ROT374

A Theory of
WORKPLACE
ANXIETY
Anxiety at work is fuelled by both individual and job characteristics.
re not all negative.
by Bonnie Hayden Cheng and Julie M. McCarthy

W.H. Auden won the Pulitzer Prize for a These individuals constantly scan the environment for
book- length poem titled ‘The Age of Anxiety’. Little signs of threat, making them prone to heightened
did he know how pervasive anxiety would become in distractibility.
the next century. This topic has never resonated However, the research also presents an
more strongly with respect to the work- interesting puzzle:

uneasiness and tension about job-related

performance’ — is
-
tors, and therefore it appears at both dispositional and
situation- al levels.
Research indicates that 40 per cent of Americans
report feel- ing anxious during the work day, and 72
per cent of people who experience daily anxiety report
that it interferes with their work and personal lives.
These statistics raise serious concerns, as gen- eral
levels of workplace anxiety have substantial
implications for employees and organizations in terms
of lower levels of job per-

in anxiety are also a concern, as they can lead to

higher levels of counterproductive behaviour and
turnover.
To date, the literature on anxiety has focused on its
dark side, showing that anxious individuals possess
‘cognitive schemas’
On the one hand, it shows that anxiety can conjure up levels of such anxiety vary between individuals.
Employees who experience anxiety across situations
distressing other, it shows that anxiety can also drive are more likely to view situations as threatening and, as
such, dispositional anxiety is more likely to play a pivotal
actions and have posi- role with respect to long-term outcomes such as health
and well-being, job performance and productivity.
Situational workplace anxiety, on the other hand,
the dark and bright sides of anxiety at work. is a tem- porary state of nervousness, uneasiness and
tension about a par- ticular task or activity. There can
The Roots of Our Theory be several such episodes within a given work day,
Two key types of anxiety are of particular interest in a such as when meeting an important deadline or
workplace setting: ‘dispositional anxiety’ and receiving an unexpected meeting request from a
‘situational anxiety.’ Dispo- sitional workplace anxiety supervisor. As with dispositional anxiety, these
manifests itself in general feelings of nervousness, situational episodes can
uneasiness and tension about one’s job performance, and
 72 per cent of people who experience daily
anxiety report that it interferes with their work
and personal lives.

Given the performance implications of both types factors such as genetic predispositions, physiological reactivity
of anxi- ety, our Theory of Workplace Anxiety is and hormonal influences may predispose women to experience
divided into two levels of analysis: Relations between higher levels of anxiety across diferent contexts. Second,
workplace anxiety and job perfor- mance at a evolutionary factors such as the need for women to nurture
dispositional level; and relations between workplace their family may also contribute to increased levels of anxiety
anxiety and job performance at a situational level. in the face of threat. Finally, histori- cal and cultural
Importantly, we make a distinction between typical conditions faced by women may lead to height-
and epi- sodic performance. ‘Typical performance’ refers
to routine tasks on a day-in, day-out basis and entails
carrying out multiple tasks over an extended period of
time. These tasks often become ha- bitual and require
employees to draw on various cognitive and personal
resources such as attention, efort and persistence. In
contrast, ‘episodic performance’ represents task
performance over short periods of time and demands
an individual’s undi- vided attention for a relatively
short duration. Examples might include facilitating a
meeting, giving an important presentation or solving a
technical problem.
We will now take a deeper dive into dispositional
and situ- ational anxiety and their positive and
negative efects.

Dispositional Anxiety
Research indicates that there are three key
determinants of dispositional workplace anxiety.

