Lecture
Topic objective: to study the negative consequences of professional activity: stress, anxiety, «mental burnout syndrome», occupational deformations.
Topic outline:
8.1 Occupational stress, its causes and consequences.
8.2 Situational and trait anxiety (the C. Spielberger and Y. Hanin methods).
8.3 «Mental burnout syndrome». (The burnout questionnaire, developed by a team of authors from St. Petersburg University). Emotional and/or physical exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment as the most important indicators of «mental burnout syndrome» (The «Emotional burnout» questionnaire, V.V. Boyko; the «Accumulation of emotional-energy charges directed at oneself» method, V.V. Boyko, modified by E.P. Ilyin; the «Level of neuroticism» scale, L.I. Wasserman; the «Depression scale», T.I. Balashova). Occupational «burnout» (The MBI burnout inventory, C. Maslach; «Occupational burnout», E.P. Ilyin, N. Boyko).
8.4 Occupational deformations of personality and their levels (The self-control test, O.B. Polyakova).
Topic discussion: Can stress states be avoided, or how to find a way out of them.
Scientists divide stress into a positive type - eustress - and a negative type - distress. During an uncomfortable situation, the body releases adrenaline, which prompts a search for a solution to the problem. In minimal doses, stress is beneficial for the psyche, comparable to the benefit of physical exercise for the body. It helps maintain the ability to think, make decisions, and survive. A large amount of overexertion causes loss of strength, weakness, worsens health, causes round-the-clock anxiety, and drives a person into a corner.
Stress in professional activity is also called occupational stress. It is expressed in a tense state of the employee, arising against a backdrop of emotionally negative factors associated with performing work tasks. This type of stress is recorded as a separate entry in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
Types of occupational stress. Stress that arises in the workplace is divided into 3 groups:
Informational strain arises with a continuous flow of information, when a person must make an important decision within an extremely short time. The situation is complicated by a high level of responsibility, a shortage of necessary information, and a feeling that the person is not coping with the assigned task.
Communicative problems are caused by problems in business communication, an inability to formulate arguments, to give a refusal, to defend oneself against attacks or manipulation, and unfamiliarity with clever tactics.
Emotional breakdowns appear during situations that have caused a feeling of humiliation, resentment, guilt, inadequacy, insecurity, or threat. Conflicts with superiors, colleagues, and business partners have a negative effect. This type of stress is especially hard for an employee to bear, since it undermines his values, self-esteem, and principles. This has a negative effect on both the work and personal spheres.
Causes of stress at work are divided into personal and organizational factors; factors of the atmosphere within the team and working conditions are also distinguished.
Personal characteristics include: a low level of resistance to and struggle against external unfavorable factors, emotional instability; a choleric temperament; a low level of adaptation to even the smallest changes; low self-esteem, self-doubt; perfectionism; personal problems that a person «carries» to work, and others.
Team-related problems include: interpersonal conflicts; rudeness on the part of managers; competition, and others.
Organizational stress factors include: uneven or unfair distribution of duties, overload, a large volume of tasks; overtime work; insufficient workload, with meaningless «time-serving»; lack of motivation; inability to plan one's time, and others.
Description of unsatisfactory working conditions that cause stress: cold, heat, drafts; insufficient lighting; a small, uncomfortable room; an inconvenient workstation; accompanying distracting noise.
Consequences of stress. The primary consequences of stress in professional activity include various types of mental states: fatigue and overexertion, emotional stress, acute stress disorder, disorganisation of activity, disturbance of mental adaptation, and others.
Secondary states arise when rehabilitative and restorative measures are absent or untimely, and when support from significant others is absent or insufficient. The secondary consequences of occupational stress include: the state of occupational «burnout», a significant decline in working capacity, abuse of alcohol and potent medications, depression, increased aggressiveness, post-traumatic disorders of the nervous system, and professional deformation of the personality.
The tertiary consequences of stress in work activity include the following types of socio-psychological phenomena: a deterioration of the atmosphere within the team, breaches of discipline, problems within the family, apathy and pessimism, increased conflict-proneness, resignation from work, psychosomatic illnesses, suicidal behaviour.
