California State University, Northridge

MGT 360

Organizational Behavior, Version 1.1

Bauer & Erdogan

FWK Test Item File Chapter 7

TRUE/FALSE

1)There are a variety of ways to lessen stress in the workplace.

2. Stress, or the body’s response to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional response, is always bad for the individual.

3. Eighty percent of all American workers report they feel workplace stress at least some of the time.

4. The amygdala section of the brain is responsible for stimulating fear responses.

5. The human brain responds to outside threats to individual safety with a “fight or flight” message.

6. The General Adaptation Syndrome looks at how events on the job cause different kinds of people to feel different kinds of emotions.

7. In the resistance phase of stress, an outside stressor jolts an individual insisting that something must be done.

8. John’s company downsized, and John is now performing his own job plus most of his former coworker Sidney’s job. John is now experiencing role ambiguity.

9. Role conflict is a result of contradictory demands at work.

10. Role conflict is the strongest predictor of poor performance on the job.

11. Information overload negatively impacts employee efficiency and creativity.

12. A Health magazine survey indicates that the most stressful job in 2008 was that of police officer.

13. Overall, work-family conflict is more problematic for men than women.

14. On the Holmes-Rahe scale, the most stressful life event is the death of a spouse.

15. Eustress is “good” stress.

16. Downsizing or the expectation of downsizing is related to greater absence in the workforce.

17. The outcomes of stress are only psychological in their orientation.

18. Blemishes and other skin problems can be outward manifestations of stress.

19. The link between stress and heart disease has been proven by the American Heart Association to be strong.

20. Persistent stress has the potential to place vulnerable individuals at an increased risk for depression.

21. Research shows that excessive stress is related to higher turnover and lower job performance.

22. Marissa is generally a few minutes late for class. She feels that “class will be there, why rush?” Marissa always thinks through how to address problems that arise for her rather than responding first and thinking later. Marissa has a Type A personality.

23. Men rely upon stronger social networks to address stressful situations, so men are more likely to be depressed than women.

24. The old adage “Have a good cry” is great advice to deal with stress that has built up in an individual.

25. The “Corporate Athlete” approach to dealing with stress is a reactive approach.

26. Flow is the state of consciousness where individuals are totally absorbed in an activity.

27. Fish contains dopamine, which can increase a person’s brain functions and thus produce feelings of alertness.

28. Physically active work breaks lead to reduced mental concentration levels and increased mental fatigue.

29. Most American adults get the appropriate amount of sleep each night.

30. Individuals with a strong social network are more stressed than individuals who do not have such networks because of the increased interpersonal demands of large social networks.

31. Stress-related issues cost companies billions of dollars annually due to absenteeism, lost productivity, and accidents.

32. Organizations can help employees reduce stress by offering them greater autonomy in their jobs, making their job duties clear, and providing employee assistance programs.

33. Firms like Apple are interested in how products are perceived emotionally because strong positive emotions make individuals more likely to use a product and recommend it to others.

34. Both positive and negative emotions can be contagious, but the spillover from positive emotions lasts longer than negative ones.

35. According to Affective Events Theory, the six emotions of anger, fear, joy, love, sadness and surprise inspire actions that can benefit or harm others.

36. The customer service representative at the department store who keeps smiling as she listens to the customer bitterly complain about her newly purchased product is engaging in deep acting.

37. Americans enjoy much greater leisure time than their European counterparts.

38. Recognizing that customers’ negative emotions were eroding sales representatives’ morale, American Express used emotional resonance to identify employees’ feelings about their work.

39. American Express’ emotional awareness training program probably raised overall life insurance sales because sales representatives began to view their jobs from the customer’s viewpoint.

FILL IN THE BLANK

40. American Express used a technique called                                                       to identify its employees’ feelings about their work.

41.                        is the body’s reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response.

42. The                                            is the region of the brain responsible for stimulating fear responses.

43. The                                                                                                                is a hypothesis by Hans Selye that suggests that stress plays a general role in disease by exhausting the body’s immune system.

44. “Fight or flight” is the reaction to an outside stressor in the first phase, or

                                  phase of stress.

