IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM)

e-ISSN: 2278-487X, p-ISSN: 2319-7668. Volume 19, Issue 6. Ver. III (June 2017), PP 13-17
www.iosrjournals.org

Stress Coping Mechanisms adopted by Banking Sector Employees

for Downsize the Stress: a Study
DR.R.Priya
Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, Thanthai Hans Roever College, Perambalur, Tamil
nadu, India.

Abstract: The study aims to identify the stress coping mechanisms adopted by both private and public sector
banking employees for downsize the stress. The data collected from 400 bank employees of both private and
public sector banking employees of Perambalur District, have been used to identify the stress coping
mechanisms adopted by the respondents. The factor analysis has been applied for grouping of the variables. The
findings indicate eight coping dimensions- Time management, Physical relaxation, Entertainment, Optimistic
Approach, Adequate rest, Temporary Relaxation, Diversion and Decentralization. Further the results indicate
that private and public sector banks significantly differ on coping dimensions.
Key Words: Stress- Coping mechanisms- Banking employees

I. Introduction
Coping is a concept that has been developed to reflect the various ways adopted by individuals to
handle stress. The conceptualization of coping mechanisms used by the employees is crucial for effective
management of stress which has been acknowledged as an important concern in organizational settings (Aziz,
2004; Dasgupta and Kumar, 2009; and Fernandes et al., 2009). Its importance for the management of stress
cannot be undermined as it the important factor which can make the individual’s ability to manage stress
favourably. Basically, coping has been defined as “things that people do to avoid being harmed by life-strains”
(Pearlin and Schooler, 1978) and “overt and covert behaviours that are taken to reduce or eliminate
psychological distress or stressful conditions” (Fleishman, 1984). Of the many challenges individual face,
coping with stress has assumed great importance (Pestonjee, 1992) due to the debilitating effects of stress on
employees and organisations (Allison, 1997; Arnten et al., 2008; Karatepe and Uludag, 2008; and Garrosa et al.,
2011).
With a view to comprehending coping, responses underlying coping have been examined by Moos and
Billing (1982). However, Sharma (1988) found a paucity of meaningful research on coping strategies for dealing
with stress in various different occupational groups. Specifically, there is a dearth of studies on coping strategies
adopted by the banking employees who face very busy and highly demanding work days with many issues
competing with their time. The study aims to develop an understanding of the stress coping mechanisms used by
the banking employees, and to examine whether significant exists in the coping dimensions of private and public
sector banks. First this article reviews the relevant literature and subsequently presents sampling framework and
adopted research methodology. The analysed results are presented and discussed at the end of the article.

II. Statement Of The Problem

The banking sector is one among the important sectors of a nation and certainly this sector and its
employees need to safeguard from the abnormal and unwanted stress. Because, their role is continuously as well
as constantly required to a nation for its constant growth and development. Likewise the banking sector has to
concentrate more on designing of suitable stress coping mechanisms for off-load the unwanted stress of their
employees to ensure the better performance. So, the above said reasons are motivated the authors to concentrate
on this issue to conduct a research. Hence many factors influence the stress among the employee’s of both
private and public banking sector to overcome from the stress the banking employee’s are adopting many useful
as well as innovative stress coping mechanisms. The researcher is basically indented to know their stress coping
mechanisms and their strengths and weaknesses.

III. Review Of Literature

Stress coping mechanism is a kind of device or components used by the individuals to off-load or
downsize the volume of stress in their life. All of us know that, an optimum amount of stress is compulsorily
required to keep-up our performance. Otherwise if there is no amount of stress, ultimately we will be looking as
an ideal. At the same time if there is an abnormal stress certainly it will spoil the performance of an individual
and lead to stress. So, to overcome from the abnormal as well as unwanted stress an individual can identity and
display his or her own stress coping mechanism based on his or her nature of job. The following literatures will
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 Stress Coping Mechanisms adopted by Banking Sector Employees for Downsize the Stress: A Study