8.2 State and Trait Anxiety (Ch. Spielberger and Yu. Khanin methods)
Anxiety as a personality trait is especially important, since this trait largely determines an employee's behaviour. Every person has their own optimal, or desirable, level of anxiety - this is the so-called useful anxiety. Assessing the state of anxiety is an essential component of self-monitoring and self-development.
Diagnostic goal: to determine the level of an individual's state anxiety (arising at the given moment) and trait anxiety. This method allows the first significant clarifications to be made regarding the quality of a person's integral self-assessment: whether the instability of this self-assessment is situational or persistent, that is, a trait characteristic. The results of the method relate not only to the psychodynamic features of the personality, but also to the broader question of the relationship between the parameters of reactivity and activity of the personality, its temperament and character. The method is intended for both individual and group testing.
The state of anxiety, or state anxiety (SA), arises «as a person's reaction to various, most often socio-psychological, stressors (expectation of negative evaluation or an aggressive reaction, perception of an unfavourable attitude toward oneself, threats to one's self-esteem or prestige» (Yu. L. Khanin).
Trait anxiety (TA) - is the tendency to perceive practically all situations as threatening and to react to these situations with a state of strong anxiety. High trait anxiety may be the cause of neurotic conflict, emotional breakdown, and psychosomatic illness. «TA» as a trait, property, or disposition gives an idea of individual differences in susceptibility to the action of various stressors. Consequently, what is meant here is a person's relatively stable tendency to perceive a threat to their «self» in a very wide range of situations and to respond to these situations with a rise in «SA». The magnitude of «TA» characterises an individual's past experience, i.e. how often they have had to experience a state of anxiety.
Reactive anxiety characterises a person's state at the present moment in time, manifesting as tension and unease; it can cause impaired attention, reduced working capacity, increased fatigability and rapid exhaustion.
Emotional and/or physical exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduction of personal accomplishment are the most important indicators of «burnout syndrome» (the «Emotional Burnout» Inventory by V.V. Boyko; the method of «Accumulation of Emotional-Energy Charges Directed at Oneself» by V.V. Boyko, modified by E.P. Ilyin; the «Level of Neuroticism» scale by L.I. Wasserman; the «Depression Scale» by T.I. Balashova). Occupational «burnout» (the MBI Burnout Inventory by C. Maslach; «Occupational Burnout» by E.P. Ilyin and N. Boyko).
In essence, burnout syndrome resembles chronic fatigue; more specifically, it is a continuation of it. Any person working in any field can be susceptible to this condition, even homemakers. As a rule, workaholics are more prone to this state; such people display a strong sense of responsibility and tend to take everything very much to heart.
Emotional burnout syndrome denotes a state involving mental, emotional and physical exhaustion, which develops as a result of ongoing stressful situations. This mental state occurs in people who, by the nature of their work, have to communicate with other people quite frequently.
As already mentioned, burnout syndrome occurs more often in altruists, in whom concern for others exceeds their own interests (social workers, medical staff, teachers, and the like). Burnout syndrome is usually brought on by an inability to withstand stress. The factors that provoke the development of the condition are divided into organisational and personal ones, with the organisational factor having a greater influence on the course of the condition.
Diagnosing emotional burnout syndrome
Burnout syndrome has approximately 100 symptoms. As already noted, one's profession can become one of the causes behind the development of emotional burnout syndrome. A very frequent companion of the condition is chronic fatigue and reduced working capacity.
As burnout syndrome develops, a person often complains of severe fatigue, poor tolerance of workloads (with which there were previously no problems), weakness or muscle pain, insomnia (or, conversely, constant drowsiness), irritability, forgetfulness, aggression, decreased mental performance, and an inability to concentrate or focus attention.
Three main signs of burnout syndrome are distinguished. The preceding period consists of very intense activity; the person is 100% absorbed in work, refuses to engage in anything unrelated to the work process, and consciously ignores their own needs.
The period of exhaustion. A feeling of overstrain arises, along with depletion of emotional energy and physical resources.
The third sign of the development of burnout syndrome is a feeling of one's own uselessness and low self-esteem. The person does not believe in their own abilities.
To diagnose burnout syndrome in a person, a test was developed in 1986 that makes it possible to determine the degree of burnout. Burnout syndrome has two determining factors of exhaustion: emotional (poor well-being, nervous strain, etc.) and disturbance of self-perception (a change in attitude toward oneself and others).
