Research pick: Positive stress leads to service success - "Emotional regulation strategies, eustress, and personal initiative-taking: evidence from frontline journalists"

A study in the International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, has looked at the effects of “positive” stress among frontline journalists. The findings suggest that this type of stress, so-called eustress, can help such workers handle the emotional challenges they face in their jobs.

Many people have pressured and stressful jobs. Indeed everyone from healthcare workers to firefighters, social workers to journalists, and most jobs in between will at one time or another describe their work as stressful. How individuals manage their emotional response to stress is critical to whether they can maintain their psychological well-being and indeed whether the stress they face can have a positive impact on their work rather than being a harmful hindrance.

Juliet E. Ikhide of the Department of Business Administration at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, Turkey and Oluwatobi A. Ogunmokun of the Rabat Business School at the International University of Rabat in Morocco surveyed frontline journalists, which they classify as service employees in the media sector, using email. The team analyzed the data using the Job Demands-Resources (J-DR) theoretical framework.

The results suggest that eustress plays a vital role in mediating the relationship between emotional regulation strategies (deep- and surface-acting) and personal initiative-taking behaviour. In other words, the work implies, by having a positive approach to stress, frontline journalists can maintain their psychological well-being and counteract the negative emotional effects that would otherwise subdue their willingness to take the initiative in their work.

This work has implications theoretical studies of mental health in the workplace and in practice. It sheds light on how organizations can promote employee well-being and productivity by showing that positive stress can help service employees better manage their emotional responses. However, the findings also highlight the need for more research into the relationship between positive stress and emotional regulation strategies.

In conclusion, the researchers suggest that their findings can offer guidance to those who employ frontline journalists. “Managers can encourage employees to face and navigate challenging situations by providing valuable support, and eliciting a positive response from them,” they explain. “They can offer constructive suggestions and develop employees’ capacity for resilience, hope, and optimism on the job.” Such measures could help service employees develop a positive response to stress, which could improve their capacity to actively observe and display personal initiative at work, the team adds.

Ikhide, J.E. and Ogunmokun, O.A. (2023) ‘Emotional regulation strategies, eustress, and personal initiative-taking: evidence from frontline journalists’, Int. J. Work Organisation and Emotion, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp.24–44.