Autonomous
Colleges with special focus on Innovation and Change”, New Frontiers Education,
30(3), July-September, p.41.
83. Sudha Rao (1995), “College Autonomy: Facts and Impacts”, Journal of Education
and Social Change, 9 (1), April-June, pp.8-9.
 95
universities, State Governments and the colleges to evolve a mechanism of ensuring

accountability at all levels to promote autonomy and inturn academic excellence in

colleges.

Bajaj (1995)93 noted that the teachers were more important in the new scheme of

autonomous colleges than anything else and attitudinal changes were called for at all

levels for this. It had to be realized that unless teachers were ready for this in their

perceptions, this system with wherever it had come to be adopted, would receive only

half-hearted support and after a few years would be another educational failure at the

tertiary level. The teachers should be properly supported and encouraged by the

universities, Governments, managements and above all the UGC.

Francis Soundararaj (1996)94 found that the ethical commitment to maintain

quality and standards was not exemplary in many autonomous colleges. The

unwillingness to go an extra mile in making necessary preparations for offerings,

administering and assessing a new course of study; seeking short-cuts to avoid honest

work, partiality victimization and misuse of freedom and previlege; and falsification as

well as window dressing were among the significant ethical lapses prevalent in some

autonomous colleges.

84. K.K. Bajaj, (1995), “Autonomous Colleges focus on Teachers”, University News, 33
(18), May, pp.3-5.
85. Francis Soundararaj (1996), “College Autonomy-Success and Failures”, University
News, 34 (11), March 11, pp.11-14.
 96
95
Emmanuel Raj (1990) analysed the functional efficiency of autonomous colleges

at nine dimensions. The autonomous colleges attached to Madurai Kamaraj University

were found to be functionally strong in material resources management while in faculty

excellence, the colleges were found to be functionally weak. But the common strengths

were found to be greater than their common weaknesses.

CHAPTER–IV
PROFILES OF THE RESPONDENTS AND THEIR SOCIAL SUPPORT

Modern civilization has made the life of man more complex, full of hazards of his own creation.

It is an era of stress. Frustration, conflict, tension and anxiety have become the regular features.

Arriving both at work and at home, these conditions have a detrimental effect on the behaviour of

people which ultimately result in industrial inefficiency and sickness. The performance, outcome or

productivity is a consequence of a set of some employee attributes such as aptitude, ability, training,

experience and psychological make-up. The variables such as intrinsic to job, role in organisation,

relations with organisation, career development, organizational structure and climate, organisation’s

interface with outside, which are intrinsic to individual. The job factors namely work load, job security,

uncertainty, lack of autonomy, underload, job challenges, relationship and want of authority may lead to

job stress. The above said variables determining the job stress completely rest on the employee’s

perception. That perception is based on one’s profile and hence it is imperative to study the profiles of

teachers working in various autonomous colleges affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University.

The profiles of the respondents are studied in terms of sex, age, educational, qualification,

martial status, designation, working in departments, nature of placement, basis of salary fixation,

86. Emmanual Raj (1990), “Functional Efficiency of Autonomous Colleges in Madurai

Kamaraj University”, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis submitted to Madurai Kamaraj
University.