Sunbelt XXXI International Network for Social Network ... - INSNA

Is It Just Me, Or Are You Stressed? Collective Stress And Interpersonal RelationsWaldstrøm, Christian; Kirkegaard, TanjaOrganizational NetworksIntra‐organizational Networks, Stress, Longitudinal AnalysisSAT.PM1Stress and burnout has become an increasingly significant problem for the individual, organizations and society as a whole and the economic loss due to stressrelatedabsenteeism alone are astronomical. Prior research on stress has almost exclusively focused on the individual and/or work‐related factors asexplanatory variables, but never research has drawn on areas such as social‐psychology, sociology and anthropology. This allows for a more integratedapproach highlighting the collective aspects of stress symptoms, perceived stress, and coping mechanisms. By applying social network analysis (SNA) and atheoretical contribution from the areas of communication networks and social support in the workplace we present a model for the complex interplaybetween network position and stress. One particularly interesting issue is the causality, since it can be argued convincingly that there are both effects ofnetwork position on stress levels and vice versa. Therefore we’ve designed a longitudinal case study of one large department of a Danish pharmaceuticalcompany using both a series of SNA questionnaires with a comprehensive set of stress questions and a series of interviews. Besides the purely academicinterest there are obvious managerial implications in gaining a more nuanced insight into what causes stress and how it might possibly spread or be mediatedby social factors that are at least partially within their powers to change.