Culture and Resilience at Work: A Study of Stress and Hardiness among Indian Corporate Professionals (Routledge Focus on Business and Management)

In 1979, Suzanne C. Kobasa propounded her theory of "hardiness" where she hypothesized her 3Cs: Commitment, Control, and Challenge, as the basic ingredients of hardiness that make an individual stress resilient. She was one of the early researchers who paid attention to personality features and illustrated that individuals who experience high level of stress without mental and physical illness have a different personality from those who become ill in stressful conditions. In current times, the discourse has enjoyed a sustained scholarly interest but there is hardly any study on the corporate professionals or the Indian context. Since the early 1990s, India has joined the corporate world and has been a fast-developing country. This changed state of affairs provides a broader scope of study on hardy personality in coping with stress in the Indian context. This book examines the efficacy of hardiness on the Indian corporate professionals in the post-globalization scenario. It endeavours to situate Kobasa’s foundational theorisation along with those offered by other scholars in the context of the contemporary life situations with a focus on India. It presents a hypothesis that in the Indian context, culture could be looked upon as yet another basic component of hardiness. __Culture and Resilience at Work__ offers an assessment of the significant contribution of Indian culture as one of the major contributing components in enhancing hardiness in corporate professionals. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, professionals, and students in the fields of stress management, human resource management, social psychology, culture studies, and organizational behaviour. In 1979, Suzanne C. Kobasa propounded her theory of ‘hardiness’ in which she hypothesised her 3Cs—commitment, control, and challenge—as the basic ingredients of hardiness that make an individual stress-resilient. She was one of the early researchers who paid attention to personality features and illustrated that individuals who experience high levels of stress without mental and physical illness have a different personality than do those who become ill in stressful conditions. In current times, the discourse has enjoyed a sustained scholarly interest, but there is hardly any study on corporate professionals or the Indian context. Since the early 1990s, India has joined the corporate world and has been a fast-developing country. This change in the state of affairs provides a broader scope of study on hardy personality in coping with stress in the Indian context. This book examines the efficacy of hardiness on the Indian corporate professionals in the post-globalisation scenario. It endeavours to situate Kobasa’s foundational theorisation along with those offered by other scholars in the context of contemporary life situations with a focus on India. It presents a hypothesis that in the Indian context, culture could be looked at as yet another basic component of hardiness. Culture and Resilience at Work offers an assessment of the significant contribution of Indian culture as one of the major contributing components in enhancing hardiness in corporate professionals. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, professionals, and students in the fields of stress management, human resource management, social psychology, cultural studies, and organisational behaviour. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication Page 6 Contents 8 List of Tables 11 List of Figures 13 List of Abbreviations 14 Preface 15 1 Introduction 18 1.1 Conceptual Overview 22 1.2 Theoretical Bases of Role Stress 24 1.2.1 Sources of Role Stress 24 1.2.2 Role Space Conflicts 25 1.2.3 Role Set Conflicts 26 1.3 Theoretical Roots of Hardiness 27 1.3.1 Hardiness: Trait or Type 30 1.3.2 The 3Cs of Hardiness 31 1.4 Relevance of the Study 33 1.5 Purpose of the Study 34 1.6 Major Research Issues 34 1.6.1 Limited Study on Hardiness in India 34 1.6.2 Overlooking the Importance of the Study of Hardiness on Indian Corporate Professionals 34 1.6.3 Limiting the Importance of the Effect of Gender on Hardiness 35 1.6.4 Limited Progress in Revaluating the Possibility of an Additional Trait (or Traits) to the Basic Ingredients of Hardiness 35 1.7 Objectives 36 1.8 Hypotheses of the Study 37 1.9 Research Methodology 37 1.9.1 Research Problem 38 1.9.2 Research Design 38 1.9.3 Type of Descriptive Research Method 38 1.9.4 Sample Unit 39 1.9.5 Sampling Method 39 1.9.6 Sample Size and Sample Distribution 39 1.9.7 Sources of Data 40 1.9.8 Measurement Tools Used 41 1.9.9 Tools and Techniques Used for the Study 47 1.9.10 Preliminary Reliability Analysis of the Newly Constructed Instruments in This Study 47 1.9.11 Scope and Limitations 48 References 49 2 Literature Review 54 2.1 Introduction 54 2.2 Post-1970s Stress Studies 55 2.3 Stress and Illness 56 2.4 Stress and Personality 57 2.5 Stress and Hardiness 59 2.6 Kobasa’s 3Cs of Hardiness 63 2.7 Hardiness and Culture 66 2.8 The Measurement of Hardiness 68 2.9 Hardiness and Gender 71 2.10 Hardiness and Demographic Factors 73 2.11 Conclusion 74 References 74 3 Data Analysis and Interpretation 84 3.1 Introduction 84 3.2 Sample Distribution 86 3.3 Correlation Between Hardiness, the 3Cs, and Role Stress 87 3.4 Descriptive Statistics, ANOVA, and Post Hoc ANOVA—Hardiness and Socio-Demographic Factors Across Sectors and Cities 91 3.5 Descriptive Statistics, ANOVA, and Post Hoc ANOVA of Stress With Socio-Demographic Factors—Gender, Marital Status, and Age 100 3.6 Hardiness and Its 3Cs With Culture 105 3.6.1 Regression Analysis: Impact of 3Cs on Hardiness 109 3.6.2 Regression Analysis: Impact of Culture—As Another Significant Predictor of Hardiness 112 3.7 ANOVA: Hardiness, Stress, and Culture Across Both Sectors and Cities 114 3.8 Summary of Findings 114 References 120 4 Findings and Conclusion 125 4.1 Prelude to the Study 125 4.2 Major Findings 127 4.3 Recommendations (Academic and Managerial) 130 4.3.1 Academic Recommendations 130 4.3.2 Managerial Implications 130 4.4 Scope for Future Research 131 4.5 Conclusion 131 References 132 Index 135 Employment,Rights;,Human,Resource,Management;,Organizational,Behaviour;,Leadership;,Management;,Business;,Stress,Management;,Stress,and,Gender;,Demographic,Factors;,Stress,Studies;,Hardiness;,Social,Psychology;,Corporate,Professionals;,India Employment Rights,Human Resource Management,Organizational Behaviour,Leadership,Management,Business,Stress Management,Stress and Gender,Demographic Factors,Stress Studies,Hardiness,Social Psychology,Corporate Professionals,India "In 1979, Suzanne C. Kobasa propounded her theory of "hardiness" where she hypothesized her 3Cs: Commitment, Control, and Challenge, as the basic ingredients of hardiness that make an individual stress resilient. She was one of the early researchers who paid attention to personality features and illustrated that individuals who experience high level of stress without mental and physical illness have a different personality from those who become ill in stressful conditions. In current times, the discourse has enjoyed a sustained scholarly interest but there is hardly any study on the corporate professionals or the Indian context. Since the early 1990s, India has joined the corporate world and has been a fast-developing country. This changed state of affairs provides a broader scope of study on hardy personality in coping with stress in the Indian context. This book examines the efficacy of hardiness on the Indian corporate professionals in the post-globalization scenario. It endeavours to situate Kobasa's foundational theorisation along with those offered by other scholars in the context of the contemporary life situations with a focus on India. It presents a hypothesis that in the Indian context, culture could be looked upon as yet another basic component of hardiness. Culture and Resilience at Work offers an assessment of the significant contribution of Indian culture as one of the major contributing components in enhancing hardiness in corporate professionals. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, professionals, and students in the fields of stress management, human resource management, social psychology, culture studies, and organizational behaviour"-- ǂc Provided by publisher