DEMOGRAPHICS. The core demographics related to

workplace anx- iety are gender, age and job tenure. In
terms of gender, research consistently reports higher
levels of anxiety among women than men. Women also
have reported higher levels of anxiety in par- ticular
work contexts, such as prior to contract negotiations
and during job interviews.
There are a number of reasons why women
experience higher levels of anxiety. First, biological
This document is modified by Dr. Mohsin Kazmi Assistant Professor Sukkur IBA University to facilitate the discussion
@ Workshop on Anxiety & Stress Management for Sukkur IBA University Faculty and Staff
ened workplace anxiety. In fact, the increase
of women in the workplace since the 1960s has
been identified as one of the most important
societal trends afecting stress research.
Women have faced discrimination at work
since their entry into the workforce, which has
led to wage disparity, low-level jobs, glass
ceilings and higher levels of anxiety. Women
also face inequitable family demands, as they
are often expected to meet the majority of
family obligations while balancing their
careers. In turn, the struggle to balance work
and family roles has been consistently
associated with heightened anxiety.
An employee’s age and job tenure also play
important roles in workplace anxiety: Older
and more experienced workers are likely to
exhibit lower levels of anxiety. Employees
become adap- tive and proficient in their work
as their tenure and experience increases. Also,
research has demonstrated a positive relation-
ship between organizational tenure and
performance. Over time, challenging tasks
become routinized and employee-based
uncertainty is reduced, lowering anxiety.

SELF-EVALUATIONS. The appraisal of one’s own

worth is another core determinant of
workplace anxiety. Core self-evaluations
include self-esteem, self-efficacy, emotional
stability and sense of control. Employees with
high core self evaluations tend to perceive
themselves in a positive manner and assess
themselves as ‘capable’, ‘worthy’ and ‘in
control’. This provides the strength and
stability to feel less overwhelmed and to meet
corporate challenges.
In contrast, employees with low core self-
evaluations are more likely to internalize their
experiences and attribute failure to their
inabilities, thus elevating anxiety. Empirical
evidence supports these propositions, such
that low self-esteem has been found to relate
to high anxiety levels. Similarly, self-efficacy
has been found to be negatively related to
general anxiety levels and when low, to predict
the onset of anxiety disorders. Considerable
evidence also suggests that the external locus
of control — the belief that important
outcomes are uncontrollable — often pro-
ceeds dispositional anxiety.

This document is modified by Dr. Mohsin Kazmi Assistant Professor Sukkur IBA University to facilitate the discussion
@ Workshop on Anxiety & Stress Management for Sukkur IBA University Faculty and Staff
PHYSICAL HEALTH. Workers with high levels of physical delegate behaviours and actions to meet desired
well-being are likely to exhibit lower levels of outcomes. Moderate levels of anxi- ety should lead to the
workplace anxiety. Indeed, physical fitness and highest levels of reflective processing be- cause
exercise have been found to improve self- concept and individuals at this level have the optimal amount of arousal
mood, stimulate positive afect and protect against to monitor their progress towards completion of the task.
major illnesses. Relatedly, research has found that At low levels of anxiety, individuals lack the arousal
poor physical health is related to higher levels of necessary to do this; while at high levels of anxiety,
anxiety and that exercise is an efective method for extreme levels of arousal make it impossible to monitor
reducing anxiety. task progress.
As indicated, dispositional workplace anxiety
represents a chronic experience of workplace anxiety.
Given the longer term nature of this form of anxiety, it
is likely to have a stronger impact on typical job
performance than situational anxiety.
Given that ‘typical’ job performance entails the
sustained execution of daily tasks and requires efort,
the long-term nature of dispositional workplace
anxiety reduces employee motivation to perform
efectively, distances employees from their work and
subsequently lowers performance.

The Upside of Dispositional Anxiety: On the bright

side, anxiety can signal to an individual when a
discrepancy exists between desired and actual progress
towards task completion
— and this can lead to greater efort and an increase in
task en- gagement. In general, dispositional anxiety is
likely to facilitate typical performance by encouraging
a slower, more reflective and unemotional self-
regulatory system that searches carefully for
information, deliberates on decisions and anticipates
con- sequences of actions before acting. This allows
employees who experience chronic levels of workplace
anxiety to plan for and strategize goal-oriented
behaviours and actions.
As a result, employees with dispositional anxiety
are more likely to commit to goal achievement and
This document is modified by Dr. Mohsin Kazmi Assistant Professor Sukkur IBA University to facilitate the discussion
@ Workshop on Anxiety & Stress Management for Sukkur IBA University Faculty and Staff
Situational Anxiety
Four situational characteristics are key
determinants of this form of workplace anxiety:

