Longitudinal analysis of stressors,stress, coping and coping effectiveness in elite esports athletes

ObjectiveThe current study aimed to longitudinally examine the stressors, stress appraisal, coping, and coping effectiveness experienced by elite esports athletes.DesignSix elite male League of Legends (LoL) athletes, competing in the Oceanic Challenger Series (OCS), completed diaries over the 2020 competitive season (87 days).MethodAthletes completed weekly diaries after three events: solo training, team training, and competitive matches. Each diary collected data on the stressors experienced, stressor intensity and threat/challenge perception (appraisal), coping strategies used, and perceived coping effectiveness.ResultsGeneral performance, outcome, critical moment performance, and teammate mistakes accounted for 55% of the stressors reported. More stressors were reported in competitive diaries than in training diaries. Competitive stressors were rated as being more intense than training stressors. There were no differences in overall challenge and threat perception, but performance stressors were more likely to be perceived as a challenge, and teammate stressors were more likely to be perceived as a threat. Problem-focused coping (PFC) was the most frequently employed coping strategy. PFC and emotion-focused coping (EFC) strategies were perceived as more effective at reducing stress than avoidance coping (AC).ConclusionsElite LoL athletes experienced a small number of reoccurring stressors over an 87-day competitive period. Athletes reported more stressors around competitive matches and perceived competitive stressors as more intense than team and solo training stressors. Similarly to traditional sports athletes, PFC strategies were the most frequently employed and, PFC and EFC were rated as being more effective than AC.     

The Relationship Between Optimism and Coping Styles of Salespeople

Despite an awareness of the inverse relationship between stress levels and job performance, researchers have not addressed the specific coping strategies used by salespeople in their efforts to cope with sales-related stress. A framework is developed that suggests dispositionally optimistic salespeople may employ different coping strategies than do pessimistic salespeople. Support for hypotheses that have been grounded in this broad proposition was developed in a study that employed a multi-firm sales sample. Optimists were found to employ more problem-focused coping tactics, while pessimists used more emotion-focused coping. Issues relating to why problem-focused coping tactics are preferable as well as how greater use of problem-focused coping may be promoted within a sales organization are discussed.     

A stress and coping perspective on health behaviors: theoretical and methodological considerations

Health behaviors such as eating and exercising have been linked to stress in many studies, and researchers suggest that these links are in large part due to the use of health behaviors to cope with stress. However, health behaviors in the context of coping have received relatively little research attention. In this paper, we briefly survey the literature linking stress, coping, and health behaviors, noting that very little research has explicitly examined health behaviors as coping with stress. We address critical theoretical and methodological issues that arise in applying a stress and coping perspective to health behaviors. We conclude with potential directions for interventions, including the need for conceptually solid and methodologically rigorous research and the development of new measures, and with suggestions for future research. The concepts of self-regulation and stress management and their implications in health behavior research and interventions are also discussed.     

Behavioral Self-Management as a Supplement to External Sales Force Controls

Salesforce control systems tend to focus on outcomes rather than behaviors. The use and effectiveness of behavior-based control systems is limited, particularly with industrial sales-people, who generally operate in the field much of the time where their behavior cannot be closely observed or supervised by management. The authors propose Behavioral Self-Management (BSM) as a means of controlling the methods salespeople use to achieve results. Specific BSM techniques applicable to selling and strategies for encouraging salespeople to engage in self- management are reviewed.     

The Role of Top Management in Developing a Customer-Oriented Sales Force

A national random sample of industrial salespeople was surveyed to examine the effects of salespeople’s perceptions of top management long-term orientation, top management emphasis, and top management risk aversion on customer-oriented selling behaviors. The results indicated that perceived top management long-term orientation had a significantly positive effect on perceived top management emphasis and a significantly negative effect on perceived top management risk aversion. In turn, perceived top management emphasis positively affected customer-oriented selling, whereas perceived top management risk aversion did not affect customer-oriented selling. The study underscores the importance of salespeople’s perceptions of top management factors for implementing the marketing concept. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed and several directions for future research are proposed.     

