INFLUENCE OF GENDER AND JOB STATUS ON EMPLOYEE STRESS AMONG THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE

INFLUENCE OF GENDER AND JOB STATUS ON EMPLOYEE STRESS AMONG THE NIGERIAN POLICE FORCE

CHAPITRE ONE

INTRODUCTION

As a result, it is not an exaggeration to say that people all over the world are being assailed by stress in their varied job activities. Job stress is thus a prevalent worry in many affluent and industrialized countries around the world. This has caused these countries to be quite concerned about it and its negative impact on worker health, particularly among Nigerian police officers, whom this research will primarily focus on.

In general, job stress refers to the discomfort, pressure, and suffering that employees face while at work. It is the psychological and physical strain or stress caused by physical, emotional, social, economic, or occupational circumstances, events, or experiences that are difficult for workers to manage or tolerate.

Employee stress, according to academics or authors, is a major component in determining employee performance and well-being; it also has significant implications for organizational effectiveness. Contributors to the concept of workplace stress are numerous; several scholars noted that stress is a multidimensional term that comprises stress stimuli, system processing, and the lengthy stress response. According to Steven and Mary (2002), stress is defined as something that is difficult or dangerous to a person’s well-being.

According to Ivancerich and Malterson (1980), stress at work is defined as an adaptive response mediated by individual characteristics and or psychological processes that occurs as a result of any external action, circumstance, or incident that places a person under specific demand.

Similarly, Krant, Gruenberg, and Baum (1998) defined employee stress as an internal state of an individual who perceives dangers to his or her bodily or emotional well-being. The definition highlighted a person’s observation and appraisal of potentially dangerous stimuli, and it views threat perception to result from a comparison of the individual’s ability to cope with these demands.

Selye (1974, 1983), an Australian-born researcher, defined stress as the wear and tear on the body caused by demands placed on it. He coined the term “general adaptation syndrome” (GAS) to describe the common impacts on when demand is placed on it. He employs a (GAS) that has three stages: the alert stage, the resistance stage, and the exhaustion stage.

The perception of a threat or a difficult circumstance in the alarm stage causes the brain to send biochemical messages to many parts of the body, resulting in increased breathing rate, blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and other physiological responses. In response to the initial shocks, the individual’s energy level and coping effectiveness instantly diminish. The alarm reaction, in most cases, warns the individual to the environmental state and prepares the body for the following stage.

In the resistance stage of Selye’s (GAS), a person’s ability to cope with environmental demands exceeds the normal level because the body has activated various biochemical, psychological, and behavioral mechanisms, such as an increased level of adrenaline above the normal level, which provides energy to overcome or remove the street source. However, resistances are oriented to one or two environmental demands, making the individual more vulnerable or weak to causes of stress, and people at this stage are more likely to develop a cold or other sickness.

The fatigue stage happens when people have a limited resistance capacity and, if the sources of stress persist, they will eventually move into it as their resistance ability reduces. The wear and stress on the body takes its toll at this point, and the person falls in a condition of fatigue, increasing vulnerability to diseases.

However, when a worker’s expectations are not met, their stress level rises (Rabasca 1999). Employees are better able to handle stress at work when they find their employment personally satisfying than when it is not.

Workplace stress can come from a variety of causes. It could be form over function, job uncertainty, information overload, role-related pressures, or something else. Potential work-related stresses were classified by Steven and Mary (2000) as physical or environmental, role-related, interpersonal, and organizational stressors. Physical or environmental stressors such as excessive noise, inadequate lighting, and safety hazards, according to them, are also becoming obvious in office settings such as poorly constructed office space, lack of privacy, and poor air quality.

According to Steven (1999), environmental or physical stress at work includes environmental uncertainties such as economic uncertainties that occur when the country’s economy contracts, political uncertainties that occur when there are political threats and challenges, and finally technological uncertainties that occur when there is new innovation or the introduction of new ideas that can make employees’ skills and experience obsolete or no longer used in a job. Automation, robotics, computers, and other comparable kinds of technological advancement pose a threat to many people and cause them concern.

