STRESS STUDIES (U)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86-00114R000100050002-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 26, 2005
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: August 8, 2001
• Content Type: STUDY

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STUDIES (U)
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Ph.D., OMS (U)
Stress is an important fact of life. Stress
experiences vary according to kind, intensity, frequency,
duration, and effect. No one is immune from stress;
everyone has to cope with it somehow. How well we manage
stress in our work life largely determines whether its
effects will be beneficial, benign,, or harmful to us and
others. (U)
In order to learn more about work-related stress in
various Agency environments, OMS conducts stress studies of
certain groups of personnel. Completed studies include OC
Telecommunicators and CIA Operations Center personnel.
Studies in progress are DDO Operations Officers, DDO 0/S
clericals, and employees. An 0/S Wives study is in
the planning stage. The purpose of these studies is to
identify, measure, evaluate, and report the sources, kinds,
amounts, and effects of work-related stress and how
personnel perceive, respond, and cope with stress-producing
stimuli (stressors). Each study is based on hypotheses,
ideas, and techniques which are derived from various
sources, particularly pilot samples of personnel who suggest
areas to be explored. Each study involves coordination and
liaison with senior management. Individuals undergo an
extensive stress evaluation and a structured interview with
a psychologist, psychiatrist, or social worker.
Participation is voluntary and anonymous. Privacy is
respected and confidentiality is assured. Only qualitative
W
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and statistical group results are reported. These ground
rules provide for free and full cooperation. (C)
Organizational stressors studied are those associated
with reassignment process, assignment locale, work
activities, job conditions, interpersonal relationships,
critical events, management factors, career development, and
esprit de corps. Individual factors include motivations for
assignment, coping tactics, need-satisfaction, personality
styles, morale, stress experiences, and support systems.
Effects of different stress variables on the spouse, family,
productivity, health, behavior, and morale are also
assessed. Interpretations, suggestions, and recommendations
about work-related stress offered by research subjects are
collated with other research data. Results of
representative sampling are quantitatively and qualitatively
analyzed, evaluated, and reported. (C)
OMS Stress Studies draw on theories, approaches, and
findings of the general field of stress research but depart
from some basic theoretical and methodological positions.
Most stress research and testing is based on the disease
model which defines stress as a nonspecific,
undifferentiated, stereotyped biochemical response of the
body to any demand for adaptation made upon it. The stress
reaction is the same, regardless of the kind of stressor.
What counts is the intensity of the demand to readjust. Any
and all stressors, pleasant and unpleasant, cause stress
because they disturb the balance of one's total system.
Thus, most stress researchers and testers consider all
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stressors, desirable or undesirable, to be noxious agents
which cause some biological or psychological insult (wear
and tear). For example, being promoted, getting fired,
taking a vacation, or being held hostage are considered to
be additive stressors because each requires readjustment to
changes in one's life situation. (U)
This way of conceptualizing and measuring stress is
like saying that mushrooms and toadstools are additive
because they are similar in some respects. Instead, OMS
Stress Studies split stressors into those which cause
Positive Stress and Negative Stress for each individual.
The processes and effects of each kind of stress are
qualitatively different in ways that have serious import. A
vivid example of the important differences between Positive
Stress and Negative Stress is the second WBC welterweight
championship bout of Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran.
Although this rematch was an intense stressor for both
prizefighters, each experienced a qualitatively different
kind of stress. Leonard exhibited Positive Stress, which is
perceived as pleasant, attractive, invigorating,
challenging, manageable, exhilarating, motivating,
enhancing, and rewarding. He performed like a champion. In
contrast, Duran evidenced Negative Stress, which is
perceived as unpleasant, upsetting, threatening, confusing,
distressing, uncontrollable, frustrating, sickening, and
disabling. He quit in the middle of the fight because he
couldn't take any more Negative Stress. (U)
OMS Stress Studies also find that both Positive Stress
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and Negative Stress involve adaptation to critical changes
in the status quo. It is not the stressor but the
individual's appraisal of the stressor which determines the
kind and degree of stress which is experienced. The stressor
is judged as more of a danger than an opportunity if it
poses a potential threat or frustration of one's important
needs or goals. Thus, our anticipation of an unfavorable
serious consequence triggers the state of Negative Stress.
By the same token, Positive Stress occurs when we judge a
stressor to be more of an opportunity than a danger as
regards our important needs or goals. We are more competent
and confident about a challenging, potentially rewarding
stressor which we think we can master. How we view a crisis
determines whether or not our stress is Positive or
Negative. Our perception and judgment make a big difference
in our psychological, physical, and behavioral responses.