EMOTIONAL LABOUR DEMANDS. The ‘emotional labour’

required for a task is a direct determinant of
situational anxiety. For example, the demand for
‘service with a smile’ may be particularly ex-
hausting in hectic jobs with a high turnover of
customers, which would lead to higher levels of
experienced anxiety.
The acceptance of facial displays of anxiety
difers accord- ing to the task. For example,
conducting an audit or working in emergency
medical situations may entail ‘display rules’ that
sup- port anxiety, because in such cases,
hypervigilance is rewarded. In contrast, giving a
speech that requires confidence or serving
customers does not carry display rules that support
anxiety. In general, high situational anxiety is likely
to manifest in tasks re- quiring high emotional
labour demands.

TASK DEMANDS. Stressors such as deadlines, task

difficulty and task ambiguity also contribute to
workplace anxiety. There is also evidence that
employees tend to overestimate the negative
impact of task demands to themselves as compared
with others. Given that situational workplace
anxiety is a function of indi- vidual cognition, high-
task demands (i.e. a high workload) will increase
short-term feelings of anxiety.

JOB CHARACTERISTICS. In particular, job type, job

demands and job autonomy are most directly linked
to situational workplace anxi- ety. The first job
characteristic, job type, is likely to trigger high
levels of workplace anxiety, as fast-paced and
competitive corpo- rate environments have been
found to foster high-stress cultures. Stressful work
environments are characterized by unpredictabil-
ity, ambiguity and uncontrollability, all of which
contribute to the experience of anxiety.
The second characteristic, job demands, is
defined as psy- chological, social, physical and/or
organizational characteristics that exert frequent
pressure on employees. Examples include

This document is modified by Dr. Mohsin Kazmi Assistant Professor Sukkur IBA University to facilitate the discussion
@ Workshop on Anxiety & Stress Management for Sukkur IBA University Faculty and Staff
 Theory of Workplace Anxiety (TWA)

• Ability
Between-Person
Dispositional • Motivation
(Trait-Based)
•El

Emotional
Exhaustion
Employee Job Performance
(Typical)
Dispositional Characteristics Anxiety
Demographics, (individual differences U
Core Self-Evaluation in anxiety; trait-like) Reflective Self-
Regulatory
Processing

Within-Person
Situational (State-Based) Specific Performance
Episodes

Cognitive
Situational Characteristics Situational Interference Job Performance
Emotional Labour Demands, Anxiety U (Episodic)
Task Demands, (Transient feeling
of Organizational Demands anxiety;
affect;
U
state-like) Reflexive
Self-
Regulator
y
Job Characteristics Processing
Job Type, • Ability
Job Demands, • Motivation
Job Autonomy • El
FIGURE ONE

impending deadlines, high workloads and role conflict. represents a temporary emotional state. When employees
Job de- mands have been found to be significantly feel high levels of situation-based anxiety, it is difficult for
related to situational anxiety in a number of field them to focus on the task at hand, leading to subsequent
studies, including daily diary studies. The third performance issues. They may experience thoughts that are
characteristic is perceived autonomy, which re- self-deprecating, self preoccupying, or insecure in nature. This
flects the extent to which employees feel they have intrusive thinking prevents full concentration on work tasks
control over how to accomplish their work as it relates and causes cognitive overload and mental distraction. In turn,
to tasks, decisions and use of resources. A wide body this interferes with the
of research indicates that employ- ees who feel they
have low levels of control have a tendency to
experience higher levels of anxiety. For example, job
autonomy
has been found to lead to job anxiety in call centre
employees.
As indicated, situational workplace anxiety
This document is modified by Dr. Mohsin Kazmi Assistant Professor Sukkur IBA University to facilitate the discussion
@ Workshop on Anxiety & Stress Management for Sukkur IBA University Faculty and Staff
mental processes required of performing a
task, leading to fewer resources for task
completion, which decreases performance.