The second type of work-related stressor is role-related stress, which refers to situations in which employees struggle to understand, reconcile, or perform the many roles in their lives. Role conflicts, role ambiguity, job load, and task characteristics are the four main roles-related stressors. When people face competing demands, they experience role conflict. In an organizational setting, there are numerous sorts of role conflict, such as inter role conflict, which happens when an employee has too many roles that conflict with each other.

When an individual receives contradicting massages from various people, intra role conflict ensues. For example, if one’s boss wants one to be a team leader and expects him to have more authority over decision making, the team members will expect the person to allow them more flexibility. Such a situation could add to the leader’s stress. Person role conflicts occur as a type of role conflict when an organization’s ideals and work. Obligations are incompatible with or unacceptable in light of personal principles.

According to Michael (1992), role ambiguity stems from a misunderstanding of the exact obligations that comprise a role. When it is unclear how much authority an individual has in making organizational decisions and carrying out his or her duties efficiently, this confusion might arise. This is common when people enter a new circumstance, such as joining an organization or accepting a foreign assignment. They are unsure about their tasks and societal expectations in this instance. They cannot rely on prior routines, so they focus on their behaviors and closely analyze the reactions of others.

According to Michael (1992), work loads are likely to emerge when firms downsize their staff and restructure work, leaving surviving employees with new tasks and fewer resources or time to perform them. Work that is overburdened can also produce stress, and this occurs when employees are given too little or assignments that do not make adequate use of their abilities and knowledge.

Finally, task characteristics arise when labor requires making decisions, monitoring equipment, or exchanging information with others. According to Matterson and Ivancevich (1982), the inability to cooperate with coworkers is one of the most prominent drivers of workplace stress. Interpersonal stress, on the other hand, is caused by difficulty in interpersonal relationships on the job. Such interpersonal stress is caused by difficulties in forming and sustaining relationships with coworkers. Sexual harassment, workplace violence, and hostility are examples of stressors.

Another source of stress is the organizational component; it should come as no surprise that large changes in a work organization tend to induce stress (Leiter and Marvie, 1998). As a result, employees become accustomed to certain work routines and structures and resist change. Most people desire stability and predictability. Because such constancy in the working environment appears to be soothing and reassuring, when there is a restructuring, people tend to be anxious because there will be new work expectations.

Non-work stressors that impair work performance include financial challenges, interpersonal troubles, loss of loved ones, childbirth, and mortgages. These issues are noteworthy because people do not leave their cars at the entrance when they arrive at work. They spread and, in turn, impact worker behavior, resulting in reduced productivity.

As a result, there are also health concerns linked with work-related stress, which endangers a worker’s health. There are physiological and psychological aspects to stress. Increased work-related stress increases the likelihood of psychological and physical health problems. (Micguine, 1999; Nelson and Quick, 1999; Simmons, 2001)

Psychological stress can lead to job discontent, while job-related stress leads to job-related dissatisfaction. Apart from this common result, it can also lead to tension, anxiety, irritability, boredom, and procrastination. According to Stephen (1998), when people are placed in jobs that make multiple and conflicting demands or where there is a lack of clarity about the incumbent’s duties, authority, and responsibilities, both stress and dissatisfaction increase. Similarly, the less control people have over their working environment, the more stress and discontent they experience.

Stressed workers also experience Job Burnout, which is the process of emotional weariness, depersonalization, and decreased personal accomplishment caused by extended stress exposure. As a result, job burnout is a complex process that encompasses stress dynamics, coping techniques, and stress repercussions. This indicates that it is a difficult demand placed on persons who serve or engage with others on a regular basis. Workers are also affected by stress in terms of their behavior. This is demonstrated by job performance and workplace accidents. Workplace stress impairs one’s capacity to remember information, make smart decisions, and take appropriate action when necessary. Employees that are overly anxious are likewise more likely to be absent. Absenteeism is a coping mechanism in which an employee temporarily withdraws from a difficult circumstance so that he or she can re-energize.

