The idiosyncratic construction of stress: examples from medical work settings

This paper is concerned with the subjective understanding of the work conte xt and how it becomes stressful for an individual. It seeks to establish th e individual dimensions of each person's situation in terms of the factors that are Perceived to be stressful and also the ideas that underlie the mea ning of stress for each person. Five case studies from medical work setting s are used in this idiographic analysis of work stress. The situational ele ments relevant to each person were identified for a psychiatrist, theatre n urse, paediatrician, neurologist and optometry assistant. Repertory grid an alysis was then used to extract the underlying constructs that gave meaning to stress for each person. Results indicated completely idiosyncratic perc eptions of the meaning of stress and diverse situational determinants. It i s argued that current approaches to theorising about stress in terms of gen eral elements and common perceptions are challenged by these findings. Five separate cluster analyses of constructs and situations emphasised the vast ly different situations or circumstances for each individual. In contrast t o the findings of nomothetic research, a theoretical perspective evolving f rom the personal construction of the situation may be the significant deter minant of anxiety and stressful reactions for each person. Copyright (C) 20 00 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.