Vol. 10, Issue 2, 2004
ISSN - 1118 - 4035
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Nigerian Journal
of
Clinical and Counselling Psychology
Vol. 10 Issue 2; ISSN: 1118-4035;November 2004
Editorial Board
Helen O. Nwagwu (Editor)
Department of Guidance and Counselling
University of Ibadan, Ibadan
Virginia A. Amadi A.E. Awoyemi Festus D. Kolo
Department of Educational Dept. of Guidance Dept. of Education,
Psychology, & Counselling, Ahmadu Bello University
University of Port-Harcourt, University of lbadan Zaria, Nigeria.
Port-Harcourt, Nigeria .. Ibadan, Nigeria.
Amos A. Alao Anthony V.Naidoo
Guidance & Counselling Centre, University of Western Cape,
University of Botswana, Institute of Counsell ing,
Gaborne, Botswana. Bellville 7535, South Africa
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Volume 10, No.2; November, 2004
Contents
1. Stress and Stress Coping among Unemployed Migrant
Married V":onlen:the Role ofthe Counsellor
"-\.1.'1 Onvevdume
Attitude Towards Condom Use: A Predictor of Safer
Sex Practice
CE. Ofovwe, G.E. Ofovwe. S1. A dodo, A. O. Orubu
Job Differences in Perceived Occupational Stress
among University of Ibadan Workers
John Oselenbalu Ekore & Olufemi O. Akingbola
4. Parent-Child Communcation Strategy and Family
Environment as Determinants ofHIV/AIDS Infections
a1110ngAdolescents
Oladeji David 43
5. Agricultural Information, Indigenous Knowledge and
Development Cormnunication Strategies among
Women in Ijaye community
Evarest C. Madu and Mercy A. Ijirigho 53
6. Transactions in Meseron Therapy: Case of a Stroke
Patient with Secondary Depression
Alfred Awaritefe and Caroline E. Ofovwe 71
7. . The Treatment of Mental Retardation for Special
Educators
Ojo Gabriel Babalola 85
8. The Treatment of An Obsession by Meseron Therapy
Alfred Awaritefe and Alex N. Otakpor 101
9. Brief interventions as Therapeutic Tools in Managing
Hazardous Patterns of Alcohol Consumption
Abeeb Olufemi Salaam 108
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UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
.IobDifferences in Perceived Occupational Stress among '.
University oflbadan 'Yorkers
By
John Oselenbalu Ekore & Olufemi O.Akingbola
Department of Psychology,
Faculty of Social Sciences.
UnhJersity of Ibadan.
Abstract
The study examined job differences in perceived occupational stress
among University of Ibadan workers. Two hundred and eighty (280)
participants were selected from the population of employees of the
university. They responded to a stress scale developed/or the study. The
Expost facto research design was adopted. Three hypotheses generated
in the study 'Yvere tested using appropriate statistical tools. Results
obtained showed that.Academic Staff experienced higher levelofstress
than the non-academic staff On the contrary, gender did not significantly
influence the workers 'perceived level of stress. The long serving employees
;
I experienced lower level of stress than the newer members of staff
I Conclusions ll:ere drawn and recommendations made bused on the
I findings.
'.
Int,roduction
1
I Stress in the workplace describes physical, mental and emotional 'Near and
I tear brought by incongruence between the requirement of the job and the
'1 capabilities, resources and needs of the employee to cope withjob demands.
-ti1e"stress in the workplace is said to be pervasive and invasive. FrOlTImany
, .,, studies, it is now clear that one of the main sources of adult stress is their
work. This cut across occupations. Different jobs present varying tasks that
can act as sources of stress (stressors) to the employees.
The stressors that employees encounter on their job could be physical or
psychological. Regardless of how one job may be compared to another in
ter111Sof stress: it is helpfulto know that every job has potential stress agent.
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/vigeria" Jou"'4,1 of Clink,,, uml COUluelling ~ .•c. hlJlog.l'1/01.10. ;"0. 1. /V""., 1fJ(J4 34
These stressors can be factors intrinsic to the job such as the working condition
(incl uding the physical environment), irregular working hours. work overload
or under load. Another source of stress could be the relationships at work: if
there is no harmonious relationship between co-workers or between an
employee and his subordinate, it can result to highly stressful situation.
The stressors of the academic job oncasual observation from interaction
include the marking of a large number of examination papers. supervision of
more than average number of students, writing of papers even in non-conduci ve
environment like poor electricity supply, shortage of material and noisy
environment. The non-academic members of staff also have "work conditions
that are capable of generating stress. Stress can result from such physical
conditions as noise. heat, cold, safety hazards and shift work. Some of the
non-academic staff especially those in.the security and health unit run shift
duties and even have to work with out-dated equipment.
