374 Chapter 10 Stress and Worker Well-Being Psychological Stressors Lack of Control/Predictability Control is a major theme in the literature on stress (Ganster Murphy,2000).Varying levels of personal control and predictability have clear effects on job performance and work stress (Logan Ganster.2005).As with any stressor,the individual's perception of control or predictability determines his or her response to the situation,and such percep- tions are affected by characteristics of the job and work environment.The scheduling and pace of work can influence feelings of control.For example,flexible time schedules enhance feelings of control over one's schedule.even though the average arrival and depar. ture times may differ only by minutes after a flexible time schedule has been introduced (Baltes,Briggs,Huff,Wright,Neuman.1999:Totterdell,2005).Flextime also increases perceptions of control by helping employees to balance work and family commitments (Golden,Veiga,Simsek.2006).Perceptions of control in the workplace are also related to autonomy,the extent to which employees can control how and when they perform the tasks of their job(Hackman Oldham.1980).Overall,interventions that enhance per- ceptions of control on the job,such as participative decision making or flexible time schedules,are likely to reduce stress and subsequent strains.In Module 102,we further discuss the importance of control,which is a major component of the demand-control model of stress developed by Karasek(1979). Interpersonal Conflict Negative interactions with co-workers,supervisors,or clients-or interpersonal conflict- egative interactons with can range from heated arguments to subtle incidents of unfriendly behavior (Bruk-Lee tpwn.0 Spector,2006;Jex Britt,2014).Interpersonal conflict can occur when resources at work ient,which can a学om heated ar学ments包te are scarce (e.g,who gets to use the color copy machine first),when employees have incom- ncidents sfunfnen小 patible interests (e.g.one member of a team is a stickler for detail,whereas another likes to complete the project as quickly as possible).or when employees feel they are not being treated fairly (eg.bosses get big bonuses,but workers are told no funds are available for salary increases for the rest of the workforce).Interpersonal conflict can distract workers from important job tasks,and it can have physical health consequences.In a longitudinal study of more than 15,000 Finnish employees,the link between interpersonal conflict at work and subsequent health problems was significant-even when social class,marital sta- Rele stressers Collective tus,conflict with spouse.and high alcohol consumption were taken into account(Romanov, term for stessorsesn Appelberg.Honkasalo,Koskenvuo,1996).Other negative work outcomes of interper- om the multiple tak quirements o时roies af sonal conflict range from depression and job dissatisfaction to aggression,theft,and sabo- aployte tage (Frone,2000a).Interpersonal conflict may also play a part in workplace violence, which we discuss in Module 10.4. Role Theepectatons ardng the responsbilities and requimments ofa Role Stressors ira红地 k的sso Role ambiguity.role conflict,and role overload are collectively referred to as role stressors. aoc when employees The concept ofrole stressors is based on the idea that most jobs have multiple task require. lck dear lnowledge of ments and responsibilities,or roles (Rizzo,House,Lirtzman,1970),and that a job is Ad流or sexpected likely to be particularly stressful if these roles conflict with one another or are unclear.Role ambiguity occurs when employees lack clear knowledge of what behavior is expected in their job.In such cases,individuals experience uncertainty about which actions they nm mands from should take to perform their job most effectively.Role conflict occurs when demands from different sources are incompatible.Students are well aware of this form of conflict. particularly toward the end of the term when they complain.I have four papers due and