Occupational stress management: A review and appraisal

Published and unpublished studies evaluating the merits of occupational stress management are reviewed. Worksite stress management studies are compared along dimensions of type of work group, programme orientation and format, stress management methods, non-specific effects, and long-term maintenance of skills and benefits. Although studies differ widely on these dimensions and too few studies have been conducted to state unequivocally general conclusions, worksite stress management programmes appear to offer promise for helping workers cope with stress and exert greater control over physiological and psychological systems which are reactive to stressors. Troublesome issues in this young research area are noted and future research needs are enumerated. Finally, the advantages and potential disadvantages of worksite stress management programmes are described.     

Priming Prejudice How Stereotypes and Counter-Stereotypes Influence Attribution of Responsibility and Credibility among Ingroups and Outgroups

The research examines the effect of priming negative stereotypic and positive counter-stereotypic portrayals of African Americans (Study 1) and women (Study 2) on interpretations of actual media events. A counter-stereotypic portrayal of an African American male led participants to subsequently make more external or situational attributions of responsibility to other African American males involved in unrelated media events (i.e., Rodney King and Magic Johnson), whereas stereotypic portrayals led to more internal or personal attributions. Similarly, a counter-stereotypic portrayal of a female tended to increase the perceived credibility of females involved in unrelated media events (i.e., the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings and the William Kennedy Smith/Patricia Bowman rape trial) whereas stereotypic portrayals decreased their perceived credibility. Study 2 also revealed an ingroup-outgroup bias in the interpretation of media events, with females tending to be more sympathetic toward other females. Implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions made for future research.