Managerial Stress, Relaxation and Performance

Managerial stress exists and has to be coped with. The author describes a study that demonstrates that cue‐controlled relaxation can be applied to groups of managers to reduce psychological and physical stress. The study involved 36 middle managers with stress problems who were randomly exposed to treatment and non‐treatment, which consisted of a three‐week programme to teach conditioned relaxation responses to self‐administered cues. Three months after both groups completed measures of psychological strain, physical strain and job satisfaction. Results indicated that the treatment reduced psychological and physical strain and improved job satisfaction, but had a negligible impact on performance and physiological strain.