Stress has a physiological impact on the human body. According to the researchers, health has been linked to stress. It is associated with diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and immune system destruction, for example, stress can contribute to cardiovascular diseases in a variety of ways (Fogoras, 2001), people who face major life challenges such as job loss and loss of loved ones have a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and premature death (Taylor, 2003). The body’s biological reactions to stress are not just dangerous; persons who are persistently stressed are more prone to start smoking, overeat, and avoid exercise. All of these stress-related behaviors have been connected to the onset of cardiovascular disease (Shineiderman, 2001). The immune system is also involved in stress. Three lines of study support the idea that stress and the immune system are related (Anderson, 2002). They are acute stressors, which are short-term events that might cause immunological alterations. Acute stresses, for example, are related with normal immune system functioning in relatively healthy Hiv-infected individuals as well as individuals with cancer (Reberts, Anderson, and Lubarof, 1994). Chronic stressors are those that are long-term and are related with a decline in immune system reactivity rather than adaptability (Irwin, 2002).

The third factor, which is a favorable social situation and low stress, is related with an increased ability to fight cancer. For example, having a good social interaction supports the hypothesis that the immune system and stress are linked (Anderson, 2002). Acute stressors are short-term experiences that might cause immunological changes. Acute stressors, for example, are associated with proper immune system functioning in relatively healthy HIV infected individuals as well as individuals with cancer (Roberts, Anderson, and Lubarof, 1994). Chronic stressors, on the other hand, are associated with an increasing decline in immune system responsiveness rather than adaptation (Irwin, 2002).

The third factor, which is a favorable social situation and low stress, is related with an increased ability to fight cancer. For example, having positive social relationships and support is frequently associated with higher NK-cell levels (NK stands for “Natural Killer”), but a high level of stress is frequently associated with lower NK-cell levels (Levy, 1990).

In a more recent study, a combination of personal and occupational factors put people at risk of being sidelined (Shanbroeck, Jone, Xic, 2001). Each member of an organization has a unique way of behaving. Employees who believed they had control over their job obligations but lacked confidence in their problem-solving abilities or blamed themselves for poor outcomes were more likely to be stressed. Employees are at danger of infection in these types of situations.

Stress among employees is unavoidable in organizations, including the Nigerian police force. As a result, the coping mechanisms used by the stressed make a significant difference in their impact on humans (Passer and Smith 2001). Although both men and women utilize problem-focused coping, males are more likely to adopt it as the first method when confronted with a stressor at work. Women, on the other hand, who have a larger support network and stronger requirements for connection than men, are more prone than men to seek social support (Billing and Moos 1998, Schwarzer 1998), but a lack of this support might be fatal for women. Women are also slightly more likely than men to utilize emotional oriented coping. This broad pattern of stress response is consistent with the socialization that boys and girls have historically received. Boys are supposed to be more autonomous, aggressive, and self-sufficient in most cultures, whereas girls are expected to be more emotionally expressive, supportive, and reliant (Passer and Smith, 2001).

According to (Nolen-Hoeksema 2001), she discovered that women are more vulnerable to stress than men, and thus to all recognized anxiety disorders. Women have two or three times the rate of panic with agoraphobia, three or four times the rate of particular phobia, one and a half times the rate of social phobia, and two times the rate of generalized anxiety disorder as men (Kessler & Nelson, 1995). Stress causes all of the aforementioned illnesses. The question is, why are women more likely than males to suffer stress and develop these disorders?

According to Nolen-Hoeksema, women have a higher risk of professional stress, less coping strategies, and, as a result, a higher risk of anxiety disorder due to their interpersonal relationships. Nolen-Heeksema’s idea was backed by Chodorow, 1978, Horney, 1934, and Miller, 1986, who stated that women have less authority in organizations than males and that their standing is frequently tied to the men to whom they are related. This drives women to cling to others, to play weak and subservient roles in relationships, to display a sense of vulnerability and defenselessness, and to be hypervigilant to any signs of difficulties in their relationships. For example, in the Nigeria police force, women have less influence, even though the roles they undertake are properly defined, such as secretarial duties, orderly, receptionist duties, and other messelnious duties that may not expose them to tention. Even though she is involved in some adolescent chores, she must ch to a male canterpart. It has been impossible to have a female Inspector General of Police in Africa or the rest of the world, and even if there are, they are likely to be rare. We have never had one in Nigeria, not because they are incapable of administering, directing, or controlling their subjects in the same way that men do, but because when the job is operational in nature and the leader must be physically present, it is impossible for a woman to withstand the pressure.

