TOWARD A PHENOMENOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRESS

In this article, elements from different stress models are embedded in a phenomenological framework for work and organization stress based o n practical insights on the one hand and ideas and methods from etholo gy, microsociology, and cultural anthropology on the other. The framew ork is compatible with most of the existing research and theoretical v iews, and pays attention to some lacunas in these views. The central c oncept is integrity, i.e., the ways in which the process of situated i ndividual functioning is organized in a niche, consisting of a limited set of situations. Integrity refers to the internal integration of in dividual functioning and the integration of the individual in his or h er niche land thereby in an organization and society at large). Integr ity is a multileveled process with considerable individual variation, characterized by signification, morality, and individual experiences, which, with the help of four auxiliary verbs, can be analyzed in terms of individual options for action. Inadequate integrity may result fro m underdevelopment, decay, change, and intrusions by external events o r an ongoing stress process. These can be described as (overlapping, a nd often coinciding) stress sources. In this respect, the framework ma kes a distinction between stressors that primarily affect the task its elf and stressors that disturb the immediate environment of the task. All these stressors can be described as a matter of too much or too li ttle on a great number of variables, of which usually only the medium range is conducive to adequate integrity. Lastly, attention is paid to stress reactions, which can act as stressors in their own right.