Summary
Contents
Subject index
Questions about the causes or sources of work stress have been the subject of considerable research, as well as public fascination, for several decades. Earlier interest in this issue focused on the question of whether some jobs are simply more inherently stressful than others. Other questions that soon emerged asked whether some individuals were more prone to stress than others. The Handbook of Work Stress focuses primarily on identifying the different sources of work stress across different contexts and individuals.
Poor Leadership
Poor Leadership
Authors' Note: Preparation of this chapter was supported by funding from the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation to the first and third authors and from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to the first and fourth authors.
An aggressive, bullying boss I used to work for would build himself up into a state of rage at least three times a week. He once became so enraged that he actually threw the office kettle out of the window shouting, “You're not drinking my tea and coffee!” as staff looked on in disbelief.
My boss really drove me up the wall to a point where I started developing stomach problems, which my doctor linked to stress.
My husband worked for the NHS and became the target of the department bully. When he stood up for himself, the manager stood behind his desk waiving his fists and saying my husband was mentally impaired and had lost all his friends.
Employees shared these stories and others on the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) Web site following a news story on menacing bosses and their role in workplace stress (BBC, 2003). Although these stories are extreme, they help bring to light the vital role leaders play in organizations and the profound impact they have on the stress and well-being of those they lead.
The notion that poor-quality leadership has negative effects for individuals is not new (Day & Hamblin, 1964), and the research that has been conducted on the link between leadership and mental health has invariably focused on the potentially negative effects of poor-quality leadership. Poor leadership also has been associated with increased levels of employee stress (Offermann & Hellmann, 1996) and retaliation (Townsend, Phillips, & Elkins, 2000). Ashforth (1997) found that when abusive supervisors used noncontingent punishment, employees felt a sense of helplessness and alienation from work. Furthermore, Atwater, Dionne, Camobreco, Avolio, and Lau (1998) reported that leadership effectiveness of supervisors in the military is negatively affected when supervisors resort to noncontingent punishment. Richman, Flaherty, Rospenda, and Chistensen (1992) found heightened levels of psychological distress among medical residents who reported to abusive supervisors.
Generally, employees who perceive their supervisors to be abusive experience low levels of job and life satisfaction, lower levels of affective commitment, increased work-family conflict, and psychological distress (Tepper, 2000) as well as psychosomatic symptoms, anxiety, and depression (Hoel, Rayner, & Cooper, 1999). Additionally, Dupre, Inness, Connelly, Barling, and Hoption (2003) found a relationship between teenagers' experience of abusive supervision and their own aggression directed toward their supervisors.
The stress of poor supervision also manifests in physical outcomes. Wager, Fieldman, and Hussey (2003) reported that on days when a sample of nurses worked for a supervisor they did not like, they experienced a 15-mm increase in systolic blood pressure and a 7-mm increase in diastolic blood pressure when compared with days when they worked for a supervisor they did like. Changes of this magnitude result in a 16% increased risk of a coronary failure and a 38% increased risk of stroke. Moreover, the findings are consistent with the observation that exposure to aggressive behavior at work (i.e., bullying) is associated with increased risk for both depression and cardiovascular disease (Kivimäki, Virtanen, Vartia, Elovainio, Vahtera, & Keltikangas Järvinen, 2003).
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