A BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS OF SOURCES OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND RESPONSES OF MIDDLE-LEVEL MANAGERS IN THE GULF COAST PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY

A behavioral assessment interview procedure was used to identify sources of occupational stress, responses and effectiveness of those responses to stress. Seventy-three middle-level managers in three petrochemical companies in the Texas gulf area were interviewed. Six categories of stress suggested by the Cooper and Marshall study were used to categorize the sources of stress obtained during the interview.;The differences among companies appear to result from "Role in the organization" and "Career development." Companies A and B list "Role in the organization" as their second (27%) and third (26%) most frequent source of stress. But Company C lists "Role in the organization" as their fourth (7%) source of stress. Furthermore, "Career development" is a source of stress for less than 2% of Companies A and B, while it accounts for 14% of Company C.;The responses the managers made to sources of stress were categorized using the model by Marr. Some of the types of responses were: making new policy, seeking information and not addressing the problem. Each manager rated the effectiveness of his response in terms of its ability to reduce stress. There is an advantage when subjects list their responses to stress and then rate the effectiveness of each response. In research of this type subjects do not consciously select their best response, but give their most frequent response and then rate its effectiveness.;The results of this study indicate that the most frequent response to a source of stress and the most effective response in reducing stress are not always the same. The most frequent response is "Direct/delayed problem resolution," while the most effective response in reducing stress is "Prevention". There is a significant difference among the effectiveness ratings of middle-level managers' responses to stress. "Not addressing the problem" proved to be the least effective response in reducing middle-level managers' stress.;The frequencies in sources of stress reported by managers were not significantly different among areas of the plants; however, there were significant differences among companies. The most frequent source of stress for all companies is "Factors intrinsic to the job".