ABSTRACT
Stress is ubiquitous in modern work, and its effects can be costly in terms of performance and health as well as in public safety and well-being. This chapter provides an overview of the stress construct, theories of stress, potential avenues for mitigation, and gaps in researchers’ understanding of stress and human performance. It discusses the issues that relevant across most work domains but specifically germane to the contextual and task factors that affect the performance and well-being of emergency medical service personnel. Techniques for stress mitigation tend to fall into three general categories: training on the task, on coping strategies, or on both; design of the task structure, the interface, or both; and selecting individuals who are resilient to stress. Self-determination (SD) theory dstinguishes intrinsic motivation from multiple forms of extrinsic motivation. SD theory assumes that motivation is energized by three innate psychological needs. These are the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
