Week 4 Project

Burnout, Employee Well-Being, and Workplace Aggression

Review the below case study of Jen:

These exact words were not going through Jen’s mind at the time, but Jen realized that she had choices to make in relation to work and life in general. Between working more than eleven hours per day and ful�lling her role as a full-time mother and wife, Jen was expending too much energy. There were also many episodes of verbal aggression directed at Jen by the vice president of her organization. During one of her visits to a doctor, the physician informed Jen that her blood pressure was extremely high and advised Jen to take a few weeks off from work or �nd a job with less stress and closer to home. Of course, Jen did what any other executive would do when inspired to reach the top of the corporate ladder, she climbed even higher. By Jen’s next scheduled visit, she was experiencing tingling sensations and slurred speech. The doctor made the most profound statement that would forever change the way Jen viewed life. The ultimatum presented to Jen by her physician was “quit work or die!” Jen could feel the mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion daily. She took the advice of the doctor and climbed down the corporate ladder.

To gain a deeper understanding of syntoxic and catatoxic behavior, you may read books by Hans Seyle. However, the following quote will give you some insight. “When applied to everyday problems, this understanding should lead to choices most likely to provide us with pleasant stress of ful�llment and victory, thereby avoiding the self-destructive distress of failure, frustration, hatred, and passion for revenge” (Seyle, 1974, p. 138). Prolonged stress could lead to burnout. To understand job burnout, you can review the jobs demands-resources model of burnout (JD-R). You may also take the Maslach Burnout Inventory to assess your level of burnout.

Reference:

Seyle, H. (1974). Stress without distress. New York, NY: J.B. Lippincott Company.

“Choose carefully between syntoxic and catatoxic behavior in daily life” (Selye, 1974, p. 138).

Additional Materials

From your course textbook The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Occupational Safety and Workplace Health, read the following chapters:

The Jobs Demands-Resources Model of Burnout

Working Hours, Health, and Well-Being

Exposure to Aggression in the Workplace

From the South University Online Library, read the following articles:

Understanding and Preventing Employee Burnout (https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp? sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=rzh&AN=128201001&site=eds-live)

A Preliminary Study of Burnout in Residential Social Workers Experiencing Workplace Aggression: Might It Be Cyclical? (https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp? sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=rzh&AN=103759356&site=eds-live)

Impact of Workplace Aggression (http://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp? sch=suo&turl=https://search-proquest- com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/1692243439)

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