Physical recovery in Arthroscopic knee surgery: unique contributions of coping behaviors to clinical outcomes and stress reactivity

Few studies have examined whether certain coping behaviors are associated with physical outcomes following surgery. This prospective, longitudinal study investigated the effect of active and avoidant coping behaviors on two physical outcomes over time, pain and knee function, in a group of patients experiencing knee arthroscopic surgery (n = 81). Structured interviews and physician clinical assessments were conducted preoperatively and at 3 and 24 weeks postoperatively. Coping behavior was assessed during the preoperative interview, and patients were divided into high and low avoidant and active coping groups. Using repeated measures MANCOVA/ANCOVA, avoidant coping was significantly associated with knee pain and active coping was associated with knee function. Serum cortisol levels were available for a patient subset (n = 16); higher cortisol was related to both avoidant coping and poorer functioning during early recovery. Results suggest that these divergent coping behaviors are differentially associated with stress reactivity and physical outcomes in healthy patients undergoing minor knee surgery.     

It is all in good humor? Examining the impact of salesperson evaluations of leader humor on salesperson job satisfaction and job stress

Abstract

Salesperson job stress and job satisfaction have been identified as critical factors affecting job performance. Academic research suggests that sales managers can influence salesperson job stress and job satisfaction. Interestingly, a review of the sales literature finds very little research on the impact of sales leader humor usage on the stress and satisfaction of salespeople. Consequently, we explore how salespeople’s evaluation of their manager’s use of humor influences their individual levels of job stress and satisfaction. We investigate both the positive and negative roles of humor by analyzing the impact of salesperson evaluations of their managers’ use of affiliative and aggressive humor on their job stress and job satisfaction. Furthermore, we examine the mechanism by which these evaluations affect salesperson stress and satisfaction by identifying two critical mediating variables – social loneliness and willingness to cooperate. Using a sample of 299 professional salespeople, we empirically test this process model to find that affiliative humor usage by sales managers, as evaluated by salespeople, reduces social loneliness and stress for salespeople while also increasing followers’ acceptance of cooperation. Evaluations of aggressive humor, on the other hand, increase stress levels among salespeople. Both social loneliness and acceptance of cooperation, in turn, significantly affect job satisfaction.     

Index to Volume 22 of Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management

A considerable amount of research has focused on stress in personal selling, primarily focusing on role demands. However, the issue of how a salesperson’s sales behaviors relate to his or her own stress has largely been unaddressed. The author investigates felt stress in the salesperson as a consequence of using coercive sales tactics. The role of learning orientation as a coping resource is also examined. It was found that the use of coercive sales tactics (threats and promises) is associated with higher levels of felt stress. This stress, in turn, is related to lower levels of manifest influence. Learning orientation serves as a coping resource, moderating the relationship between threats and felt stress.     

Stress,coping, executive function,and brain activation in adolescent offspring of depressed and nondepressed mothers

This study examined the associations among chronic stress, activation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), executive function, and coping with stress in at-risk and a comparison sample of adolescents. Adolescents (N = 16; age 12–15) of mothers with (n = 8) and without (n = 8) a history of depression completed questionnaires, neurocognitive testing, and functional neuroimaging in response to a working memory task (N-back). Children of depressed mothers demonstrated less activation in the anterior PFC (APFC) and both greater and less activation than controls in distinct areas within the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in response to the N-back task. Across both groups, activation of the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC; Brodmann area [BA9]) and APFC (BA10) was positively correlated with greater exposure to stress and negatively correlated with secondary control coping. Similarly, activation of the dACC (BA32) was negatively correlated with secondary control coping. Regression analyses revealed that DLPFC, dACC, and APFC activation were significant predictors of adolescents’ reports of their use of secondary control coping and accounted for the effects of stress exposure on adolescents’ coping. This study provides evidence that chronic stress may impact coping through its effects on the brain regions responsible for executive functions foundational to adaptive coping skills.     

The Role of Culture Strength in Shaping Sales Force Outcomes

Although a strong culture has been widely acknowledged as a defining characteristic of successful firms, past research has failed to examine the influence it exerts on the attitudes and behavior of salespeople. In a two-sample study, we measure culture strength and explore its relationship to value congruity and to three sales force outcomes that define the sales management research tradition: role stress, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. Within the contexts of the sales subculture of a Fortune 500 firm (Study 1) and specialized sales organizations (Study 2), the results reveal a compelling portrait of the forces that shape salesperson–culture fit. Specifically, the results of both studies indicate that a strong culture leads to higher levels of value congruity, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, and lower levels of role stress. Key implications are highlighted for sales managers and for researchers.     

