scholarly journals Exploring the causes of stress and coping with it amongst doctoral level students: Highlighting the importance of information collection and management

2016 ◽  
pp. 19-39
Author(s):  
Sheikh Usman Yousaf ◽  
Bushra Usman ◽  
Muhammad Akram
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Information Collection ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
Doctoral Level ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Information Ambiguity

Stress may hinder the efficiency and performance of individuals. However, little attention has been given to academic stress especially stress experienced by doctoral level university students. Understanding and comprehending the causes of their stress and relevant coping strategies is indeed essential for their better performance. Hence, to address this gap, the purpose of the study was to explore the stressors produced by academic environment and the stress coping strategies adopted by doctoral scholars. Unit of analysis were the individuals enrolled in doctoral studies at the Business School of University Kebangsaan, Malaysia. In-depth analysis of eight doctoral level students revealed that they, in general, share the same experiences and adopt similar coping strategies as were reported to have been experienced and adopted by students of other disciplines (i.e., nursing or psychology students). However, a lack of ability to manage information, information ambiguity and ambiguity regarding quality of one's own work emerged as the major stressors in this study, which have not previously been commonly highlighted by past researches. This study, therefore, reveals that information collection, scarcity of information resources, information ambiguity and work related ambiguity are major stressors for doctoral students. Further, it is also identified that social support, problem diversion, effective information management and time management are significant stress coping techniques. The implications and future recommendation are also discussed in the paper.

Work-related stress: coping strategies of frontline hotel employees in Ghana

Anatolia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sampson Wireko-Gyebi ◽  
George Kwame Adu-Frimpong ◽  
Rejoice Selorm Ametepeh
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
Work Related Stress ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Hotel Employees ◽  
Stress Coping Strategies ◽  
Related Stress

This is not what I wanted

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 466-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jhony Choon Yeong Ng ◽  
Iris Yu Ting Shao ◽  
Yiping Liu
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Coping Strategy ◽  
Workplace Behavior ◽  
Avoidance Coping ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Counterproductive Behavior ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Use Of Social Media

Purpose – Many fresh graduates have unrealistic career expectations. When reality sets in after graduation, they may be disappointed. Due to factors such as the limited availability of feasible alternative career options, employees who have to stay in jobs they dislike may feel trapped. To alleviate the resulting stresses, they may engage in avoidance coping strategies, such as non-work-related social media use, to discharge their mental strains. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the perception of being trapped can result in the adoption of avoidance coping strategies, and how these strategies can influence individual performance and social media use. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the literature on avoidance coping strategy, goal orientation theory, and performance theory, the authors proposed a theoretical model on how the avoidance coping strategy of an individual can influence their performance and workplace behavior. Findings – The authors propose that when a fresh graduate feels “trapped” in a job, the stresses experienced may cause them to hide behind their defense mechanisms. An avoidance coping strategy may then be adopted, and this will influence the individual’s workplace behavior (in terms of non-work-related use of social media) and performance. Practical implications – If an avoidance coping strategy is an antecedent to non-work-related use of social media, then controlling the use of social media in the workplace may only cause these employees to switch to other forms of self-distraction (for instance, spending more time chatting with colleagues). Under some circumstances, the use of such control mechanisms may even give cyberloafers stronger urges to use social media for non-work-related purposes. If this is the case, managers should reconsider their current approach in handling the related behavior. Social implications – If the cause of non-work-related use of social media in the workplace is an avoidance coping strategy, then the engagement of such workplace behaviors should not be considered “intentionally harmful actions”. One important criterion for workplace behavior to qualify as a type of counterproductive behavior is that such behavior must be conducted to be intentionally harmful. Given this, the resulting actions of an avoidance coping strategy should not be considered a form of counterproductive behavior, and the authors should reconsider the conceptualization of cyberloafing provided in the organizational literature. Originality/value – The authors believe that this research represents one of the first attempts to bridge the gap between clinical and managerial literature. It attempts to explain non-work-related use of social media in the workplace from the perspective of trapped perception and avoidance coping strategy, and it argues that not all forms of non-work-related use of social media in the workplace are instances of cyberloafing.

scholarly journals Psychological Adjustment of Chinese PhD Students: A Narrative Study

