Stress Is Not a Rainbow: Debunking a Folklorical Management Myth
Have you ever heard of the concept of a sweet spot of stress? If so, you've heard about the Yerkes-Dodson Law (YDL) — the idea that there's an optimal level of strain for peak performance. It's been widely cited in management and organizational psychology, but what if I told you it's not as clear-cut as you might think?
Yerkes and Dodson originally conducted research on the behaviour of Japanese dancing mice (!), focusing on the relationship between arousal and learning. That was 1908. Although focussing on rodents, their paper was cited in psychology journals, the findings were elevated to the status of a psychological «law», and the YDL — stating that «optimum motivation for a learning task decreases with increasing difficulty» — was born.
Over time, their concept was more and more simplified and generalized to the modern-day variant, «that ‹some stress is necessary for optimal performance and stress levels below or above this optimal level are detrimental to performance›,» as Martin Corbett stated in a 2014 paper in the Journal of Managerial Psychology. This led to the popularization of the YDL in various fields, despite a lack of rigorous empirical support, relying mostly on folk models and ambiguous concepts.
The Nuanced Nature Of Stress
The truth is, the YDL oversimplifies the complex relationship between stress and performance. Corbett writes: «Many organisational psychology and management textbooks make reference to some theories of behaviour for which there is little if any empirical support (e.g. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). By their introductory nature these texts tend to simplify the nuances and complexities of organisational research.»
While the YDL presents a linear relationship between stress and performance, this relationship in reality is far more complex. The law fails to consider individual differences in stress tolerance, the multifaceted nature of stress, and how different types of stressors can have varying impacts on performance.
According to Corbett, its uncritical acceptance in management literature reflects certain managerial values and assumptions rather than objective science. This simplified version does not account for the nuanced nature of stress, which depends on individual factors, task characteristics, and the specific context in which people work. By ignoring these complexities, the YDL can lead to poor management practices and detrimental effects on employee well-being.
How To Avoid Increasing Stress Levels
In many guides and seminars, the Yerkes-Dodson curve might look like a rainbow, but as we can see, this impression is misleading. There's no rainbow, and there's no pot of gold in the form of a sweet spot of stress. Even worse: Blindly following the YDL can even lead to increased stress levels. Managers may try to push employees to achieve this so-called «optimal» stress level, without considering individual differences in stress tolerance. This can foster burnout, lead to high turnover rates, and decrease productivity.
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But there are things managers can do to avoid that trap:
Listen To The People
Plus: Instead of relying solely on the YDL, managers should consider adopting evidence-based management practices that take into account multiple sources of information, including practitioner expertise, local context, critical evaluation of research evidence, and the perspectives of those affected by the decisions: their employees.
«If managerial psychology is to truly encourage a dialogue between theory and practice it is surely incumbent upon its proponents to ensure that bad science does not drive out good, and to encourage the next generation of managers to understand how their own behaviour may contribute to increasing levels of stress in the workplace.»
So, let's leave the YDL behind and embrace a more diverse understanding of stress and performance in the workplace. A one-size-fits-all approach to these topics isn't just unrealistic; it's potentially harmful. It's time to prioritize employee well-being and adopt more effective, evidence-based management practices.
What are your thoughts on the Yerkes-Dodson Law? How do you manage stress in your workplace? Share your experiences and suggestions in the comments below! 👇🏻
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