Profiles of middle school teacher stress and coping: Concurrent and prospective correlates

This study examined the stress and coping patterns of middle school teachers. A final teacher sample of 102 and student sample of 1450 agreed to participate in the study. We conducted a latent profile analysis of the teachers' self-reported levels of stress and coping at the beginning of the school year and used the resulting profiles to predict teacher practices and student outcomes over time. Nearly all teachers were characterized by high stress and high coping (66%) or high stress and low coping (28%). Based on concurrent ratings and observations, the High Stress/Low Coping profile had higher burnout and lower self-efficacy, higher rates of observed reprimands, and higher student-reported depression in comparison to the other classes. The most adaptive profile, Low Stress/High Coping (6% of sample), had lower burnout, greater parent involvement and higher student prosocial skills in comparison to the other groups. Profiles also predicted the maintenance of most of these effects and the increase of some effects over the school year. Examining stress and coping in combination can inform efforts to improve teacher well-being and have a positive influence on student learning environments.     

The Going Gets Tough,So Let's Go Shopping: On Materialism,Coping, and Consumer Behaviors Under Traumatic Stress

This study investigated the way in which exposure to traumatic stress, posttraumatic reactions, and materialistic values impact coping and maladaptive consumption behaviors in a real-life traumatic situation. One hundred thirty-nine Israelis were sampled from a town under constant rocket fire (a high-stress environment), and 187 comparison respondents were sampled from a low-stress location. Our data show a main effect for materialism for all of the distress and maladaptive consumer behaviors under study, as well as for most coping behaviors with the exception of interpersonal expressive coping. In the high-stress group, interpersonal expressive coping, reflecting an inclination to utilize social support, was highest among mildly materialistic individuals. Highly materialistic persons were, presumably, more oriented to objects than humans, rendering a more support-seeking way of coping less relevant for them. Highly materialistic participants in the high-stress group reported the highest levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms. The results of this study also suggest that the pleasures of shopping cannot attenuate posttraumatic distress and that maladaptive shopping behaviors increase with the level of traumatic exposure.     

Collectivism and coping: Current theories,evidence, and measurements of collective coping

A burgeoning body of cultural coping research has begun to identify the prevalence and the functional importance of collective coping behaviors among culturally diverse populations in North America and internationally. These emerging findings are highly significant as they evidence culture's impacts on the stress‐coping process via collectivistic values and orientation. They provide a critical counterpoint to the prevailing Western, individualistic stress and coping paradigm. However, current research and understanding about collective coping appear to be piecemeal and not well integrated. To address this issue, this review attempts to comprehensively survey, summarize, and evaluate existing research related to collective coping and its implications for coping research with culturally diverse populations from multiple domains. Specifically, this paper reviews relevant research and knowledge on collective coping in terms of: (a) operational definitions; (b) theories; (c) empirical evidence based on studies of specific cultural groups and broad cultural values/dimensions; (d) measurements; and (e) implications for future cultural coping research. Overall, collective coping behaviors are conceived as a product of the communal/relational norms and values of a cultural group across studies. They also encompass a wide array of stress responses ranging from value‐driven to interpersonally based to culturally conditioned emotional/cognitive to religion‐ and spirituality‐grounded coping strategies. In addition, this review highlights: (a) the relevance and the potential of cultural coping theories to guide future collective coping research; (b) growing evidence for the prominence of collective coping behaviors particularly among Asian nationals, Asian Americans/Canadians and African Americans/Canadians; (c) preference for collective coping behaviors as a function of collectivism and interdependent cultural value and orientation; and (d) six cultural coping scales. This study brings to light the present theoretical and methodological contributions as well as limitations of this body of literature and the implications it holds for future coping research.     

