Master thesis Crying at work, cause and consequence

Master thesis

Crying at work, cause and consequence

Helplessness, Supervisor support, Stress

Name:

First supervisor:

Second supervisor:

MTO professor:

Project period:

Project theme:

S.J. van den Brand - 1252277 dr.

R.S.M. de Reuver

dr. M. Biron

dr. M.A.L.M. van Assen

January-August 2018

Work-related crying

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Abstract

This study measures the mediating effect of crying at work between helplessness and stress.

Crying is often seen as an expression of emotions that leads to a reduction of stress. However, this

study shows that the context in which someone cries is very important in this relationship. This

study focusses on crying at work, since this is still a big taboo in organizations. Crying at work is

often seen as a weakness. That is why more research is needed into the causes and consequences

of crying at work, and possible moderators. The moderator used in this study is supervisor support,

which should diminishes the positive relationship between crying at work and stress. A

questionnaire was distributed among 213 female employees working in the Netherlands, Sint

marten or China. A convenience sample was used to collect the data. The questionnaire consisted

of existing validated constructs of the variables; crying at work, helplessness, stress and supervisor

support. Results from the conditional indirect effect showed a positive significant mediation effect

between helplessness and stress mediated by crying at work. Furthermore, the moderation effect

was not found to be significant.

Key variables; crying at work, helplessness, stress and supervisor support.

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Introduction

According to Cornelius (1982), crying is one of the most compelling and pervasive forms

of human emotional expression. Whether this form of emotional expression is beneficial for

someone’s well-being is being debated. For example, Hendriks' (2004) research showed that a

relatively low frequency of crying was associated with better health. On the other hand, the

research of Frey and Al (1983), showed that the respondents of their study reported improvement

in their mental and physical state after a crying episode. However, not all respondents reported

cathartic effects, which is defined as ´the experience of relief or release of emotional tension as

well as decrease in felt distress or physiological arousal´ (Cornelius, 2004). Thus, opposing results

have been found on the question whether crying will lead to a relief of stress or not. The research

of Bindra (1972) explained this heterogeneity by the effect of contextual features regarding a

crying episode. Hoover-Dempsey, Plas and Wallston (1986), examined the role of context of

crying. They discovered that whether crying induces sympathy and comfort from others depends

on the social context in which someone’s cries. As an example, crying at work is often considered

as inappropriate (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 1986). In addition, research has shown that when a

person cries at work, they might be seen as less competent (Elsbach & Bechky, 2017). Therefore,

it is expected that when someone cries at work this can lead to an increase of stress. It is self-

evident that organizations wants to keep the stress level among employees as low as possible

because of the negative effect on production and profit (Aziri et al., 2011). In order to lower stress

in organizations supervisor support has been found to be important (Tsui et al., 2015). In addition,

it is well-known that social support benefits a person’s psychological and physical well-being

(Uchino, 2004). Therefore, it is expected that the relationship between crying at work and stress

will be diminished by the role of supervisor support. Part of this research will therefore consists of

the examination of the relationship between crying at work and stress, moderated by supervisor

support. The other part will focus on the cause of crying at work in relation with stress. Many

different feelings as, frustration, anger and helplessness can occur among employees (Hareli &

Rafaeli, 2008). This research will focus on the influence of helplessness on crying at work and

stress. The main psychological cause for crying are feelings of helplessness, according to Miceli

and Castelfranchi (2003). This feeling occurs when a person begins to believe that he or she has

only a small locus of control over their destiny (Martinko & Gardner, 1982). Research has shown

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that when a person feels helpless or has little control over the situation, this can cause stress

associated with the situation (Schuler, 1980). It is therefore expected that there will be a positive

relationship between helplessness and stress. Furthermore, it is presumed that the relationship

between helplessness and stress will partially be mediated by crying at work. Because feeling

helpless can induce crying at work (Soares, 2003), which in turn can lead to an increase of stress

because of the negative association with crying at work (Elsbach & Bechky, 2017).

To summarize the relationships described above the following research questions can be

formed: What is the effect of feelings of helplessness and crying at work on stress? Does supervisor

support diminish the relationship between crying at work and stress?

Research into crying has experienced enormous growth recent years (A. Vingerhoets &

Cornelius, 2012). Nevertheless, there is still much unknown about the various causes and

consequences, which makes further research needed. This research will contribute to increase the

knowledge of the phenomenon crying in a work context. The importance of this research stems

from the fact that although a survey revealed that 41% of the woman and 9% of the men cry at

work (Kreamer, 2013) , research on this topic is still scarce. This study will therefore, among other

things, clarify the effect of crying at work on the stress level of female employees, which can

ultimately be beneficial for an entire organization (Griffin, Hogan, Lambert, Tucker-Gail, &

Baker, 2010). In addition, the importance of supervisor support will be measured, which can lead

to practical insights to invest in support within a firm.

