Do your employees use the right stress coping strategies

Chang, K; Taylor, J

Abstract

This study investigates the efficacy of coping strategies commonly used in the workplace to alleviate
stress. The strategies included: seeking assistance, self assistance, group intervention, avoidance and
changing beliefs. Data were gathered from a large-scale questionnaire survey of employees within four
employment sectors in Taiwan (N =662). Five key findings were revealed: 1. the efficacy of coping strategies
was not universal; instead efficacy depended upon employee gender, educational level and interactions
between strategies. 2. The nature of the stressor was a useful indicator of efficacy, i.e. whether stress was
ameliorated by the strategy employed, was catalyst dependent. 3. Stress reduction was not an inevitable
consequence of using more than one form of stress coping strategy. 4. Self assistance was the most common
and most effective strategy and avoidance the least. 5. Combining self assistance and group intervention
strategies resulted in lower levels of perceived stress. The findings serve to augment the body of literature
pertaining to stress related coping mechanisms in the workplace. The implications that these findings have
for organisational management and personnel practices are discussed.

Citation

Chang, K., & Taylor, J. (2014). Do your employees use the right stress coping strategies. Shanglue xuebao, 5(2), 99-116

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Apr 11, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 11, 2014
• Journal: International Journal of Commerce and Strategy
• Print ISSN: 2073-2147
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 99-116
• Publisher URL: http://ijcs.topco-global.com/WebSite/en_US/index.aspx