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An Asian Perspective of Occupational Stress Coping Model: A Case Study of Sri Lankan Employees

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2012

Yong Wah Goh
Affiliation:
The University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Sukanlaya Sawang*
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Tian P.S. Oei
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, Australia
Don S. Ranawake
Affiliation:
Institute of Counselling, Colombo, Sri Lanka
*
address for correspondence: Dr Sukanlaya Sawang QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane QLD 4001, Australia. Email: s.sawang@qut.edu.au
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Abstract

Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of natural disasters and violent conflicts in the world. Yet there is a lack of research on its unique socio-cultural characteristics that determine an individual's cognitive and behavioural responses to distressing encounters. This study extends Goh, Sawang and Oei's (2010) revised transactional model to examine the cognitive and behavioural processes of occupational stress experience in the collectivistic society of Sri Lanka. A time series survey was used to measure the participant's stress-coping process. Using the revised transactional model and path analysis, a unique Sri Lankan model is identified that provides theoretical insights on the revised transactional model, and sheds light on socio-cultural dimensions of occupational stress and coping, thus equipping practitioners with a sound theoretical basis for the development of stress management programs in the workplace.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

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