ES44% of workers report being under high work-related stress — a figure that underscores a dangerous upward trend.
Chronic stress among workers worldwide is at historic levels. According to the Gallup´s State of the Global Workplace 2023 report – conducted across more than 160 countries – 44% of employees report experiencing high work-related stress, a figure that reinforces an upward trend that began a decade ago.
Stress itself is not a disease. It is a normal biological process that activates certain systems and mechanisms in the body to react to a stimulus perceived as threatening. The problem arises when it becomes chronic.
This condition can cause numerous issues at both the individual and organizational levels. On a personal level, it increases the risk of physical and mental health problems, as warned by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, it can foster a negative work environment and increase the likelihood of mistakes.
One area that has received growing attention in recent years is how stress affects decision-making. From the moment we wake up until we go to bed, we spend our days choosing between numerous options, something that has consequences—some more significant than others—in the short and long term.
Risk and Impulsivity
According to some studies, stress at work can affect the decision-making process in different ways, making us, for example, more likely to underestimate risks (4) or impulsive (6).
What is not very clear is why this happens. Research published in Neuron – a leading neuroscience journal – concluded that excessive stress could be “capable of altering brain circuits, favoring the search for quick and pleasurable rewards”. However, the researchers noted the results were preliminary and called for further studies.
Gideon Nave, professor of marketing at Wharton (University of Pennsylvania), is one of the leading researchers in this field. In a study published in 2016 in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, he suggested that excessive levels of cortisol, a hormone related to stress, impair decision-making and cognitive performance.
In an interview with the World Economic Forum, Nave illustrated this point with a simple exercise: “Imagine that I have a baseball bat and a ball here. Together, they cost $1.10. Now, the bat costs $1 more than the ball. What is the price of the ball?”
The interviewer quickly answers “ten cents.” And, of course, he’s wrong. If the ball costs ten cents and the bat costs a dollar more, that means the bat costs $1.10, so the total for both would be $1.20. The correct answer is 5 cents and $1.05.
Nave continues: “What we found is that when you give people cortisol, they are more likely to do what you just did: they say ten cents and don’t really analyze it, even though they are paid to get it right. They give the quickest intuitive answer, as if they were under some kind of pressure.”
Stuck in Routine
This example can be applied to everyday working life, demonstrating that stress is a serious enemy to good employee performance. Years earlier, in 2012, another study published in Translational Psychiatry showed that workers under stress were unable to break out of their established routines. In other words, their ability to adapt was inhibited, which is a serious problem in a changing environment.
While further research is needed, one thing is clear: organizational culture must change. Stress represents a significant challenge in decision-making. These adverse effects not only harm workers’ quality of life, but also have serious repercussions for organizations, impacting productivity, increasing errors, and creating a tense work environment.
To mitigate the damage, organizations can implement measures such as stress management training, equitable workload distribution, flexible work hours, open communication, and above all, more empathetic leadership. To carry out all these tasks, incorporating behavioral science—psychology, anthropology, sociology—into the culture of organizations is key to achieving this.
[References]
[1] Gallup. (2022). State of the Global Workplace. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
[2] Maier, S. U., Makwana, A. B., & Hare, T. A. (2015). Acute stress impairs self-control in goal-directed choice by altering multiple functional connections within the brain’s decision circuits. Neuron, 87(3), 621-631.
[3] Margittai, Z., Nave, G., Strombach, T., Van Wingerden, M., Schwabe, L., & Kalenscher, T. (2016). Exogenous cortisol causes a shift from deliberative to intuitive thinking. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 64, 131-135.
[4] Mather, M., Lighthall, N.R. (2012). Risk and reward are processed differently in decisions made under stress. Current directions in psychological science, 21, 36-41.
[5] OMS. (2023). Stres. https://www.who.int/es/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/stress
[6] Starcke, K., Brand, M. (2012). Decision making under stress: a selective review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 36, 1228-1248.
[7] Soares, J. M., Sampaio, A., Ferreira, L. M., Santos, N. C., Marques, F., Palha, J. A., … & Sousa, N. (2012). Stress-induced changes in human decision-making are reversible. Translational psychiatry, 2(7), e131-e131.
