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Introduction
Stress at work is a well-known phenomenon that may express itself differently, and affect workers differently, in different work contexts. Studying job stress in different contexts will contribute to deeper understanding of the phenomenon as a whole and how to minimize its negative effects on workers' productivity, satisfaction and commitment to stay in their jobs. Strong normative commitment to an organization, for instance, may override some of the negative effects of stress. The purpose of this article is to describe job stress in the context of an Israeli mentoring organization, PMP, and the factors that contribute to stress within that organization. PMP offers mentoring to underprivileged young people. Such a context (as opposed to, for instance, a business context) may require a high level of normative commitment on the part of employees. This among other factors will be explored and implications drawn for understanding stress and commitment in the workplace. First, in the literature review that follows, the notions of job stress, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload and different kinds of organizational commitment will be examined.
Stress and job stress
The term "stress" originated in the field of physics and was transferred into psychology. Basically, the idea is that human beings tend to resist external forces acting upon them, just as do physical materials and bodies ([18] Hobfull, 1989). Today the concept of stress is widespread but controversial, and is defined in several different ways ([22] Keinan, 1997):
- Stress as stimulation - stress is an extremely powerful (and at times unusual) stimulation which combines characteristics of loss and threat.
- Stress as reaction - stress is a reaction to a particular event.
- Stress as relation - this definition combines both previous definitions. The term stress refers to the interaction between the person and the environment. In reviewing studies pertaining to job stresses [21] Kahn and Byosiere (1992) see as recurring themes role conflict, role ambiguity and work overload. Such factors have negative implications for workers, both psychologically and physically.
Role conflict concerns incompatible role expectations. Such conflict is related to conceptual differences between workers and different supervisors regarding the content or importance of required job tasks. This creates conflict: the commitment to a number of superiors versus the individual's values pertaining...