Published Paper Details:

Work-Place-related stress is the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope. Stress occurs in a wide range of work circumstances but is often made worse when employees feel they have little support from supervisors and colleagues, as well as little control over work processes. There is often confusion between pressure or challenge and stress, and sometimes this is used to excuse bad management practice. Supervisory level of executives of a public sector work organization (N=150) responded to a scale measuring perception of time urgency and challenge in work (PTUCW), and measures of interpersonal relationship, job-person fit, organizational commitment, and locus of control. Results based on correlational analyses showed that respondents high on PTUCW were low on interpersonal relationship, job- person fit, organizational commitment and high on internal control of reinforcement. By way of implication a note of caution was forwarded regarding exercise of PTUCW pattern of behaviour despite its short-term 'positive' consequences.