Stress Appraisal and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies of Employees
Z. Baltas1, H. Odaman1
1Baltas Knowledgehouse
Companies expect their employees would develop coping skills to manage stress. Earlier research asserts we cope with stress at different levels. Strategies can be classified as more or less adaptive. We investigated the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and stress appraisal in the workplace. Our goal was determining the workplace dynamics driven by this relationship. We used a non-experimental design and data came from 260 respondents (M age= 34.1, gender reported by 178 males and 69 females). Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (N. Garnefski et al., 2001) displayed the frequency of cognitive strategy use and we assessed stress appraisal by Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen et al., 1983). Refocus on planning was the most used strategy, while catastrophizing was the least preferred. Only 6% frequently used less adaptive strategies. When they evaluated the last month of their experiences, one third of employees perceived high level of stress. There was small, yet significant correlation (r=0.17, p=0.01) between less adaptive strategy use and stress appraisal. Our study implies that HR professionals should use more measures to lead better intervention processes.