Exam 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

Bullying,and other actions that affect an employee's dignity are forms of psychological harassment.

A senior executive in your organization read an older organizational behaviour textbook,which concluded that there is little relationship between job satisfaction and job performance.The senior executive now believes that it is a waste of time and money to have 'happy workers'.Instead,the executive is recommending finding ways to improve productivity without any consideration for employee well-being (beyond legal requirements).The company president is concerned that the executive's information may convince other members of the management committee to take a similar harsh view.Provide three different arguments why companies should try to maintain a reasonable level of job satisfaction among employees in this organization.

People whose work is paced by a machine experience:

Employees with high levels of affective commitment tend to engage in more organizational citizenship behaviours.

Social support is only helpful in reducing the stress experienced in non-work situations.

Subtle yet persistent forms of workplace incivility do not constitute psychological harassment.

Some jobs are considered more stressful than others.Describe what this really means and give two reasons why someone in a 'high-stress' job might experience less stress than another person in a 'low-stress' job.

Strong emotions trigger our conscious awareness of a threat or opportunity in the external environment.

In certain cases,even subtle or persistent incivility can constitute psychological harassment.

Sexual harassment is a stressor.

Emotions have what effect on us?

Death from overwork (karoshi)is caused by a poor lifestyle resulting from long work hours which in turn causes weight gain that damages the cardiovascular system.

People with the same feelings may form different behavioural intentions based on their unique past experience.

Stress refers mainly to environmental conditions that cause people to experience fear.

Several government department employees who regularly meet unemployed citizens say they experience considerable stress.The problem,they claim,is that they try to act pleasant and sympathetic to their clients,but it is difficult to hide their true emotions when clients act rude and angry during visits to their office (which distributes unemployment insurance cheques).Based on your knowledge of surface and deep acting,describe what these government department employees might do to minimize their stress in this situation.

Job satisfaction in Canada is below the typical American score.

Workplace incivility is a form of psychological harassment.

People are consciously aware of most emotions they experience.

Employees tend to have higher organizational commitment when their personal values differ from the company's values.

Job satisfaction among Canadian employees is usually above the global average.