Abstrakt
The most important stimuli for our experience and behaviour arise in the psychosocial sphere. An increased psychosocial load - related to work and non-work problems - can bring about serious health problems.
Beehr (1995:11) defined job stress as "a situation in which some characteristics of the work situation are thought to cause poor psychological or physical health, or to cause risk factors making poor health more likely". According to Maslach (2011), stressful jobs are as bad for people''s health health as smoking and obesity.
However, similar stress triggers different consequences in different individuals and different work settings. What largely explains the difference in outcomes is the moderating effect of risk and support factors.
In the case of work stress, the primary moderating factors are social support, psychological safety and organizational civility, as perceived by the worker. In this chapter we will summarize the most important findings relating to these three factors from the literature, and their impact on mental health risk factors known as burnout syndrome.
Then we will present research on a sample of Czech helping professionals to examine whether there are any cultural differences in the way workplace civility levels predict early signs of burnout. Suggestions for workplace management and further research will conclude the chapter.