Abstract
Work-stress is synonymous to occupational stress. It is a common form of strain that is usually experienced by employees, in the course of performing their official duties and responsibilities. In the contemporary world of work, including the Nigerian work environment, work-stress is identified as a ‘corporate epidemic’. Its symptoms are mostly observed physically, psychologically and socially in the lives of affected employees, while the negative effect of occupational stress is specifically, measured on employee performance and organizational effectiveness. It is for the above-described nature and effect of work-stress that this study examined the role of psychological capital in effective management of work-stress among the staff of tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It adopted the explanatory survey research design, purposive and convenience sampling techniques in sampling a total number of 202 (male = 116, 57.4% and female = 86, 42.6%) academic and administrative staff of five (5) public and private tertiary institutions, in the western region of Nigeria, who served as participants in the study. All participants were Nigerians English speakers. Research participation eligibility was strictly based on the current enlistment of employees on the pay-roll of the institutions as at the time of the study. A structured validated questionnaire was used as an instrument. Hypotheses were stated and analyzed based on the data collected. Results revealed that the four psychological capital states jointly influenced work-stress management F(4,197) = 8.375; R2= 0.128; p<.05; resilience (β=0.145; t=1.983; p<.05) and optimism (β=0.294; t=3.756; p<.05) independently influenced workstress management; optimism (r=.224, P(.001)<.01), resilience (r=.350, P(.000)<.01) and hope (r=.247,P(.000)<.01) significantly correlated with work-stress management. The study concluded that psychological capital is one of the important factors that effectively helps in managing work-stress, and suggested that the management of institutions or organizations should sensitize employees on the importance of psychological capital in effective management of work-stress through seminars, trainings and conferences.
Highlights
In the recent time, work-related stress has stimulated scientific research interest in Africa, because among life situations, the work or occupation stands out as an important source of stress, perhaps due to the amount of time spent at the work setting (Ekienabor, 2016)
Hypothesis one, which stated that self-efficacy, resilience, optimism and hope will jointly and independently influence work-stress management was analyzed using Multiple regression analysis
The results are presented in table 1 and 2 below: Table 1: Multiple Regression Analysis Showing the Joint influence of Self-efficacy, Resilience, Optimism and Hope on Work-Stress Management
Summary
Work-related stress has stimulated scientific research interest in Africa, because among life situations, the work or occupation stands out as an important source of stress, perhaps due to the amount of time spent at the work setting (Ekienabor, 2016) It is an unavoidable consequence of the modern life. The world of work is becoming more complex everyday giving to diversification, innovation, globalization, customer satisfaction and legal issues arising continually. These among others make it imperative for this study, to see to a strategic psychological intervention, which could effectively help in managing work related stress. Extensive research over the years has focused more on identifying the stressors (Paillé, 2011; Brynien & Igoe, 2016) but little scientific investigation has been conducted in the area of management of work-stress
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