Stress, Models and Theories

Occupational stress refers to the study of the negative impact of organizational environments on employees. Over the last 50 years, occupational stress has emerged as an important topic within the broader fields of industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology and organizational behavior. For the more specialized field of occupational health psychology, occupational stress is a primary area of focus for both researchers and practitioners. In this entry, some of the most common models and theories that have guided occupational stress research are described.

Before providing an overview of specific models and theories, it is important to define these terms. In science, a model is a replica or abstraction of some phenomenon or process. A theory is very similar to a model. The difference, however, is that a ...