Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T03:27:29.921Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Asian Perspective of Occupational Stress Coping Model: A Case Study of Sri Lankan Employees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

Yong Wah Goh ,
Sukanlaya Sawang ,
Tian P.S. Oei  and
Don S. Ranawake
Yong Wah Goh
Affiliation:
The University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Sukanlaya Sawang*
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Tian P.S. Oei
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, Australia
Don S. Ranawake
Affiliation:
Institute of Counselling, Colombo, Sri Lanka
*
address for correspondence: Dr Sukanlaya Sawang QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane QLD 4001, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of natural disasters and violent conflicts in the world. Yet there is a lack of research on its unique socio-cultural characteristics that determine an individual's cognitive and behavioural responses to distressing encounters. This study extends Goh, Sawang and Oei's (2010) revised transactional model to examine the cognitive and behavioural processes of occupational stress experience in the collectivistic society of Sri Lanka. A time series survey was used to measure the participant's stress-coping process. Using the revised transactional model and path analysis, a unique Sri Lankan model is identified that provides theoretical insights on the revised transactional model, and sheds light on socio-cultural dimensions of occupational stress and coping, thus equipping practitioners with a sound theoretical basis for the development of stress management programs in the workplace.

Keywords

occupational stresscopingtransactional modelSri Lankaappraisalcollectivism
Type
Articles
Information
The Australasian Journal of Organisational Psychology , Volume 5 , December 2012 , pp. 25 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bolz, W. (2002). Psychological analysis of the Sri Lankan conflict culture with special reference to the high suicide rate. Crisis, 23 (4), 167–170.Google Scholar
Beautrais, A.L. (2006). Suicide in Asia. Crisis, 27 (2), 55–57.Google Scholar
Carver, C.S., Scheier, M.F., & Weintaub, J.K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56 (2), 267–283.Google Scholar
Dewe, P. (1991). Primary appraisal, secondary appraisal and coping: Their role in stressful work encounters. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 64, 331–351.Google Scholar
Fernando, G.A. (2008). Assessing mental health and psychosocial status in communities exposed to traumatic events: Sri Lanka as an example. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78 (2), 229–239.Google Scholar
Goh, Y.W., Sawang, S., & Oei, T. (2010). The Revised Transactional Model (RTM) of occupational stress and coping: An improved process approach. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Organisational Psychology, 3, 13–20.Google Scholar
Karasek, R.A. (1979). Job demand latitude and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 285–308.Google Scholar
Lazarus, R.S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Nayanah, S. (2010). Sri Lanka struggles with mental health burden. Lancet, 375 (9718), 880–881.Google Scholar
Osipow, S.H., & Spokane, A.R. (1987). Occupational Stress Inventory: Manual research version. Florida: Psychological Assessment Resources.Google Scholar
Oyserman, D., & Lee, S.W.S. (2008). Does culture influence what and how we think? Effects of priming individualism and collectivism. Psychological Bulletin, 134 (2), 311–342.Google Scholar
Sawang, S., Oei, T. P. S., Goh, Y. W., Mansoer, W., Markhum, E., & Ranawake, D. (2010). Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Way of Coping Checklist Revised (WCCL-R) in the Asian Context. Applied Psychology, 59 (2), 202–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S.H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In Zanna, M.P. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25, pp. 1–65). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Spector, P.E., Cooper, C.L., Sanchez, J.I., O'Dricoll, M., Sparks, K., Bernin, P., . . . Yu, S. (2001). Do national levels of individualism and internal locus of control relate to well-being: An ecological level international study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22, 815–832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terry, D.J. (1991). Coping resources and situational appraisals as predictors of coping behaviour. Personality and Individual Differences, 2 (10), 1031–1047.Google Scholar
Vitaliano, P.P., Russo, J., Carr, J.E., Maiuro, R.D., & Becker, J. (1985). The ways of coping checklist: Revision and psychometric properties. Multivariate Behavioural Research, 20, 3–26.Google Scholar
Yeh, C.J., Inman, A.G., Kim, A.B., & Okubo, Y. (2006). Asian American families’ collectivistic coping strategies in response to 9/11. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12 (1), 134–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed