Lay theories of work stress

This study examined lay people's beliefs about the causes, manifestations, consequences and alleviation of occupational stress. Over 130 working adults completed a four-part questionnaire that was subject to first- and higher-order factor analysis. Five coherent, interpretable factors emerged from this analysis that were correlated with various demographic factors. Factor 1 stressed the debilitating effects of stress: Factor 2 the vulnerability of certain groups; Factor 3 the organizational determinants of stress: Factor 4 the clinical consequences of stress; Factor 5 the structural factors that lead to stress. Regressional analysis indicated that gender and education seemed to be the most important and consistent predictors of lay theories about stress. Results are discussed in terms of the effects that lay theories have on expectancies of stress-related reactions in oneself and others.