Stress and Quality of Working Life

Book excerpt: This book offers twelve chapters organized into three major sections that address occupational stress and quality of working life. The authors are an internationally renowned team of scholar-research-practitioners who are grounded in applied science and clinical practice. Section 1 includes five chapters that address the organizational and individual costs of occupational stress. The costs are humanitarian and economic; both human suffering and financial burdens are important. Section 2 includes three chapters that focus on ways to mitigate the negative effects of occupational stress. We must help those who are suffering but we must do more by preventing distress where we can and building on positive, strength factors where possible. Section 3 includes four chapters that examine and expand our understanding of work life quality. Work life quality is so important because of the effects it has on workers and leaders, as well as the spillover impact into families and communities. These twelve chapters, highlight both core knowledge and new developments within the rapidly growing field of research on stress and the quality of working life. We believe this information can help to raise awareness of the causes and costs of occupational stress and poor quality of working life. Further, this should provide a challenge, some incentive, and renewed insight for organizations in Brazil and elsewhere to begin thinking about and acting in ways that lead to a less stressful environment for their workforce.