45. During the resistance phase of stress, the body begins to release                                            

and draws on fat and sugar reserves to adjust to the demands of stress.

46. The stressor has significantly weakened the individual during the                                                

phase of stress.

47.                                refers to a vagueness as to what your responsibilities are.

48. Maggie’s boss wants her to complete the department project by next week. Her team leader for the corporate project wants her to travel to New York in the next few days to work on that item. Maggie is experiencing                                                                                                                                           .

49. Having insufficient time and resources to complete a job is called                                   

                        .

50. You are at the computer working on the Internet gathering information for your term paper, your cell phone is ringing, you are receiving emails and the television is on. You are likely experiencing                                                                                                                       .

51. Flexible scheduling is one approach to addressing                                          -                  conflict.

52.                          is “good” stress experienced for such events as an outstanding personal achievement or getting married.

53. Nancy is always impatient. She seems to run around the office completing this task and that. She is always the first one to work and the last to leave. Nancy has a                               personality.

54. The state of consciousness when an individual is totally absorbed by an activity is         .

55. Two individual lifestyle choices that one can make to try to decrease feelings of stress include:                                                                    and                                        .

56.                                     is working remotely from home or some other locale during a portion of the workweek.

57. A practice that has been widely used by universities that provides paid time off from the normal routine of work is called a                                                                              .

58. Individuals who are experiencing substance abuse problems may seek help provided by their firms but offered through an outside source in an

                                                                         program.

59. Positive emotions include                                        ,                     and                                .

60.         ,            , and         are examples of negative emotions.

61. The                                           Theory explores how events on the job cause different kinds of people to feel different emotions.

62. When a hair cutter smiles even though the young child whose hair she is cutting is crying and squirming, the hair cutting is exhibiting                                                              .

63.                                                     is the regulation of feelings and expressions for organizational purposes.

64. When a person pretends to experience emotions he does not feel, he is engaging in  .

65. The mismatch between emotions, attitudes, beliefs and behavior is                                 

.

66. The subject of                                                                       , examined by Daniel Goleman, looks

at how people can understand each other more completely by becoming more

aware of their own and others’ emotions.

SHORT ANSWERS

67. Define stress and briefly discuss its prevalence in the workplace.

68. Describe each phase of Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome.

69. Name two workplace stressors and give an example of each.

70. Name two life stressors and give examples of each.

71. Describe two physiological outcomes of stress.

72. Name two psychological outcomes of stress.

73. Research links stress to what work outcomes?

74. Differentiate between a Type A personality and a Type B personality.

75. What are two individual approaches to managing stress?

76. Describe the concept of a “corporate athlete.”

77. Name two organizational approaches to managing stress.

78. Describe positive emotions.

79. Name two negative emotions.

80. Describe Affective Events Theory.

81. Differentiate between surface, deep and genuine acting.

82. What is cognitive dissonance?

83. Name the four building blocks of Emotional Intelligence, and define each.

ESSAY

84. You are the new Human Resource manager at Lands Corporation. You have just completed examining a great deal of company data. Turnover is much higher in

Lands Corporation than at its competitors or the industry average. The data that you analyzed includes a series of transcripts of exit interviews conducted over the past eight months. Repeatedly you note that past employees describe being “burned out” and then leaving the firm. What are some areas you can examine to develop organizational approaches to address and manage stress?

85. Your roommate has major stress issues every finals week. She becomes so upset about her exams and papers that she is almost impossible to live with. You do not want to see her go through these problems this finals week, so you have decided to discuss with her various approaches she can adopt that may help calm her during this time. What are some suggestions you could offer her?

86. Meredith just brought her elderly mother to live at her house because of her mother’s current health problems. What are some options her firm might offer her to help alleviate the work-family conflict she will inevitably experience?

87. What research findings support an organization’s attention to stress management programming?

88. Should we all have a “good cry” sometime to relieve stress?

89. Describe the Affective Events Theory and illustrate how it operates.

90. List the worst job you ever performed. Now describe how you used emotional labor in that position.

91. An organizational behavior researcher suggests that not only should mental intelligence be assessed in each individual, but emotional intelligence should also be determined. Do you agree?