The psychological stressors may come in form of meeting deadlines,
extended hours of work and poor remuneration. The non-academic employees
also are not spared. They have a poor working environment to deal with poor
accommodation, transportation problems and poor pay especially the recent
two-step salary affects both the academic and non-academic groups but the
ones with little or no reserve feel it more. The formalized conservative structure
in University of Ibadan could also act as a source of stress. It does not allow
for innovation and creativity. Workers get into the University culture with the
impression "this is the way it is done here". Job stress has been associated
with varying degrees of job outcome ranging from absenteeism, loss of morale.
a high turnover or actual quitting of ajob, to poor overall performance and a
high cost of running including compilations for ill health.
Karasek (1979) drew attention to the possibility that work characteristics
may not be linearly associated with workers health and that they may combine
interactively in relation to health. Karasek (1970) had proposed a theory known
as demands and constraints model to explain his argument. According to this
model, two factors are necessary for an individual to perceive stress. They
are environmental stressors in the form of job demands and the extent to
which the individual has control over important decisions.
Similarly, Payne (1979) also came up with an alternative model that extends
Karasek theory in two. ways. First he returned to the person environment fit
theory perception and purpose that it is the individual's perception and decision
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Job Differences ill Perceived Occuputiouul Stress 11/1l0n.!; ,, ~-
L 'lIil'l!rsi1.l' oflbtulan Workers
altitude that are important Secondly. he introduced the notion ofsupport into
the model mak inu'--' it a three dimensional model. Pav..n..e l1979) suu'-z- •e.•....sts that
greater support means less adaptive energy has to be used to cope with the
demands of the job under low decision latitude as a result. stress might be
reduced by adding various support to the systems.
Other scholars have C0111eup with theoretical explanations of stress. For
example. Lazarus (10l)3. 1991 & 1984) postulated in his transactional model
of stress that what is stressful depends on the cognitive appraisal and
interpretation of events , According to this model. individuals who perceived
they have a high level of control over their environment are more likely to
adjust successfully to stress than those who perceive little opportunity for
controL
Salami (1995) defined occupational stress as a state of psycholo gical
disequalibrium arising 1'1-011w1ork and that stress had been reported in teaching.
U ni versity teaching has tradi tionally been regarded as a 10\\ stress occupation
(Fishel'. 1994). Seldin (1 (87)- reported that the academic environment of the
1980 had imposed surprisingly high level of job stress on the academic and
that the level of stress will continue to increase in future decades. This assertion
may~ also hold amonu_ workers in Niu~erian Universities. includinu L lbadan which
might not be an exception. In a study on stress in seven New Zealand
Universities, Boyd & \Vyhe ( 1994) reported hul r of the academics 11nd their
\ work stressful while go% believe their workload had increased and become
'\ more stressful in recent years. University staff play an important role in the
creation. innovation and development of knowledge in addition to education
and training. If the high level ofoccupational stress is not checked and managed.
I it will undermine the quality, productivity and creativity of employees work. in
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r addition to his health. well-being and moral (Terry. Tonge & Callen. 19(5),
I The iInpact 0 f occupational stress with in the U niversi ty is Iess we II
understood than its well-documented effects on the 'uI --
enera] work force, Bowen
& Schuster (1 9X5)_'identified the negative impact of stress on staffmorale.
I
I, Boyd & Wyhc ( IY<-)4) reported an increased workload and work related stress
among academic staff resulting in less time spent on research publishing and
professional development. Jan-et & Winefield (1995) surveyed all staff in a
Suuth Austral ian U ni versi-t)i reporting that the overall level of stress was very
high purti cular ly among academic staff, Due (1994) reported from a New
South Wales Un iVCI-S itv- a si m ilar find inu~. Researc hes conducted in the U ni tcd
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
36 Nigerian Journal u/CliniclI/ ant! COlll/sel/il/g Psychology Vol. ]0. So. l. \01'., ][}(}4
Kuizdorn. Unite States. Nev, Zealand and Australia. identified several ke .
~. -
factors CD'l11l110naiyssociated with stress amonz Universirv staff. These include
• L..
work overload. time restraints. lack of promotion opportuniti es inadeq uate
recognition. inadequate salary. changingjob roles. inadequate participation at
management level and inadequate funding (Boyd & Whlie. 1994: Siegiest.
1996; Balix. 1994). A similar study by Melilliam & Schiorr (1989). reported
lack of communication, poor interaction with colleagues. inequalities in the
system as common sources of stress in the University. Due (1994) highlighted
lack of regular performance feedback as a common source of stress in his
studies, This suggests that S0111esources of stress 111aybe peculiar to the
U niversity env ironment.