describe the various types of stress coping mechanisms and their role to off-load the stress.
Oke and Patrick Dawson (2008) opined that, employee experience of stress reflects both individual
characteristics as well as more collective qualities that are shaped by contextual factors. They have concluded
that too much of emphasis is placed on individual-based program for managing stress and that more attention
needs to be given to broader contextual issues in managing the conditions in which workplace stress is
experienced. Purushothaman, et al (2012) proof that, the emotional intelligence competencies have positive and
strong impact on reducing stress. It is decided that more than 80 percentage employees of banking sector
experience stress on a daily basis and expect the management to support to reduce the volume of stress. It
concludes that the highly emotional intelligence managers can control the level of stress among employees
better and vice-versa. Catherine (2013) examined that, Emotional Intelligence (EI), perceived leadership style
and job characteristics significantly and jointly predicted stress, in addition, those with high emotional
intelligence reported lower stress experience compared with those with low level of emotional intelligence. This
lies in the identification of the factors that are central to a person controlling his or her stress and suggesting
strategies to promote the stress reduction process.
Arti Devi (2012) aimed to identify the coping strategies used for managing role stress at commercial
banks. The results have indicated that the public and private sector commercial banks do not significantly differ
on coping dimensions. Ajay kumar Singh and Nidhidewan (2006) have found that, there is no significant
difference between both private and public banks for using coping mechanisms. An effort should be made to
have a friendly climate with appropriate physical working condition. The relevance for the development of
platforms to intensify communication throughout the workplace is essential which would not only reduce role
ambiguity at work but also helps employees prioritize the tasks for better management of work leading to stress
free environment and friendly organizational climate. Michie (2012) said that the training helps to prevent stress
through becoming aware of the signs of stress. A wide variety of training courses may help in developing active
coping techniques-for example, assertiveness, communications skills, time management, problem solving and
effective management. Yahaya et.al (1996) concluded that, male and female, married and unmarried respondents
were significantly different in their coping strategies.

IV. Research Methodology

The study has been descriptive in nature. The study is based on both primary and secondary data. There
are 10 public sector banks and 9 private sector banks in Perambalur district. The researcher has focused on all
public sector banks and private sector banks of Perambalur district for the purpose of the study. A sample size of
400 respondents was randomly taken for this study. 5 point Likert scale was used for the collection of data.
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze and interpret the data.

Factor Analytical Approach

With a view to studying the coping strategies used by the employees of banks in the private and public
sector, the responses of respondents have been examined with help of factor analysis. Initially, tests to check the
adequacy of the data for the application of factor analysis were conducted. The value of the Kaiser- Meyer- Okin
(KMO) measure of sampling adequacy statistic was found to be 0.669, which is adequately large. Moreover, the
correlation matrix reveals that there is enough correlation for the application of factor analysis. Besides, the
Bartlett’s test of sphericity value was found that to be 3094.46, which is also significant at 5 percent level.

Table 1 - Total Variance Explained – stress coping mechanisms

Component Initial Eigen values Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
Total % of Cumulative Total % of Cumulative
Variance % Variance %
1 4.418 16.992 16.992 3.203 12.321 12.321
2 2.506 9.638 26.630 2.368 9.107 21.428
3 2.270 8.732 35.361 2.118 8.148 29.575
4 1.814 6.977 42.339 2.038 7.838 37.414
5 1.658 6.378 48.717 1.890 7.269 44.683
6 1.357 5.218 53.935 1.834 7.055 51.738
7 1.195 4.597 58.532 1.555 5.982 57.720
8 1.118 4.299 62.831 1.329 5.111 62.831
9 .962 3.700 66.530
10 .942 3.623 70.154
11 .819 3.150 73.304
12 .707 2.718 76.022
13 .696 2.677 78.699
14 .665 2.557 81.256
15 .627 2.410 83.666
16 .598 2.301 85.967

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 Stress Coping Mechanisms adopted by Banking Sector Employees for Downsize the Stress: A Study
17 .520 2.000 87.967
18 .496 1.908 89.875
19 .447 1.720 91.596
20 .387 1.490 93.085
21 .365 1.404 94.489
22 .348 1.339 95.828
23 .326 1.255 97.083
24 .296 1.138 98.221
25 .272 1.045 99.265
26 .191 .735 100.000
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

From the above table, it is found that twenty six variables are reduced into eight predominant
factors with individual variances 12.321, 9.107, 8.148, 7.838, 7.269, 7.055, 5.982 and 5.111 and the total
variance 62.831%. This shows that the twenty six variables of stress coping mechanisms factors are reduced into
eight predominant factors to represent their respective underlying variables. The following information clearly
explains the variable loadings in each factor.

