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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 8, No. 7
Publication Date: July 25, 2021
DOI:10.14738/assrj.87.10570. Mitevska, M., & Byuylekova, M. (2021). Role Stressors and Alienation From Work During Covid-19 Setting. Advances in Social
Sciences Research Journal, 8(7). 455-463.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Role Stressors and Alienation From Work During Covid-19
Setting
Mitevska, Mayiana
UNIBIT, Sofia, Bulgaria
Byuylekova, Maria
PU "Paisiy Hilendarski", Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Abstract
This study explores the interrelationships between work alienation and the role
stressor dimensions of ambiguity and conflict. Diagnostics of role stressors in the
workplace /Radoslavova, M. 2005/ and Assessment of alienation from work
/Velichkov, A. 2005/. The data were collected with an online questionnaire, entered
with Google Forms and processed with SPSS-21 using: descriptive statistics, and
correlation analysis. The results are compared with similar previous studies
conducted in Bulgaria and abroad. Respondents were 75 individuals, 72% of them
were doctors working in a government hospital in a regional city. The results of the
study showed that role ambiguity is a major workplace stressor in coping with the
Covid-19 pandemic. Alienation from work is very high, which is also a significant
antecedent for developing Burnout Syndrome.
Keywords: organization, stress, role stressors, alienation
Human work activity is associated with specific stress-inducing features. The work process and
its demands can be stressful for the individual, disrupting the work-life balance. Factors
associated with this condition are varied and include - the importance of one's professional role
and career, one's involvement in the activity, cooperation and relationships with colleagues,
and quality of organizational behaviour. When there is a problem in any one factor,
occupational stress is experienced, which has an impact on work behaviour, ambition, work
style and job satisfaction and overall on the mental and physical well-being of the individual.
The occurrence of this type of stress is associated with factors that force the individual to
change his or her mental or physical state, deviating him or her from normal functioning [1].
Role conflict is a form of stress that has negative effects on job satisfaction, task performance,
and the mental and somatic well-being of the individual [9]. It is observed when individuals
experience conflicting and different expectations, demands for the tasks they perform. In an
organization, one person often has to perform several roles. This is what gives rise to role
conflict. In some cases, the expected behaviour in one role may not match the expectations of
another. By its nature, role conflict is the awareness and recognition of incompatible or
conflicting demands and can manifest in a variety of forms. A situation of role conflict occurs
when people in an organization have mutually exclusive expectations (e.g., expectations of
different leaders). Role conflict is also observed when the person in the organization also has
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 8, Issue 7, July-2021
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
competing expectations. Another manifestation of role conflict is the conflict between a
person's roles (e.g., the roles of worker, spouse, and parent).
Role ambiguity is a state of uncertainty of the individual occupying a particular position about
the behaviour regarding the sphere of responsibilities, the acceptable ways of their
performance, the people to whose demands the results must meet, the consequences of one's
behaviour for personal well-being, the well-being of the role set and the organization as a
whole. This condition is due to ambiguous or insufficient information that the worker
exchanges with colleagues. Role conflict is the experienced tension of perceiving situations in
which an individual's agreement to fulfil one requirement prevents him or her from fulfilling
another requirement of co-workers. It arises from information exchanges with colleagues that
have conflicting content. Conflict is expressed by: conflicting expectations of an individual from
a role set, inconsistency between the expectations of two or more members of a role set,
between members of two or more sets, or between the individual and other members of the
set. An overload is a specific form of conflict that combines the second and fourth of the listed
forms of incongruence among colleagues [11]. We assume that role perceptions are dynamic as
they depend on ongoing communication with colleagues in different situations. A long tradition
of research on role ambiguity and role conflict has accumulated a wealth of evidence on their
sources and effects on mental functioning and somatic health. Most authors find weak to
moderate relationships between the two stressors. Second, some empirical evidence suggests
that role ambiguity produces stronger adverse psychological consequences than role conflict,
while other evidence suggests the opposite finding. Third, there is also empirical evidence of
additive effects of the two stressors on mental and somatic health. Moreover, their impact
depends on current or persistent subjective perceptions and states. Such mediating factors are
orientation about the causes and course of events in the service [29], satisfaction with various
aspects of the job [8], perception of the immediate supervisor as supportive [30], attachment
to the organization [31], and personal potential to influence colleagues and gain their trust [32].
Mediating factors combine in determining the relationship between role stressors and
psychological distress responses. Examples include the combination between job satisfaction
and states of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization [33], task demands on personal
competence, and opportunities for autonomy and supervisor support (Pascual, Perez- Jover,
Mirabel, paediatrics 2003).
Alienation from work is a term that turns out to be quite vague, with its usage including both
a scientific and a popular side. The theory of labour alienation gained prominence thanks to the
work of Marx (1932). The author explains the observed condition by the separation between
the labourer and the product he produces. The German philosopher defines 3 forms of
alienation - from the product of labour, in the process of production and from society. The
sociologist Durkheim (1947) also deals with the definition of the problem. He explains
alienation as a consequence of the breakdown of social norms that imply the absence of such
norms, and this condition is introduced by the term anomie. Different definitions of the
phenomenon under consideration emphasize certain aspects of alienation - the sense of
separateness is fundamental in Fromm (1955) and Horowitz (1966), the dissociative state in
Schacht (1970), and the lack of work commitment in Hirschfeld & Feild (2000).
Viewed as a mental state, alienation from work is seen in other terms. For example, the
phenomenon under consideration is identified with job dissatisfaction [34]. On the other hand,
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Mitevska, M., & Byuylekova, M. (2021). Role Stressors and Alienation From Work During Covid-19 Setting. Advances in Social Sciences Research
Journal, 8(7). 455-463.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.87.10570
satisfaction is presented as a consequence of dealing with alienation, but authors such as
Watson (2003) and Hall (1994) assume that if work provides an opportunity for individuals to
freely express themselves, then alienation does not always follow from experienced
dissatisfaction (M. Radoslavova, A. Velichkov, 2005).
The following hypotheses are put forward in their study:
Hypothesis 1) It is hypothesized that there are statistically significant relationships
between different aspects of role stressors influencing levels of work alienation.
Hypothesis 2) Demographics are hypothesized to influence levels of alienation and the
ranking of role stressors.
The subjects of the study were physicians, nurses and orderlies, the former varying in their
specialization - paediatrics, orthopaedics, general practitioner, psychiatry, neurosurgery,
cardiology, gastroenterology, infectious diseases and radiologists. They are grouped according
to various attributes and distributed as follows in number and percentage:
Depending on gender
30 men, 40% of respondents
45 women, 60% of respondents
Depending on age
up to 35 years, 15 persons, 20% of respondents
36-50 years, 36 persons, 48% of respondents
over 50 years, 24 persons, 32% of respondents
Depending on the position held
doctor, 54 persons, 72% of respondents
nurse, 12 persons, 16% of respondents
Sanitiser, 9 persons, 12% of respondents
Depending on the position in the hierarchy
supervisor: 16 persons, 21.3% of respondents
subordinate doctor: 51 persons, 68% of respondents
subordinate-nurse: 8 persons, 10.7% of respondents
Depending on seniority in the organization
up to 5 years: 19 persons, 25.3% of respondents
over 5 years: 56 persons, 74.6% of respondents
Depending on the total length of service
up to 5 years: 7 persons, 10% of respondents
5-10 years: 11 persons, 14% of respondents
11-20 years: 26 persons, 35% of respondents
over 20: 31 persons, 41% of respondents