Pealin & Schooner (1978) studied the relative contribution ofa variety of
occupational and non-occupational sources of stress to the psychological and
physical health of service and clerical workers. Scales of job stress. and
outcomes measure of job satisfaction were administered to 150 clerical and
61 service workers. The result showed occupational differences in the pattern
of stress. The clerical workers were more sensitive to task insignificance and
work environment while service workers were more affected by lack of
autonomy and work overload. On the basis of this finding. one 111aybe tempted
to predict that employees in the University of IbadaI: would report different
levels of stress according to their job. French & Caplan (1973). reported that
University staff who perceived high level of control over their work environment
experienced less stress than those who perceived low level of control,
Cartez & Campbell (1988) used 90 employees of an industrial firm and
30 undergraduates who worked part-time. In the sample, 49% completed
useable questionnaires, The result showed that for subjects receiving low levels
of social support, an increased work stress was 110tassociated with notable
increase in perceived stress. Hammond (1998), studied 111 female University
research scientists and administrators involved in multiple role lifestyles. The
participants reported relatively no increase in the levels of stress and moderately
high levels of satisfaction with their roles.
From the various findings reported in the literature above. it is clear that
views of researchers differ in terms of occupational stress among workers in
Universities. Why some submitted that there is no difference in occupational
stress among the different categories of workers in Universi ties, others reported
that a significant difference exists. However. such opposing views cannot be
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Job Differences ill Perceived Occupational-Stress among ,.•.
University of ibudan Workers .' /
generalized in Nigeria until it is empirically investigated. This necessitated the
present study.
Hypotheses
(i) There will be no significant difference injob stress between Academic
staff the non-academic staff.
(ii) There will be significant gender differences in the level of stress
experienced by University of Ibadan workers.
(ill) Long serving members of staff will experience less stress than others.
Methodology
. The survey research adopted the expost facto design. This was considered
appropriate due to the limitations.in manipulating the various in the study. Two
hundred and eighty (280) employees of the University ofIbadan participated
in the study. They were drawn using the purposive sampling technique. 'I? the
sample, 104 (37.10/0) were academic staff. Among them were 202 (72.1 0/0)
males and 78 (27.90/0) females. The ages of the participants ranged between
23 and 64 with a mean age of 39.6.
The closed-ended questionnaires used for data collection in the study
were 280 in all. Each questionnaire comprised of three sections (A. B,. and
C). Section '''A'~was used to measure the socio-demographic characteristics
of the participants. Section "B" measured self-reported perceived stress, The
scale was developed specifically for the study. It has 12-itenls scored on a 4-
point likert format The scale yielded a cronbach coefficient alpha of O~65.
The section 44C" contained open-ended questions. It obtained qualitative
information concerning coping strategies workers adopt when under stress,
which were later subjected to frequency analysis.
'All data were collected at the University of Ibadan by the researchers.
The exercise lasted two weeks. The research was introduced to potential
participants individually before given the questionnaires. They wereencouraged
to participate voluntarily.
Results
The first hypothesis-predicted that the academic staff would experience
higher level of job stress than the non-academic staff. This hypothesis was
tested using the independent t. test. This is presented in the table below.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
38 Nigerian Journal of Clinicul (lnd COIlIIsellillg Psychology Vol. 10. No. 2. :Vov.• 1004
Table 1.A t-test comparison of academic and non-academic staff on perceived
job stress.
Job status N X S.D t df P
Job Academic 104 27.78 6.26 2.047 278 < . o)~
Stress
Non Academic 176 16.16 6.44
As shown in tilt; tabI above, aoadetl'liQ and non-a a ern ic staff differ on
perceived job stress. (t ~2.042, df= 278p< 0.05). The non-academic staff
reported a mean score of26.2 while theacademic staff reported a mean of
27.8. Therefore the hypothesis is hot rejected.
The second hypothesis predicted that there will be significant gender
differences in the level of stress experiencedby the workers. It was tested
using the independent t-test. This is presented in the table below.
Table 2: A t-test comparison ofmale 'and female differences on perceived
job stress among theworkers
- Sex N X S.D t df P
Job Stress Male 202' 26.77 6.50 0.034 278 >,05
Female 78 26.74 6.21
As shown in the table above, no significant difference existed between
male and females on perceived job stress (t =0.034, df 278; p>0.05). The
males with mean scoreof26.77 do not score significantly different from the
females with 26.74 on perceived job stress. Therefore the hypothesis is
rejected.
The third hypothesis stated that long serving members of staff will
experience a lower level of stress than others. lhishypothesis was tested
using the independent t-test. This is presented in the tank below.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Job Differences ill Perceived Occupatlona! SIren among 39
University of lbadan Workers
Table 3: A t-test comparison of workers with short and long length of service
on perceived job stress
Length of
service N X S.D t df P
Job Stress Sh0l1 180 27.79 5.79 3.688 278 <.05
Long 100 24.91 7.06
-
As shown in the table above there is a significant difference between long
serving members of staff and short serving staff on job stress (t=3.688, df 278,
p< 0.01). The long serving members scored significantly lower (X =24.91 )
than the short-serving members ofstaff(X=27.79). Therefore the hypothesis
is not rej ected.