For example, Duran stripped Leonard of his welterweight
crown in June 1980. Leonard seemed too nice and lacking in
the killer instinct whereas Duran was known as El Animal
because of his aggressive fury and atavistic rage to win in
the ring. Leonard trained properly and got up for the
fight. His mission, which he never lost track of, was to
prove himself. For Leonard, this heroic challenge and
opportunity was like going to the Olympics. Psyching out
Duran and making him quit was more satisfying to Leonard
than knocking him out. During the fight, Duran viewed his
crisis-situation more as a danger than as an opportunity to
satisfy his needs. His burning intensity waned and he
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became weak, embarrassed, confused, and bewildered as
Leonard outboxed, mercilessly laughed at, taunted, and
humiliated him. In essence, Leonard made Duran a foolish
spectacle and laughing stock of the hooting crowd. Duran's
frustration, anger, and shame got the best of him. In the
eighth round of the 15-round bout, he ,.turned his back on
Leonard and told the referee " o" m ~ , no mas!" This
startling and controversial ending of the Leonard-Duran
championship prizefight was a stunning surprise to everyone,
including Leonard. Afterwards, Leonard said Duran was like
a clock that was so wound up, it blew a spring. His
bewilderment and helplessness typifies incapacitating
Negative Stress. (U)
OMS Stress Studies maintain that both Positive Stress
and Negative Stress can have serious consequences. For
example, Duran's response to Negative Stress resulted in a
swift devastation of his professional reputation which was
built on machismo, a daunting 72-1 career record, including
55 knockouts, and a previous victory over Leonard. One of
the fiercest and finest lightweights and welterweights of
modern time, Duran lost his will, heart, pride, name, and
control of his destiny because of his response to Negative
Stress. For the first time in professional life, Duran
suffered shame and fell into sustained disgrace. Because
Leonard capitalized on Positive Stress, he regained his
crown, but his triumph and jubilation were overshadowed by
the persistent question of why Duran packed it in. In
short, fight or flight is a generic reaction to the
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opportunity/danger in a crisis. (U)
Stress is a function of the interaction of individual's
situations, response states, support systems, and
consequences. OMS Stress Studies are designed to measure
and evaluate these multivariate phenomena and their
relationships. Individual Differences is a crucial
principle in this holistic model of stress. Simply stated,
we are similar, but we also vary in significant aspects.
These important differences influence one's anticipations,
sensitivities, perceptions, judgments, actions, and
reactions to different stressors. For
personal reasons, the individual abed the
outcome of stress w I-. be harmful, benign, or beneficial.
Thus, Positive and Negative Stress is in the eye of the
beholder. What is one person's meat is another's poison.
(U)
We also live and work in complex lynami,;) and demanding
environments. Situational changes tax
our adaptive
capacities. These stressors vary in frequency, intensity,
duration, and danger/opportunity ratio. However, stress
cannot be defined exclusively by a stressor. The capacity
of any stressor to produce Positive, Negative, or Mixed
Stress depends upon the interaction of critical individual
and situational variables. This interaction may or may not
result in stress. (U)
When triggered, stress usually exhibits a complex
response pattern of arousal, disequilibrium, and
mobilization. When a stressor is thought to be
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significantly important, immediate, challenging, or
threatening, the individual will become aroused, e.g.,
alarmed, apprehensive, or keyed up about the anticipated
consequences of the situation. The person's total
homeostatic state goes out of balance, and defenses and
coping responses are activated. `f h sir purpose is-- not -only-
to restore the individual's normal steady state by resolving
or adapting to the stressful situation but als6 'to achieve
new and different experiential levels. / The more the
individual's important needs or goals -pare challenged or
endangered, the more intense and extreme the total stress
response will be. Thus, the amount of subjective arousal,
upset, mobilization, adaptation, and action involved in the
total response is an index of the intensity of th
sis .
e
The kind of stress--Positive, Negative, or Mixed-=depends on
one's judgment of the outcome of the crisis in the context
of factors such as one's values, abilities, confidence,
resources, and needs. The total stress response eventuates
in an outcome which is effective or ineffective, harmful or
beneficial, costly or economical, frustrating or fulfilling,/
(U)
How effectively we perceive, appraise, respond, and
perform under work-related stress depends upon the adequacy
and availability of our support systems which prepare,
sustain, motivate, and help us to cope with stress. General
examples of support systems are helpful persons such as
spouse, colleague, or boss; recreational activities such as
a mental break, hobby, or sport; and organizational
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IF
services, e.g., selection, placement, training, preparation,
support, esprit de corps, and leadership. As a rule,
inadequate support from these external resources weakens our
ability to cope with stress. Conversely, any sign of helpful
support will strengthen our capacity and resolve to master
stress. Generally, support systems can be beneficial or
harmful in various ways. Their availability and adequacy
hold important meanings for the individual, family, and
organizational unit. (U)
In short, OMS Stress Studies measure, understand, and
communicate the nature, causes, and effects of Positive and
Negative Stress. Results and recommendations contribute to
managing stressors and controlling stresses. Most personnel
who have participated in OMS Stress Studies consider them to
be useful in various ways. Results can be applied to
selection, training, preparation for assignment, support
activities, and services. Almost all Subjects have found
their participation in the Studies to be personally helpful.
They appreciate the Agency's recognition of stressors,
interest in stress, and concern for them as persons who
experience work-related stress. OMS Stress Studies could not
succeed without the cooperation and contributions of
Subjects who bear witness to both Positive and Negative
Stress. (U)
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