Different types of stress encountered in organizational roles were measured on 453 randomly selected respondents in a public sector industry using ORS-Scale.The sample was divided into lower, middle and higher age groups. For each age group, means for different types of role stress were rank-ordered to identify the prominent role stressor(s). The t-test was performed on means to find out the significant differences for each type of role stress and for the total role stress under each pair of age groups. Role Erosion was the most prominent role stressor for each age group but role stress was not uniformly experienced across the age groups. Role Isolation was stronger in the lower age group as compared to the middle age group. Inter-Role Distance, Role Stagnation, Role Isolation, Self-Role Distance and Total Role Stress were stronger in the lower age group as compared to the higher age group. Role Erosion and Self-Role Distance were stronger in the middle age group as compared to the higher age group. The study proved weakening of role stress with the advancement of age and existence of significant differences in role stress experienced across the age groups.
Stress
is inevitable in human lives (Pestonjee, 1999, pp. 15-34).
It results from a lack of conformity between a person and
his/her environment, i.e., when the person is not able to
cope with the constraints or demands encountered (Harrison,
1976). It is a dynamic condition that arises when an individual
is confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand for
which the outcome is perceived to be important and uncertain
(Robbins and Sanghi, 2006). It depends on the individual's
perception and reaction. It is also situation-dependent and
additive. Stress encountered in office gets added to stress
encountered at home and vice versa, resulting in an upward
spiral. Understanding stress, preventing it, and managing
it effectively are extremely important for promoting human
well-being (Srivastav, 1995) and enhancing individual and
organizational effectiveness.
Role
(Pareek, 1993, pp. 3-20; 2002, pp. 477-491) is a position
assigned in a social system (or an organization) with accompanying
obligations and responsibilities. It is defined by the expectations
of significant persons called role senders. In the context
of organizational roles, the role senders are—the role
occupant, boss, peers and subordinates. The role occupant
performs in the organization to satisfy the expectations of
his/her role senders with whom interactions are necessary
for successful role performance. The concept of an organizational
role (Pareek, 2004, pp. 209-224) and occupation thereof have
inherent potential for stress. Stress due to occupation of
a role in an organization is known as Organizational Role
Stress (ORS). |
