Effect of Demographic Variables on Occupational Stress and their Coping Strategies

Abstract

This study focuses on investigating the relationship between dennographic variables & occupational stress and the coping strategies adopted by employees to deal with it. Age, experience, and gender are used as demographic variables. Problem-oriented and emotion-oriented coping strategies are primarily investigated to understand their impact on coping stress. Two additional coping strategies related to emotion venting and consuming medicines were also studied. Data has been collected from a US based software development firm. An attempt was made to fit a regression model on health based coping strategy elements and the demographic variables. A relationship between various coping strategies adopted at managerial/non-managerial level is explored in this study. At gender level, various coping strategies and their interrelationship is investigated. The results indicate that at organization level, emotion-based coping strategies have a direct relationship with health. At managerial level, female employees adopt more of problem-oriented strategies compared to their male counterparts. Problem-oriented strategies are being adopted at managerial level further confirms that, male and female employees are more socialized in structural and instrumental thinking thereby adopting problem-oriented strategies. At non-managerial level, female employees adopt more of emotion-oriented strategies compared to their male counterpart. This further implies that at non-managerial level, male and female employees are socialized into conventional behaviour thereby relying on emotion-oriented strategies.