Stress and Mental Workload: A Study in an Industrial Organisation

The purpose of the study was to i) to identify and determine the differential response profile for three levels in management, on the different measures of stress. ii) to identify and determine the differential response profile for the three levels in management on the different measures of mental workload; and iii) to examine the relation between stress and mental workload in the three levels of management. The sample consisted of managers (level I) supervisors (level II) and assistants (level III) from a large tyre manufacturing company in northern India. Total sample comprised of 150 personnel from this organisation. Stress was measured by Jenkins Activity Survey, and mental workload by a seven point scale. Means and percentiles for stress and mental workload were used to see the differential response profiles. To see the correlation between stress and mental workload an intercorrelation matrix was generated. To find out which of the three factors of mental workload contributed to the four factors of stress a regression analysis was carried out. Manin Conclusions are: i) The higher and middle management have similar levels of stress, followed by lower management. ii) In case of mental workload, trends similar to those stated above (I), were found. iii) The ‘Perceived Effort’ factor of mental workload was the main contributor for the prediction of stress. iv) Respondents belonging to the technical departments were less stress prone, more alert and more satisfied than the respondents belonging to commercial department.