The Upside of Situational Anxiety: As

indicated, elevated lev- els of situational
workplace anxiety are accompanied by a cor-
responding elevation in arousal, which can
propel workers to facilitate task completion by
promoting behaviours that help them monitor
their progress on the specific task at hand.
Specifi- cally, employees direct more resources
to supervising their prog- ress during task
performance, and this self-evaluation serves as
a ‘cross-check’, comparing current states with
ideal future goal states. Importantly, feelings
of anxiety during specific perfor- mance
episodes (e.g. making an important
presentation to a cli- ent) are likely to trigger
the lower-order self-regulatory system that is
intuitive and emotional, as this system
responds to emo- tions such as anxiety that
arise based on situational cues.
Inducing arousal in threatening situations
has been found to lead to higher levels of task
performance in specific activities

This document is modified by Dr. Mohsin Kazmi Assistant Professor Sukkur IBA University to facilitate the discussion
@ Workshop on Anxiety & Stress Management for Sukkur IBA University Faculty and Staff
 The core demographics related to workplace
anxiety are gender, age and job
tenure.

such as singing and public speaking. Recent research anxious individuals’ confidence on the job.
has also demonstrated that situational anxiety leads to Finally, we found that emotional intelligence (EI) can
increased efort in self-regulation behaviours such as help to minimize chronically anxious employees’
self-control efort, en- abling employees who are experience of emo- tional exhaustion, minimize cognitive
anxious about their performance to overcome interference for situation- based anxious employees, and
motivational deficits and facilitate performance maximize self-regulatory pro- cessing behaviours for both
through additional efort. chronic and situation-based anxious employees. This is
critical, as emotional exhaustion has been
Implications of Our Theory
Our theory has notable implications for both
employees and or- ganizations, particularly those
associated with stressful occupa- tions such as police
officers, senior executives, public relations executives
and airline pilots.
The key lies in being cognizant of how to leverage
one’s own anxiety and knowing how to guide
employees’ anxiety towards efective performance.
From a managerial perspective, lead- ers need to
recognize that employees are motivated by difer- ent
needs at diferent times and are also likely to be at
diferent stages of self-actualization. It is thus essential
for managers to acknowledge the diferent needs of
their team members — par- ticularly those who are
prone to anxiety and who are experienc- ing
heightened situational anxiety.
Our theory also has important practical relevance
for per- sonnel selection practices, promotions, goal-
setting initiatives and work-life integration programs.
For example, ability is a criti- cal variable identified in
our model that carries important prac- tical relevance
for organizations and employees. Both cognitive ability
and continuous training can help to mitigate the
poten- tially detrimental efects of anxiety, and thus,
anxious employees are encouraged to be proactive in
their learning and continuing education. Learning a
new technique for accomplishing a task or taking
professional development courses are investments in
one’s career that should help reduce worries and raise
This document is modified by Dr. Mohsin Kazmi Assistant Professor Sukkur IBA University to facilitate the discussion
@ Workshop on Anxiety & Stress Management for Sukkur IBA University Faculty and Staff
linked to many negative outcomes in the
workplace, including lower performance and
citizenship behaviours.
Fortunately, EI is an ability that can be
learned, and this type of training has been
extremely popular in companies such as Google.
Other organizations should consider providing
simi- lar training to anxious employees, as they are
likely to reap the benefits in recuperating
resources that are currently being spent worrying
about work.

In closing
Today, more than ever, the experience of
workplace anxiety is prevalent and carries
significant consequences for employees and
organizations. We hope that our work can provide
the foun- dation for both understanding and future
research on workplace anxiety and its complex
relationship with job performance.

Bonnie Hayden Cheng (Rotman

PhD ‘13) is an Assistant
Professor of Organizational
Behaviour & Human Resource
Management
and a Research Fellow of the
Centre for Lead- ership &
Innovation at Hong Kong
Polytechnic
University. Julie M. McCarthy is a Professor of Organizational
Behaviour & HR Management in the Department of
Management, University of Toronto Scarborough and holds a
cross-appointment to the OB/HR Management area at the
Rotman School of Management. This article summarizes their
paper, “Understanding the Dark and Bright Sides of Anxiety:
A Theory of Workplace Anxiety”, which was published in the
Journal of Applied Psychology (2018).
This paper can be downloaded online.

This document is modified by Dr. Mohsin Kazmi Assistant Professor Sukkur IBA University to facilitate the discussion
@ Workshop on Anxiety & Stress Management for Sukkur IBA University Faculty and Staff