Five main manifestations characteristic of emotional burnout syndrome are distinguished:
Physical – overexertion, fatigue, sleep disturbance, deterioration of general well-being, increased blood pressure, skin inflammation, cardiovascular disease, increased sweating, weight changes, and the like.
Emotional – cynical attitude, pessimism, poverty of emotions, manifestation of callousness (toward colleagues, subordinates, loved ones, patients), indifference, painful emotional experiences, and the like.
Behavioural – loss of appetite, outbursts of aggression, frequent «shirking» of work; injuries due to reduced concentration of attention are not uncommon.
Intellectual – new ideas and theories in the work process no longer arouse interest or the former enthusiasm; preference is given to routine behaviour, the manifestation of non-standard, creative approaches diminishes, and there is a refusal to take part in developmental programmes (training courses, tests, etc.).
Social – a decline in social activity, loss of interest in one's hobbies and leisure activities; interaction with other people is limited to work matters; a feeling of loneliness, poor support from others (colleagues, loved ones), and so on.
Professional deformation of the personality – is a change in personality qualities (perceptual stereotypes, value orientations, character, and ways of communicating and behaving) that occurs under the influence of carrying out professional activity. A professional personality type is formed, which can manifest itself in professional jargon, manners of behaviour, and physical appearance.
Professional deformation manifests itself in those personality qualities that change under the influence of a professional role. Speaking of professional deformation, it can be briefly noted that its essence lies in the interaction of the subject and the personality within the unified structure of individuality. Academician B. G. Ananyev was the first in psychology to note the possibility of divergent, contradictory development of personality traits and traits of the subject of activity, and he also analysed the conditions conducive to a mismatch between the traits of the personality and the traits of the subject, the professional, the specialist, in their interaction.
The phenomenon of professional deformation can be defined as the penetration of the «professional self» into the «human self», meaning that under professional deformation the influence of professional frameworks and attitudes is not confined solely to the professional sphere. It can be said that after a person leaves a professional situation, no natural «straightening out» occurs, so even in personal life a person continues to carry the «deforming imprint» of their profession.
Positive consequences (“personal growth”).
Negative consequences (“professional deformation”).
Researchers also note that performing the same professional activity for many years leads to the emergence of professional fatigue, the appearance of psychological barriers, an impoverishment of the repertoire of ways of carrying out the activity, the loss of professional skills and abilities, and a decline in working capacity. It can be stated that at the professionalisation stage, in many occupations, professional destructions develop.
Professional destructions — are changes in the established structure of activity and personality that negatively affect labour productivity and interaction with other participants in this process.
A.K. Markova, on the basis of a generalisation of studies of disturbances in professional development of the personality, identified the following trends in professional destructions:
a lag, a slowing of professional development compared with age-related and social norms;
disintegration of professional development, the breakdown of professional consciousness and, as a consequence — unrealistic goals, false meanings of work, professional conflicts;
low professional mobility, an inability to adapt to new working conditions, and maladaptation;
a mismatch between individual links of professional development, when one sphere seems to run ahead while another lags behind (for example, there is motivation for professional growth, but it is hindered by the absence of an integrated professional consciousness);
a weakening of previously existing professional qualities, professional abilities, and professional thinking;
distorted professional development, the appearance of previously absent negative qualities, deviations from social and individual norms of professional development that alter the profile of the personality;
the appearance of personality deformations (for example, emotional exhaustion and burnout, as well as a deficient professional stance);
cessation of professional development due to occupational illness or loss of working capacity.
Thus, professional deformations disrupt the integrity of the personality, reduce its adaptability and stability, and negatively affect the productivity of activity.
Analysing the causes that hinder a person's professional development, A.K. Markova points to age-related changes associated with aging, professional deformations, professional fatigue, monotony, prolonged mental strain caused by difficult working conditions, as well as crises of professional development.
Review questions
What are the varieties of occupational stress?
What are the causes and consequences of occupational stress?
What is the difference between state and trait anxiety?
Characterise the most important indicators of «burnout syndrome».
Indications for diagnosing emotional burnout syndrome.
Manifestations of the phenomenon of professional deformation.
What are the trends in professional destructions?
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