The aim of the study is to ascertain the implication of occupational status, gender, and self-concept on levels of job-related stress. The demographic to be surveyed are bank workers in Lagos state. Three hypotheses, out of which the third suffices the topic in discussion, were used and relevant data analysis procedures were used such as the Student t-test and the results reviewed at 0.05 significance. The Sekaran approach to research design has been used to explain the whole process in the following article.
The reaction of individuals to demands aka stressors imposed upon them by external forces in the environment is termed stress (Erkutly and Chafra 2006). The failure to cope with the environment can be disadvantageous to a person’s psychological, moral, and physical health and under the purview of this topic, his job. Occupational stress leads to the incapability of a person while dealing with his profession and the decisions born thereof. The study tries to establish which factors may result in stress in a person. The stress created thereof reduces the productivity of a person.
The three hypotheses are:
- Occupational stress does not vary significantly between male and female workers.
- Occupational stress varies significantly between people with various levels of self-concept.
- Occupational stress varies significantly with the occupational status of workers.
It would be prudent to explain the terms aforementioned and the variables attached. Occupational status is a sub-class of socio-economic status and is a key tool to establish the credibility of a person and the economic outcomes of his credentials that are the power to earn based on his educational attainment. Other variables such as family income are not used. (Anderson, 2000).
Self-concept is the idea of a person regarding his own credentials. In other words, it is analytical to self-esteem that is the worth a person attaches to his or her own knowledge, experience, or faith in decision making. A person is the best judge of one’s own credentials. If a person is well equipped to carry out a certain responsibility he would have a higher self-concept and would suffer from low self-esteem if he/she is aware of their own lack of credentials.
A proper representation of the demographic to be surveyed was chosen and 100 people from various levels of the workforce were selected which consisted of 51 women and 49 men. A questionnaire was developed which consisted of specific questions in two sections. The first section comprised demographic questions and the second part had 15 questions related to the second hypothesis and 15 on the third hypothesis. The Likert scale for measuring responses was used and ranged from 1 to 5. The cumulative score was then added together to derive the composite score denoting the effect of self-concept on stress. Both face and content validity was used to determine the validity of the research and the student test re-test procedure was used to calculate the coefficient of reliability. (Sekaran, 2006).
Table for Hypotheses 1:
Table for Hypotheses 2:
Table for Hypotheses 3:
Based on the analysis one came to the conclusion that the first hypotheses could be upheld because the difference insignificance that is to say the difference between calculated t and p values was only 0.05 and thus insignificant.
The second hypothesis was proven to be true. The null hypothesis was rejected because it was seen that the t calculated value was significant at 0.05 level (t value = 2.790; p<0.05) In the third case, the null hypothesis was accepted t calculated value was insignificant at 0.05 level (t calculated = 0.055; p>0.05). Therefore the hypotheses could not be upheld mathematically.
On the basis of the research, it was established that the gender of the worker had no bearing on the levels of stress created in a job. The second hypothesis was upheld and it was found that the workers’ concept had a direct bearing on his productivity and the stress created during his work. A worker enjoying greater autonomy has a higher self-concept and motivation to carry out their jobs. People with lower self-concept had lower motivational levels and therefore when it came to decision making and other related job aspects they faltered and greater stress was created. A worker may face difficult situations at home, such as relationship crisis, financial shortage, drug abuse, and other variables which may have a detrimental effect morally or psychologically on the person. These issues need to be raised by managers and the issues addressed as far as possible in an effort to the morale of a worker.the third hypothesis which was the main motive of this study were found to be untrue and insignificant. This is surprising since the people at top managerial posts are people with higher educational qualifications and are generally confronted with tougher decisions. (Hassan, 2009) Therefore it can be postulated that to maintain productivity managers have to ensure that the jobs assigned are in line with a worker’s capabilities.
References
Anderson, Janet E, Florence Guido-DiBrito, Jean Schober Morrell; Factors That Influence Satisfaction for Student Affairs Administrators; New Directions for Institutional Research; Volume 2000, Issue 105, Pages 99 – 110.
Erkutly, H.V. and J. Chafra; 2006; Relationship between leadership power base and job stress of surbonitos: Example from boutique hotels. Manage. Res. News, 29 (5): 285-297. Franken, R., 1994. Human Motivation; 3rd Ed. PacificArose, CA: Brooks/Cole Publish Co.
Hassan, Eunice Modupe, 2009; Gender, Self- Concept and Occupational Status Differentials in Occupational Stress Among Bank Workers In Lagos State; Medwell Publishing, The Social Sciences 4(2): 154-157
Sekaran, Uma; 2006; Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach; 4th Edition; Academic Internet Publishers Incorporated.