Discussion
The findings of the study showed that Academic members of staff
experienced higher level of job stress than the non-academic staff. This finding
is in line withthe study in 17 Australian Universities, and that conducted by
Gillespie in Melbourne Business School, which found academic staffto be
higher on occupational stress than the non-academic. A similar study by Jarret
and Winefied (1995) who surveyed all staff in a South Australian University
reported also an overall high level of stress particularly among the academic
staff. This might not be unconnected with the pressure to publish articles in
international journals and the attendant competition that follow this category
of workers. The workload associated with examinations, teaching, research,
and marking under time frame mightalso be a possible explanation for the
higher job stress recorded by the academic staff in the University as found in
the present study.
Findings showed that there was no significant influence of gender on the
perceived stress experienced by University oflbadan workers as predicted
by hypothesis two. This is in contrast with a Tennessee stress scale administered
by Mc Williams (1989) that found females scoring higher than the males. The
study was however in agreement with Hammond (1998) Nevada study of 111
female University workers that reported no increase in level of stress and
moderately high levels of satisfaction among female University workers despite
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
40 Nigf!ri(tlt Joftm"1 of Clinical und COUR&elliRg Psychology Vol. 10. No. 2. Nov., 2004
their multiple roles. In Smith et al (2000), their study revealed that gender had
little or no overall effect on stress.
The result of hypothesis three showed that long serving members of staff
experienced a lower level of stress than others. This finding is supported by
Lazarus (1977) transactional theory, which emphasized that experience could
influence role perception of stress in the workplace. For instance, length of
service man-organization played significant role in stress experience. The long
serving members of staff might have developed some coping strategies to the
major causes of stress in the University community over the years. They can
predict the likely periods and causes of stress and as such the impact on them
is less.
Cenclusion
Fallowing the findings from the study, it can be concluded that the work
of academic staff is more stressful than that of the non-academic staff as it is
the case in other societies like Australia where a similar study has been carried
out. It 'can therefore be concluded that academic work is highly more stressful
than the non-academic work in Universities. Being male or female is not a
rnajor factor in the job stress experienced by workers in the University. That
lung-serving members of staff experienced lower level of stress than the others
r
j-. . is an indication that they have developed thick skin to the stressors. Therefore,
experience 'Can be saidto be a moderating factor in job stress as earlier
pCQPO'S'ed by Lazarus (1977).
The various findings imply that there is high level of job stress in the
University system but differ between academic and non academic staff. It can
therefore be recommended that efforts should be made by Management of
I
"- Universities to develop deliberate policies and programmes aimed at alleviating
workers' stress. Specifically, Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP)and
training for academic staff should be designed to take care of their peculiar
tasks that 'Constitute much stressors on their job.
~1," . Balix A.GO 994). Occupational stress among University Teachers.
t' .
~.", '
~-. '. Eductuionai Research, v.36 (2), summer.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
ob Differences ill Perceived Occupationul Stress (l//wl1g -1/
University oflbadan Workers
Boyd, S; and wylie, C. (1994): Work load and stress in New Zealand
University. Ne1VZeolund council for Educational Research. Wellington: New
Zealand University Press.
Cartez, D .E. Campbell D.E (1988): Stress in work environment. An
examination of social support and hardness. Paper presented at the annual
meeting of the western Psychological Association, USA.
Dua J.K (1994). Job stressors and their Effects on physical health,
Emotional health, and Job satisfaction in aUniversity. ] ournal of Educational-
Administration. 32, J, 116-124.
Fisher S. (1994). Stress in academic life. Buckingham, SRHE & Open
University press.
. Hammond L.A (1988). Mediators of stress and Role satisfaction in
Multiple Role Women. Paper presented at theAnnual American Psychological
Association, USA.
Karazek R.A (1979). Job demands, Job decision latitudes and mental
Strain; implications for Job redesign. Administration quarterly 24,285-306.
LazarusR. (1993): Coping Theory and research: Past, present and future,
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Lazarus R.O. (1991). Psychological stress in the workplace. In P.L
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Lazarus, R.G. and Folkman (1984). Stress Appraisal and Coping. New York,
Springer.
Lazarus, R.O. (1990). Theory based StressMeasurement. Psychological
Inquiry. .
Milliliam J.M and Schnorr J.K. (1989). A comparison of work-related
stress for males and females. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
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Pearlin; L. and Schooner C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of
Health and Social Behaviour. 19,203-216.
Salami S.O. (1995). Occupational stress sources: degree and symptoms
among lecturers in Nigeria. Research in education 11.
Siegrist, J.A (1996). Adverse health effects of high-effort low-reward
conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6,],3 J -53.
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