1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 Overview Over ... - DSpace@UM

work stress and occupational stress are used interchangeably in this paper; not becausethere are indistinguishable concepts but simply to preserve the usage originality by pastresearchers. Beehr and Newman, 1978 has define job stress as a condition arising frominteraction of people and their jobs and is characterized by changes within people thatforce them to deviate from their normal functioning (Arthur P. Brief, et al, 1981) .Initial studies were carried out in the developed countries due to real concern over theescalating health costs in those countries. Occupational stress was an increasing problemfor employees in Western societies, particularly the U.S. (Sauter & Murphy,1995),because it is costly. Workplace stress has serious consequences and can lead to increasedhealth/medical costs, higher rates of absenteeism and turnover, more accidents, and poorperformance. Now, there is consensus that occupational stress is important wherebyfigures are often citied estimating that many billions of dollars are lost in the UnitedStates each year due to occupational stress. These “losses” are due to increased costs ofmedical insurance to employers and employees, excess pressure on the medical facilitiesand professionals who could otherwise work with other patients and illnesses, lostproductivity due to illness, and so forth.(Beehr. A Terry, 1995).Despite extensive research on occupational stress, the focus onto peculiar issues amongspecific professions’ such as accountant is limited. Furthermore, the problem ofoccupational stress should also be particularly relevant for countries that are undergoingenormous economic and social changes such as Malaysia. Most academic studies have3