Exploring the relationship between appraisals of stressful encounters and the associated emotions in a work setting

Exploring work stress using a transactional perspective requires researchers to consider not just the role of appraisal of a stressful encounter but also the relationship of this appraisal with emotions. This research sets out to explore the appraisal-emotion relationship in a work setting. Using data from 174 civic administrators from New Zealand, sequential tree analysis (which presents patterns in a system of hierarchical ordering) was used to create the pattern of appraisals of stress associated with each of three emotions: anger, anxiety and frustration. The results suggest that if we are to advance our understanding of the appraisal-emotion relationship then future research needs to explore what common characteristics bind together and help shape appraisal patterns, whether some appraisals are more complex than others, and whether some appraisals are more potent than others. The results also raise the question of how best such relationships should be investigated in order to understand the nature of a stressful encounter. In the future, work stress researchers may wish to consider the utility of more context-sensitive measures such as appraisals

Cultural difference on the table: food and drink and their role in multicultural team performance

Multicultural teams are increasingly common and provide a challenge to achieving the integration associated with greater effectiveness. The vague and abstract nature of many definitions of culture can make the difficulties in acknowledging and addressing difference challenging. This longitudinal study of a multicultural team follows the anthropological roots of cultural studies to focus on the material role of food and drink in team development. In an empirical, ethnographically oriented study of a culturally diverse work team over time, we explored the ways that food and drink acted as boundary objects in the processes of integration, differentiation and cultural adaptation and negotiation. By employing the lens of material culture, with its sensory nature and its associations with identity, we also highlight the complexity of cross-cultural interaction, with its possibilities of cooperation, learning, difficulties and resistance, and suggest that food and drink allow a grounded discussion of culture, accommodation and difference. We contribute to the multicultural team literature, emphasizing the roles of materiality, constrained choice and complexity, as well as how these are translated into performance by the generative mechanisms of agency in context. We also identify some specific contributions to practice arising from this research

Coping and appraisals in a work setting: a closer examination of the relationship

Book synopsis: This exciting Handbook provides an authoritative and comprehensive overview of managerial behavior and occupational health. Containing both theoretical and empirical contributions written by eminent academics, the Handbook covers a range of factors that influence behavior including migration and health, job insecurity, the impact of age diversity, work stress and health in the context of social inequality as well as occupational health from a psychological perspective. It is an essential reference tool to further research on psychology, stress and understanding the behaviors of health within working environments. The book will be invaluable to academics and students in the fields of occupational health

Positive psychology and coping: towards a better understanding of the relationship

The positive psychology movement offers a new dimension to coping research. It is possible to identify a number of trends in coping research that have, one way or another, suggested a route through which the positive can be emphasized, offering what must be a better understanding of the nature of coping. These trends include focusing more on both positive and negative emotions so as to capture what best expresses the work experience; a greater emphasis on the appraisal process and the role of positive meanings, emphasizing the importance of positive emotions and the role they play as a coping resource; and developing a better understanding of proactive coping and what is meant by coping effectiveness

Positive coping strategies at work

Book synopsis: Employees have a set of needs as part of the 'psychological contract' of employment. However, organizations operate for a reason and they too have agendas and needs. It is how the two come together that determines the capacity for good human relations and optimum productivity. Employee Well-being Support is an edited collection of expert contributions that explores all key issues in this increasingly critical area

Investigating the frequency of nursing stressors: A comparison across wards

Intensive care unit stress has become an area of expanding enquiry. However the research evidence suggests that certain kinds of stressors are commonly encountered by all nurses irrespective of their nursing speciality. The frequency with which a range of stressors occured in different wards was examined by using a nation-wide sample of 2500 New Zealand nurses. The results indicated that while intensive care-critical care wards were on average more likely to experience "difficulties involved in nursing the critically ill" than other wards, medical, continuing care and orthopaedic wards experienced in comparison more stressors more frequently. These results were discussed in terms of their implications for intervention and training.