10.28945/4649 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 595-614
Author(s):  
Chun Yan Yang ◽  
Li Bai
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
Motivation For Learning ◽  
Stress Coping Strategies ◽  
International Doctoral Students ◽  
Chinese Doctoral Students

Aim/Purpose: International PhD students suffer a lot of stress. However, many studies about international students focus on identifying the stressors these students experience rather than the stress-coping strategies, and those that explore international students’ coping behaviour often report maladjustments. Background: This study intended to fill the research gap by examining the strategies that Chinese students employed to psychologically adjust to their PhD study. Methodology: Narrative inquiry method was employed to give voice to the research participants. Six Chinese doctoral students in social sciences in Australian universities were purposefully sampled and interviewed three times during their candidature in order to gain an in-depth understanding of their lived experiences of stress-coping. Contribution: This paper provides positive stress-coping strategies used by six Chinese doctoral students, which can be used by international doctoral students or those who work with doctoral students from abroad to improve their psychological well-beings. Findings: These Chinese PhD students adopted positive stress-coping strategies of regulating their emotions and retaining their motivation. They adopted illusory and interpretive forms of secondary control by reframing realities to obtain psychological peace when faced with stress. The ways that Chinese PhD students handled stress suggest that the Chinese moral education and the characteristic motivation for learning attributed them with positive personal characteristics to battle the adverse conditions. Recommendations for Practitioners: Institutions/departments can initiate support groups for PhD students from the same disciplines where students can express their stress, seek assistance from senior doctoral students and exchange their strategies. Institutions/departments can also support international doctoral candidates by taking a more flexible approach to policies and procedures concerning doctoral students taking leave both in terms of when it is taken and the duration. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers can focus on international doctoral students’ positive stress-coping experiences as well as negative experiences to present a balanced picture of the doctoral journey. Impact on Society: The findings from this research on doctoral students’ stress-coping can equip doctoral students with strategies to handle their psychological challenges, which in turn may enhance their overseas doctoral experiences, reduce the dropout rates, and raise awareness of supervisors and institutions about doctoral students’ psychological well-beings. Future Research: Future research can examine the stress-coping experiences of other international doctoral students, focusing not only from the individual psychological angle but from the academic and social perspectives.

scholarly journals Perceived work-related stress and coping strategies among critical care nurses – A preliminary study from Sri Lanka

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-99
Author(s):  
N Sutharshan ◽  
MB Nufais ◽  
N Shrirajanie ◽  
MH Abdul Munaff ◽  
Gnanaselvam Kisokanth
Keyword(s):  
Critical Care ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Positive Thinking ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
Work Related Stress ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Related Stress

Introduction: Work-related stress has become a major concern among the nurses over the years. Nurses experience a high level of work-related stress when work demands exceed their ability to cope. The study aimed to assess the perceived work-related stress level and coping strategies among nurses working in Critical Care Units at a Base Hospital in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among all staff nurses (105) working in critical care units. Data were collected using a validated and pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. A Perceived Stress Scale developed by Cohen et al. (1983) and validated in Sri Lanka was used to assess the work-related stress, along with coping strategies. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics using SPSS version 21. Results: Around 30% of nurses had higher level of perceived stress while 45% had moderate level of perceived stress. Nearly 81% of nurses stated that religious activities are used as a common coping strategy. In addition, 96% of them used ‘positive thinking’ while 70% of them used ‘time management’ as the main coping strategy. Conclusion: The prevalence of work-related perceived stress among critical care nurses was high. Further, nurses use various emotion focused coping strategies such as regular engagement in religious activities and positive thinking and problem focused coping strategies such as time management and talk with friends/loved ones to overcome the work-related stress.

scholarly journals Peculiarities of Stress and Coping among Public Prosecutors: Data from Two Studies

Teisė ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 46-69
Author(s):  
Gintautas Valickas ◽  
Kristina Vanagaitė
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Sociodemographic Characteristics ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
Work Related Stress ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Stress Coping Strategies ◽  
Related Stress ◽  
And Coping

The article analyzes work-related stress experienced by Lithuanian prosecutors (349 and 274 prosecutors participated in the study in 2013 in 2017, respectively), its main sources, and the coping strategies used by the prosecutors. It also delves into the relations of stress, coping strategies, and prosecutors’ sociodemographic characteristics; the paper presents a comparison of data gathered in 2013 and 2017.

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