Stress in Organizations. A Review of the Literature

A review of stress was conducted, with emphasis on organizational, psychological, and medical literature. As a logical extension of the historical development of organizational stress as a concept, a new definition was developed, that of experienced stress, which is the perception of, and response to, environmental influences that impinge on the individual as unpleasant and that produce psychological and physiological outcomes. The relationship of stress to performance in organizations was then discussed. Stress was found to have either a positive, negative, or inverted-U relationship with performance, depending on the type of stress, the kind of performance required, and differences among individuals. Finally, relationships among self-report measures of stress, physiological and psychological indicators of stress, and physiological and psychological outcomes of stress were reviewed. Results of the review indicate that typologies or profiles of individual responses to specific stressful situations could be developed to aid in determining different stress response patterns and predicting susceptibility to illness and disease. It was recommended that research be undertaken by the Navy to determine the relationship between stress and performance in jobs identified as stressful. Eliminating unnecessary stress among its personnel will enable the Navy to perform its mission more effectively.