Coping,psychological adjustment,and complementary and alternative medicine use in persons living with hiv and aids

Abstract

Many HIV-positive individuals dissatisfied with allopathic approaches to disease management have turned to complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). Although people use CAM for a variety of reasons (e.g., symptom management, holistic approach towards healthcare, improved immunity), the psychological benefits that these treatments may have are still not fully understood. The present study was designed to further previous research that demonstrated relationships between CAM use, stress appraisals, and coping behaviors. HIV-positive individuals (N= 127) completed measures assessing stress appraisals, coping, psychological adjustment, satisfaction with life, and immune functioning. After controlling for ethnicity and sexual orientation, stress appraisals and coping behaviors were found to be related to CAM use. Further, curvilinear relationships between CAM use and adjustment emerged, suggesting that some CAM use may be adaptive. Self-reported immune measures were unrelated to CAM use. In all, it appears that CAM use may be a complex form of coping that assists individuals in adjusting to a life-threatening illness. The implications of these findings with respect to adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) are also discussed.     

Distinguishing Between the Roles of Customer-Oriented Selling and Adaptive Selling in Managing Dysfunctional Conflict in Buyer–Seller Relationships

A national random sample of industrial salespeople was surveyed to examine the relationships among selling behaviors, trust, conflict, and sales outcomes, such as performance and anticipation of future interaction. Results indicate that trust mediates the effects of selling behaviors on sales outcomes, and conflict moderates this mediating effect. While salespeople could use customer-oriented selling as an antidote for the ill effects of dysfunctional conflict on trust, adaptive selling only serves to enhance salesperson trust in customers. Thus, the results of the study distinguish between the roles of customeroriented selling and adaptive selling in relationship marketing. Furthermore, when salespeople perceive that their sales managers are highly customer oriented and highly adaptive, they themselves become more customer oriented and more adaptive. Thus, as role models, supervisory selling behaviors contribute to salespeople’s ability to leverage their trust in customers. Based on these results, the managerial implications for selling organizations are discussed.     

Examining the Impact of Servant Leadership on Sales Force Performance

Much has been written about the importance of focusing on customers to drive organizational success. In this paper, aspects of manager–salesperson relationships are examined as drivers of deeper customer focus in salesperson–customer interactions. In particular, managers’ servant leadership, a leadership style emphasizing genuine concern for subordinate welfare, is examined as a catalyst of parallel concern by salespeople for their customers. Salesperson perceptions of managers’ servant leadership empirically relate to salesperson customer orientation, in turn driving adaptive selling behaviors, customer-directed extra-role behaviors, and sales performance outcomes. Other results and implications for management and sales leadership research are presented.     

A model of stress and coping and their influence on individual and organizational outcomes

A model of coping with stress is proposed in which coping mediates the relationship among organizational stressors and personal characteristics, and job-related strains and organizational outcomes. Study results, based on a sample of professional salespeople, provide overall support for most of the hypothesized relationships among work-related stressors, personal characteristics, and coping styles. Findings also support the influence of emotion-focused coping on the psychological outcomes of emotional exhaustion and job-induced anxiety; which in turn are found to influence job satisfaction and intention to withdraw. While problem-focused coping had no effect on job-induced anxiety, problem-focused coping did effect emotional exhaustion, which in turn influences job satisfaction and intention to withdraw. Minor differences were found when the proposed model was applied to saleswomen versus salesmen. Overall, however, the model was robust across both genders.     

Experimentally testing Taylor's stress,coping and adaptation framework

Abstract

Taylor (1995) constructed a comprehensive framework of stress and adaptation, which considers internal and external resources/impediments as moderators, based on previous studies and models. However, most past research used correlation designs and has not taken into account all of the framework's components within one study. This study tested the effects of the event (minor, major), primary appraisal (benign, severe), coping (problem-focused coping (PFC) versus emotion-focused coping), external resources (with/without social support), and internal impediments (hostility), on estimated distress (dependent variable) in written imagined stressful daily scenarios. All components except hostility were experimentally manipulated within subjects in the scenarios. The scenarios were rated by 281 Dutch students. The variables event, appraisal, and social support significantly and independently affected estimated distress. Event and appraisal synergistically interacted in relation to estimated distress. Finally, appraisal interacted with coping such that the distress-reducing effects of PFC occurred only in benign events, while coping did not affect estimated distress in severely appraised events. This study experimentally tested most components of Taylor's framework, and showed that events, appraisal, and social resources were independent determinants of estimated distress, and that appraisal interacts in a complex manner with the event and with coping.