Table 2, Rotated Component Matrix

Dimensions Coping Mechanisms Component
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time Manage time. .783
Management Adequate role .732
Clarification
Quit the job. .685
Set goals daily and .624
prioritize the work.
Prepare an action plan .622
for the work.
Seek professional help .575
Physical Engage physical exercises .814
Relaxation Engage in a hobby like .800
reading, painting, etc.
Indulge in meditation or yoga
Entertainment Leave the tension at work. .768
Take Coffee, tea, etc. .729
Use entertainment sources .621
like TV, music.
Optimistic Impart counseling .752
Approach Try to look at things .557
differently.
Take planned break .551
from work
Sleep more. -.476
Adequate Grievance handling .777
Rest Procedure
Talk with friends/ family. .772
Stress audit.
Temporary Smoke/ drink alcohol .798
Relaxation Day dream. .609
Complaint. .448
Diversion Delegate responsibility .645
instead of carrying it alone
Redesign jobs .607
Write stress diary. .479
Decentralizati Open channel of -.706
on communication

The above table depicts that the name factors with constituting variables and their respective factors
loadings are summarized. The respective factors loadings represent the relationship between the original
variable and its factor. The results, therefore, indicate that Time Management, Physical Relaxation,
Entertainment, Optimistic Approach, Adequate rest, Temporary Relaxation, Diversion and Decentralization are
the eight coping dimensions used by the banking employees.

A comparison of Stress Coping Mechanisms adopted by the Private and Public sector Banking employees.
An attempt has been made throw light on the significance differences in the coping strategies across
private and public sector banks. The null hypothesis is:

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 Stress Coping Mechanisms adopted by Banking Sector Employees for Downsize the Stress: A Study

Ho: There is no significant differences in the coping mechanisms adopted by the employees of private and
public sector banks.
The following table depicts that, a comparative profile of coping mechanisms as used by the employees of
private and public sector banks. In addition, results of analysis shows that the of variance for sector differences.

Table 3- A comparison of coping mechanisms in Private and Public sector Banks

Coping Mechanisms Public Private t-value
Mean Std.Deviation Mean Std.Deviation
Time Management 2.396 0.957 3.851 1.066 -14.488
Physical Relaxation 2.875 1.562 3.225 1.280 -2.421
Entertainment 3.703 1.321 3.576 1.277 1.012
Optimistic Approach 3.307 1.357 3.207 1.336 0.665
Adequate Rest 3.615 1.133 3.845 1.224 -2.208
Temporary Relaxation 2.343 1.309 2.213 1.241 1.06
Diversion 2.716 1.051 2.98 1.303 -1.999
Decentralization 3.54 2.207 3.97 3.159 -1.578

The results brings into light that in order to compare the coping mechanisms of the private sector
banks in comparison to those public sector banks on the usage of more Time management coping strategy.
Strategies like Manage time, Adequate role clarification, quit the job, set the goals daily prioritize the work,
prepare an action plan for the work and seek professional help. However, private sector employees have been
found to rely engage physical exercise and engage in a hobby like reading, paining, etc to relax and burn the
extra energy induced by stress in comparison to the public sector employees.
Conversely, employees of the public sector in comparison to that private sector use more of
Entertainment coping strategy. One more dimensions of coping with stress, optimistic approach was also found
to be applied more in public sector banks as compared to the private sector banks. Employees of the private
sector banks in comparison to that public sector use more of adequate rest dimensions coping mechanisms.
Temporary relaxation mainly used by public sector banking employees to compare the private sector banking
employees. Conversely, Diversion coping, which reflects the employee tendency to combat stress by diverting
the mind off the problem and focusing on other pursuits, delegate responsibility instead of carrying it alone,
redesign jobs and write stress diary is more resorted to by the private sector employees as compared to their
counterparts. On the same lines, decentralization coping mechanism also highly used by the private sector
employees as compared to their counterparts. An important point to note is of the above relationships has been
found to be statistically significant, which indicates some considerable differences in the uses of coping
strategies to battle stress at public and private sector banks. So null hypothesis is rejected, and revealed that
there is significant difference in coping dimensions of public and private sector banks.

V. Conclusion
From the responses to the coping mechanisms, it can be seen that employees of the public and private
banks attempt to manage stress adopting and applying various coping mechanisms. Employees tend to cope by
using Time management, Physical relaxation, Entertainment, Optimistic Approach, Adequate rest, Temporary
Relaxation, Diversion, Decentralization. Also, it is revealed that, there is significant difference in coping
dimensions of public and private sector banks. The results indicated that the private sector bank employees show
keen interest in time management, temporary relaxation and decentralisation to reduce stress than public sector
bank employees. The public sector bank employees adopt stress coping dimensions like adequate rest,
entertainment and physical relaxation. Further it is found that, both the private and public sector employees
disagree with adopting optimistic approach and diversion.

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