The presence, nature and effects of job stress on physical and psychological health at a large Australian university
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09578239610128630 |
| Published date | 01 October 1996 |
| Pages | 73-86 |
| Date | 01 October 1996 |
| Author | Christopher F. Sharpley,Roisin Reynolds,Alicia Acosta,Jagdish K. Dua |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Job stress in an
Australian
university
73
The presence, nature and
effects of job stress on physical
and psychological health at a
large Australian university
Christopher F. Sharpley, Roisin Reynolds and Alicia Acosta
Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, and
Jagdish K. Dua
University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia
Introduction
Stress was defined several decades ago by Selye as “the nonspecific response of
the body to any demand”[1, p. 14]. Because these “responses” include endocrinal
as well as psychological and physical reactivity to demands, they can, if intense
enough or repeated frequently enough, upset the homeostasis of the body (i.e. its
state of natural balance). In such cases, the individual is said to have become
“hyper-reactive to stress”, a condition which has been associated with decreased
performance on a range of physical and psychological tasks, and with illness and
disease via prolonged arousal of the sympathetic nervous system and its
endocrinal and psychophysiological sequelae.
Considering performance at various tasks, an inverted-U relationship was
established between arousal and performance by Yerkes and Dodson[2]. That is,
low and very high arousal predict poor performance, while moderate arousal
predicts maximum performance. Thus, the likelihood of persons working to their
potential is decreased if they are in a state of prolonged or extreme arousal
through stress. Arousal can be measured in various ways, one of which is self-
report of the type of physical and psychological symptoms the person is
experiencing. For the purposes of large-scale surveys, self-reports of the
physiological and psychological symptoms associated with intense or prolonged
arousal can be used to identify those persons who are showing the adverse signs
of stress.
Similarly, illness and disease have been associated with over-arousal of the sort
described above. Although there are many extensive literature reviews of this
relationship, that provided by Everly[3] is among the most comprehensive,
suggesting that various illnesses such as peptic ulcers, ulcerative colitis, irritable
bowel syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, headaches, skin disorders (e.g.
eczema, acne, psoriasis and hair loss) are all related to or exacerbated by stress.
Further research and reviews have shown that the intense and/or prolonged
activation of the stress response inhibits the competence of the immune system,
thus contributing to the incidence, intensity and duration of diseases[4-6].
Journal of Educational
Administration, Vol. 34 No. 4, 1996,
pp. 73-86. © MCBUniversity Press,
0957-8234
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