Workplace stress

Work Overload

This is a growing area of study, mainly because adults typically spend 2000 hours a year at work, and it is thought to cost up to $200 billion a year in America.

Johannson et al (1978)compared two groups of workers in a sawmill in Sweden. Group 1 – High Risk

Worked on a sawmill (14), repetitive, pace set by the machine, couldn’t move freely, concentrate continuously (work overload).

Group 2 – Low Risk Cleaners (10), far more flexibility, could socialise

Urine samples taken: stressful group increased Adrenaline and NorAdrenaline

Also, higher rates of illness like ulcers and migraines.There was also a higher level of absenteeism among the finishers.

  A strength of this is study is that it has high ecological validity because it was carried out in a real-life setting. Therefore, it is possible to generalise findings.

  There might have been individual differences between the two groups which explain the findings.  That is, one group might have been less prone towards the…