Personality, Coping with Work Stress and Gender Differences on Reported Physical Health Symptoms and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

Work stress has increasingly gained prominence as a global concern that resonates with mental health issues. At issue are the  organisation-related stressors that need to be profiled to come up with a bespoke employee assistance programme. Employee assistance  programmes include empowering employees to use coping strategies to realise better outcomes in the stressmental health  relationship. However, personality as currently studied using the five factor model recognises that individuals are different. On this basis,  it is important to factor personality in stress management programmes. This study was carried out in Harare’s financial services sector in  2021. It was found that there were statistically significant correlations between emotional stability, mental and physical health outcomes,  namely depressive symptoms, general satisfaction with life and somatisation. It was also noted that both males and females had similar  perceptions of work stressors with differences observed on job role clarity and job control. Women were also more likely to resort to  emotion-focused coping. Regression analysis using a quadratic equation was run as the data were not normally distributed, and  emotional stability was found to be predictive of somatisation (p<.05). The findings have implications for stress management, recruitment  and selection. For many jobs in the financial services sector, it is important to consider emotional stability as this personality domain has implications for bespoke stress management programmes that could be designed to address stressors in the workplace.  Organisations need to appreciate the diverse needs of individuals and come up with interventions that address both the sources of stress  and the individual differences in stress responses. Fostering a supportive work environment, providing training and resources are  crucial initiatives to managing stress in workplaces.