Bruch and Cheek (1995) conducted another investigation. Women in companies were found to be more vulnerable to stress than men. This also explains why these stressors may be linked to mood disorders, which are common among women. According to Bruch and Cheek, males believe it is socially undesirable to exhibit worry, which may lead them to confront their fearful situations and so extinguish their anxiety.

Second, men tend to be more prone than women to seek medical assistance for anxiety symptoms, particularly panic attacks. Men may interpret these symptoms as an annoyance rather than evidence of anxiousness in their personality. As a result, males in leadership positions may be more likely than women to obtain appropriate treatment in the early phases of a potential anxiety condition. However, not all women who have stress symptoms seek proper treatment.

Furthermore, women in many cultures confront challenges in their daily lives that could conceivably lead to them becoming chronically worried and predisposed to all anxiety disorders. Women, in particular, are more likely than men to be the victims of physical and sexual abuse.

Most anxiety disorders are more likely in girls and women who have been physically or sexually abused. As a result, women who have been abused are more likely to become unemployed, have a lower income, and divorce; as a result, these women face a slew of circumstances that are difficult to manage, may be unpredictable, and contribute to worry. Even women who have not been abused may experience chronomical anxiety as a result of the persuasive threat of violence at work (Nolen -Hoeksema, 2001).

Both high and low status persons have been prone to stressors in one way or another while at work, but the facts lay in determining to what extent a subordinate officer has been impacted by stress and to his senior.

As a result, the research demonstrates that in any organizational division, there is a significant difference between the employer and the employee in all aspects of job activities. Organizations consider individuals with high job status to be managing directors, managers, supervisors, and so on, while individuals with low work status are Forman, Messengers, Labourers, and so on. In the Nigerian Police Force, for example, individuals with high job status are referred to as Superior Police Officers (S.P.O.’s), with ranks ranging from Assistant Superintendent of Police to Inspector, while junior officers are referred to as rank and file, with ranks ranging from constable to Inspector. The impact of stress on these two types of employees in every organization is determined by the scope of responsibilities that each group assumes.

Individuals with higher employment status have a larger duty or task to do than those with lower job status. It is the employer’s responsibility in an organization to recruit, select, and put its employees in various work positions.

To improve organizational effectiveness, the employer attempts to lead, supervise, advise, control, and instruct employees in job tasks to produce improved results; all of these obligations contribute to stress on the part of persons with high job status.

Superior Police Officers (SPOs) in the Nigerian Police Force face more stress than subordinate officers due to their broad area of responsibility, extensive coverage, and span of control.

They are in charge of and control the Junior Police Officers in their numerous duties, visit them at their separate beats, monitor them administratively, and are in the front lines of any operational duties. Superior police officers have an unlimited time period for job activities, however Junior Police Officers are limited to eight hours (8hrs) depending on the nature of the activity done.

SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM

Stress management is a concern for both individuals and organizations. Individuals are concerned because their lives, health, productivity, and money may be jeopardized, whereas organizations are concerned not only for humanitarian reasons, but also for overall performance. As a result, if employees are prone to stress, organizational effectiveness may suffer.

As a result, the purpose of this study is to assess how stressful the police job is for the employees.

The effect of gender on the stress levels of police personnel.

The impact of work status on the stress levels of police officers.

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to look into the effects of gender and job status on employee stress in the Nigerian Police Force. To be more specific, it is intended to:

Find out how policemen and women react to stress, or the influence of gender on stress in the Nigerian Police Force.

Discover how senior and junior police officers respond to stress, as well as the impact of work position or rank on stress in the Nigerian police force.

DEFINITION OF TERMS IN BUSINESS

Gender: This is the biological, social, and cultural divide into which man is classified. Gender is used in this study to refer to whether subjects are male or female.

Job Status: This term is used throughout the study to refer to both junior and senior police personnel.

Job or Employee Stress: This refers to the discomfort, suffering, and pressure that workers endure while at work.