A Literature Review On Occupational Stress Among Security Guards

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The Pharma Innovation Journal 2022; SP-11(4): 117-121

ISSN (E): 2277- 7695


ISSN (P): 2349-8242
NAAS Rating: 5.23 A literature review on occupational stress among
TPI 2022; SP-11(4): 117-121
© 2022 TPI security guards
www.thepharmajournal.com
Received: 25-02-2022
Accepted: 27-03-2022 Khushaboo and Manju Mehta
Khushaboo
Department of Family Resource Abstract
Management, I.C. College of Modern society and the business world have become increasingly competitive, and everyone is under
Home Science, CCS Haryana stress. "Stress is the force, pressure, or force exerted on a material, object, or person that resists these
Agricultural University, Hisar, forces and attempts to sustain its unique state," according to [40]. Stress is the physical and mental reaction
Haryana, India of the human body to changes, situations, and events in their lives. Occupational stress is defined as the
dangerous physical and emotional reactions that occur when a worker's capabilities, resources, or
Manju Mehta
necessities do not match the job's requirements. Occupational stress not only adds to life's stresses, but it
Department of Family Resource
also has an effect on security guards' health. There is a lot of literature available on stress and job
Management, I.C. College of
Home Science, CCS Haryana performance. An overview of the entire writing is neither feasible nor appealing. In this way, only the
Agricultural University, Hisar, most important works have been audited. Such a writing survey consistently aids the researcher in
Haryana, India obtaining a review of the topic under investigation. As a result, the term related Stress and its impact on
job performance are investigated.

Keywords: Stress, job performance, occupational stress, security guards

Introduction
Stress is a physical or emotional reaction that is always present in all people as a result of their
existence on this planet. It is the result of an irrational response to internal or external
environmental changes or danger. Stress is the black plague of the 1980s, wreaking havoc on
individual health, workplace productivity, and societal well-being. From an artist to a surgeon,
or a commercial pilot to a sales executive, stress has become a common factor in almost every
profession. Job stress has a negative impact on one's health and performance. [7, 8]
According to Van Wyk, the word "stress" comes from the Latin word "strictus," which means
"tightly strung" [33]. People experience pressures in their own lives, which can be defined as
stress. Workplace stress is defined as a reluctance to come to work and a constant feeling of
pressure, as well as general physiological, psychological, and behavioral stress symptoms. As
a result, stress is defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the
job requirements do not match the worker's capabilities, resources, or needs, and he/she stated
that job stress can lead to poor health and even injury [21]. Many experts believe there is a
distinction between what we perceive as positive stress and what we perceive as negative
stress. However, we frequently use the term "stress" to refer to negative situations. Many
people mistakenly believe that all stress is bad for us, which is not the case [46].
Stress, according to Selye, is "the body's nonspecific response to any demand" [40]. Stress is
then defined as a set of symptoms that are "non-specific" in that they follow the same pattern
regardless of the stressor. Indeed, stress has been linked to a variety of symptoms ranging from
physiological reactions to psychological and behavioural consequences:
 Anxiety, depression, job dissatisfaction, emotional exhaustion, fatigue, boredom, reduced
organisational commitment;
 Lower job performance, turnover, absenteeism, substance abuse.

