ABSTRACT
The magnitude of interest and scholarly attention has not resulted, unfortunately, in a situation where the concept of work stress is free from ambiguities and contradictions. The literature on work stress provides us with classical examples of the interaction between objective and subjective variables, or what we have in earlier chapters called a "transaction". The difficulties in the way of drawing precise relationships between stressful situations and biological signs of unfavorable reactions to stress are perhaps best shown by two authoritative studies on the reactions of professionals and executives—two groups that can be best relied on to be able to articulate their problems. Unfortunately, the relations of work and mental health are even vaguer and more uncertain than those disclosed in the studies of work stress and physical illness. The presumed relations of work stress to such serious industrial problems as absenteeism, reduced productivity, poor worker morale, the increased costs and disruptive nature of physical and mental illness—all these.