Occupational Stress
When there is an imbalance between the demands of the workplace and an individual's ability
Corresponding Author to carry out and complete the organizational demand, occupational stress occurs. A stressor
Khushaboo can often cause a physiological disturbance in the body, putting a person's physical and mental
Department of Family Resource well-being under strain [20]. Occupational stress is a harmful physical and emotional response
Management, I.C. College of
that occurs when a worker's capabilities, resources, or needs do not match the job's
Home Science, CCS Haryana
Agricultural University, Hisar, requirements [32, 4]. Investigated stress management and employee well-being and their impact
Haryana, India on performance. Frustration, poor psychological well-being, and fear of job security all
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contribute to stress, according to the study. Occupational occupational stress, according to the author.
[14]
stress is a term used to describe negative physical and Evaluated and compared job stress among security
psychological reactions that occur in the workplace or within workers with fixed and shift work schedules. According to
an organization as a result of a misalignment between an this study, stress levels decreased as people got older. Work
individual's ability or desire and job-related tasks or shift played a significant role in the amount of stress
environmental factors. Job conditions are the primary cause of experienced. As a result, night-shift workers had the lowest
occupational stress, according to the National Institute of stress levels, while day-shift workers had the highest stress
Occupational Safety and Health. Excessive job load, role levels, and the 24-24 group was in the middle.
[47]
conflict, role uncertainty, perception, failure to receive Studied occupational stress among male and female
promotion due to prejudgment, inadequate social networks, security guards in Lucknow. The author concluded that the
lack of job control, role large quantity, and lack of job of a security guard is extremely difficult. Security guards
challenging affinities are among the nine causes of are under a lot of stress and are disappointed with their jobs
occupational stress identified by [19]. and wage. Security guards are constantly on the job for long
Luthans defines stress as a reaction to a condition that is periods of time and are dissatisfied with their pay. In
determined by individual differences and psychological comparison to male security guards, female security guards
measures, as a result of the environment's action, a situation, have a higher level of occupational stress.
[27]
or an event that places an excessive demand on one's Conducted a review of the literature on employee work
psychological and physical domain [28]. stress. Individuals and organizations alike can suffer from
Occupational stress is stress that is caused by a job or stress, which can make it difficult to achieve their objectives.
occupation. Stress is a universal phenomenon that causes When you have a negative perspective on a situation, you are
intense and distressing experiences when it is in excess. more likely to feel distressed, such as overwhelmed,
Occupational stress is defined as a situation in which work- oppressed, or out of control. The more common form of stress
related factors interact with an employee to disrupt or enhance is distress. The other type, Eustress, is caused by a "positive"
his or her psychological and/or physiological conditions, perspective of an event or situation, which is why it's also
forcing the person to deviate from normal functioning. known as "good stress." Your body's reaction to change is
Occupational stress is defined in terms of the interaction stress.
[3]
between a person and his surroundings. When a person Investigated that measurement of occupational stress
perceives an environmental situation as posing a demand that among Management Information Systems (MIS) Users in
threatens to exceed his or her capabilities and resources for different banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The findings of
meeting it, stress is a possibility. Every job entails some level this study can be used to improve sources of occupational
of stress, which varies in intensity [11]. stress and, more importantly, to prevent severe stress and it
Security guards provide assistance with a variety of tasks. was suggested that such findings be taken into account when
Guards may be expected to maintain order and detain criminal delivering stress management programs.
[34]
violators while assigned to a single property or placed on studied the factors of vulnerability to stress in Brazilian
patrol for multiple sites or territories in the course of their security guards employed by a private company were
duties in various work settings. To put it another way, a evaluated and correlated with socio demographic parameters.
security guard may come across a wide range of situations, According to this study, the risk of stress in this case was
locations, and behaviors. With such a high level of extremely low. It is assumed that no vulnerabilities were
responsibility and important responsibilities, it's critical that discovered as a result of the personnel management policies
security guards are mentally and behaviorally healthy and in place, which aim to identify adequate psychological
safe. One of the fastest growing occupations in the world is profiles for the specific organizational culture and work
security guard. A security guard is a privately employed, environment early in the selection process.
[2]
usually uniformed individual who is hired or paid to protect a Have identified the types of mental health problem and
defined area of property and people through various direct aggression among security guards. The findings revealed that
and indirect methods. The range of duties includes checking, the security guards suffered from four types of mental health
guiding, maintaining, and utmost importantly, preventing issues: substance abuse, antisocial personality disorder,
crimes. One of the occupations with a high risk of being borderline personality disorder, and depression. These
involved in workplace incidents such as violence and crime is findings suggest that people who work as security guards
security guard. Workplace needs for public interaction, as while suffering from mental health issues may not be
well as working patterns such as shift working hours and completely safe. The findings suggest that security guards
solitary work, all contribute to an increased risk of workplace should be assessed for mental health problems during their
incident. In addition, the presence of other risk factors may enrolment or while performing daily duties in order to ensure
increase the likelihood of an incident occurring. Occupational a healthy and safe workplace environment for both the
stress is regarded as a challenge for employers, and because employer and the general public.
[16]
high levels of stress result in low productivity and other Identified various types of stress in the labor force and
employee issues, managers must find a way to address the among executives, and BHEL was chosen to conduct a study
issue [15]. on employee stress management. In this study, 54 percent of
[43]
Investigated that when job demands and capabilities are employees were aware that they were under stress. The author
out of balance, occupational stress develops. As a security suggests that the management should organise more stress-
guard, the subject is exposed to potentially dangerous relieving programs, such as yoga and meditation.
[36]
situations. Security guards work in an environment where Studied that occupational stress arises due to the demands
they must deal with lawbreakers as well as violence, so they of the environment and different responses each individual
are more likely to be exposed to traumatic events. The has in facing the demands. Stress is a condition in which
majority of security guards had a moderate level of individuals are uncovered to opportunities, hurdles and

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desires, and though the results achieved are extremely main, Job performance, according to [39], is divided into four
they cannot be ascertained. categories: general performance, human performance,
technical performance, and administrative performance. Job
Job Performance performance, according to [37], is the result of three factors
Employee job performance is a critical issue for any working together: skill, effort, and the nature of work
organization, and it refers to whether or not an employee does conditions. Employees' skills include their knowledge,
his or her job well. Job performance refers to the actions that abilities, and competencies; effort refers to how motivated
employees take in the workplace that are related to the they are to finish the job; and the nature of work conditions
organization's objectives [13]. Job performance, according to refers to how accommodating these conditions are in
[29]
, is based on employee behavior, and the outcome is critical facilitating their performance.
to the organization's success [30]. Defined job performance as In their study on the impact of stress on teaching faculty
the sum of an employee's actions. He went on to say that it performance, [41] discovered a negative relationship between
can be tracked, measured, and evaluated as outcomes at the organizational structure and employee efficiency, whereas
employee level, and that it can be linked to organizational rewards were found to be positively correlated with employee
goals. As a result, job performance is a critical factor in efficiency, as expected. [2] discovered a negative relationship
determining organizational success. between stress and job performance, i.e., as stress increases,
Job performance is a means of attaining a goal or set of goals job performance decreases and vice versa. Workload, role
within a job, role, or organization [12], but it is not the real conflict, and insufficient monitory reward, according to [5] are
outcome of the acts performed within the job. According to the primary causes of employee stress, which leads to
[12]
, job performance is a "complex activity" rather than only decreased employee efficiency. In a study of job stress and
action. Job performance is strictly a behavior that is distinct job performance among public sector employees, [48]
from the job's outcomes, which are related to success and discovered a negative relationship between job stress and job
productivity. The job performance index evaluates an performance. Employees' general physical health, job
employee's performance on the job [35]. Employee skills, satisfaction and performance, as well as their commitment,
initiative [17] and assertiveness [31] are all factors to consider. are all negatively affected by job stressors [1].
[24]
The job performance of employees is assessed in this study Found that teachers who reported higher levels of stress
using five key factors: managerial skills, technical skills, were less satisfied with their jobs, reported more absences and
flexibility, personal skills, assertiveness, and initiative. total days absent, were more likely to leave teaching (career
According to Abu Al-research, Rub's there is a curvilinear (U- intentions), and were less likely to return to teaching (career
shaped) relationship between job stress and job performance: commitment).
nurses who reported moderate levels of job stress and Employee commitment has a positive impact on the growth
believed they performed their jobs poorly performed their and succession of small and medium-sized businesses,
jobs less well than nurses who reported low or high levels of according to [18], but high levels of stress have a negative
job stress. Between managers and blue-collar workers, Jamal impact on commitment and productivity [23, 45]. In the studies
investigated the relationship between job stress and job by [42, 10, 9, 6], the work pressure has both direct and indirect
performance. Individuals' reactions to work environment impact on the productivity through the work satisfaction of
characteristics that appear threatening are defined as job workers. Most of the studies claimed that the more work
stress. Between job stress and performance, four types of pressure occurs, the more job performance decreases. In the
relationships have been proposed: studies by [10, 9, 6] the work pressure has both direct and
1. Curvilinear/U-shaped, indirect impact on the productivity through the work
2. Negative linear, satisfaction of workers. Most of the studies demanded that the
3. Positive linear, and more work pressure occurs, the more job performance
4. No relationship between the stress and performance. declines.
According to [22], employees in service organizations are
Job performance is determined by the interaction of three subjected to a high level of work-related stress, which is the
factors: skill, effort, and the nature of the work environment. primary cause of poor job performance. Job stress has a
The nature of work situations is the degree of accommodation negative impact on the well-being of female employees,
of these situations in facilitating the employee's productivity. resulting in dissatisfaction and negative emotions toward
Skills are the knowledge, abilities, and competencies that the work, and, as a result, their performance suffers.
employee brings to the job; effort is the degree of motivation
that the employee puts forth toward getting the job complete; Conclusion
and the nature of work circumstances is the degree of Occupational stress has become a critical factor in the global
accommodation of these conditions in assisting the economy as countries compete to overcome economic crises.
employee's productivity. Occupational stress has become a major issue around which
the achievement of organizational goals revolves.
Impact of occupational stress and job performance Occupational role stress is a topic that has affected every
The majority of the articles reviewed by this researcher employed person in a variety of industries, whether in a
mentioned the impact of stress, but many of them only positive or negative way. The analysis of the literature on
discussed the impact of stress on specific aspects or occupational stress and job performance revealed that there is
dimensions of the occupation, indicating that the researcher no agreement among researchers on the parameters of job
has however to come across any item or report that takes a performance, regardless of whether it is in the public sector or
comprehensive method to the subject. As a result, it's critical in a public bank. Some researchers believe that job
to understand what constitutes job performance, as well as the performance is influenced by three factors: skill, effort, and
various aspects of a job that are likely to be affected by stress. the nature of work conditions, but these factors are not

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