Feelings of helplessness and crying at work

This section will focus on the relationship between feeling helpless and work related

crying. Tears are a way of expressing oneself, communicating these emotions that one cannot

explain in words. Thus, crying can be considered as a form of non-verbal communication, in

which someone can express helplessness and a need for support. According to Vingerhoets (in

press) there are four common work situations in which employees may cry. These four situations

are; dealing with personal issues, dealing with critical feedback, dealing with work stress and

participating in a heated meeting. When a person tries to deal with these kind of situations, feelings

like helplessness and powerlessness are likely to occur.

Frijda, (1988) considers helplessness as a feeling that evokes crying. He explains that when

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a person cries he or she wants to give up on the situation because of feelings of helplessness. The

person seems to be unable to cope with the situation which ultimately can lead to crying (Frijda,

1988). The relationship between feeling helplessness and crying can further be explained by the

negative emotions that are associated with feelings of helplessness. People feel helpless when

exposed to uncontrollable events, in which they may become aroused or angry because they are

not able to regain control (Seligman, Maier, & Geer, 1968). As time passes and exposure to

uncontrollable events continues, expectations of being able to regain control may wane. When

expectations have diminished to the point where successful control seems improbable, attempts to

regain it may cease and negative emotions increase (Baum, Fleming, & Reddy, 1986). Thus, when

employees feel helpless at work they may associate work with more negative emotions, which can

lead to more work related crying. Therefore the first hypotheses will measure the relationship

between feelings of helplessness and work related crying.

H1: Feelings of helplessness are positively related to crying at work.

Crying at work and stress

The generally accepted definition for stress is; “the psychological and physical state that

results when the resources of the individual are not sufficient to cope with the demands and

pressures of the situation” (Michie, 2002). Thus, stress is more likely in some situations than others

and it depends on individual differences. Situations which are likely to cause stress are those that

are unpredictable or uncontrollable, uncertain, unfamiliar, or involving conflict, loss or

performance expectations (Michie, 2002). These are all situations that often occur at the

workplace. It is therefore not surprising that according to the Japanese national Survey of Health,

the most prevalent stressor are work related problems (Nakao, 2010). Work-related stress can have

a disturbing effect on an employee´s health and wellbeing. In addition, it is harmful for the whole

organization due to decrements in performance, increased turnover and absenteeism (Summers,

DeCotiis, & DeNisi, 1995). Research has shown that work conditions as; overwork, job insecurity,

low levels of job satisfaction and lack of autonomy, are related to stress at work (Aziri et al., 2011).

Although, so much is known about the causes and consequences of work related stress, little is

known about the relationship between crying at work and stress. This is surprising since work

frequently demands the management of emotions. Therefore, this section will focus on the

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relationship between stress and one of the most powerful expression of emotions; crying. Crying

is a typical and unique human form of emotional expression and can be defined as the secretion of

tears in an emotional context (Vingerhoets, Cornelius, van Heck, Becht, 2000). Besides secretion

of tears, crying can vary widely in terms of intensity, from damp eyes to outright sobbing (Lutz,

1999). For this research different forms of intensity are measured ascending from a lump in your

throat to screaming and crying at the same time. As previously indicated, crying at work occurs

with 41% of the women and 9% of the male employees (Kreamer, 2013). Since only 9% of male

employees cry about work, only female employees are included in this study. Although crying at

work is so common with female employees, Elsbach’s (2011) study demonstrated that there still

seems to be a strong social taboo against crying at work. This taboo can be explained by the

research of Plas and Hoover Dempsey (1986), who revealed that crying in an intimate setting is

generally accepted, but in the work setting it may cause negative reactions with colleagues. Co-

workers may induce feelings of confusion, awkwardness or being manipulated by their crying

colleagues (Hoover-Dempsey et al., 1986). Elsbach (2011) revealed that tears on the job can have

serious consequences for women their careers. Women who cried during performance evaluations,

in one-to-one sessions with their managers, could cost them prime assignments and promotions.

Thereby, this crying episode could have negative consequences with regard to their co-workers

respect and credibility. Crying is thus often perceived as unacceptable and associated with

damaging outcomes, such as poor performance rating and career limitations (Poverny & Picascia,

2009). As a consequence, women who cry at work often feel intense shame, embarrassment and

disappointment in themselves (Elsbach & Bechky, 2017). Research from Kemeny’s (2010)

describes that how others view you can cause a powerful form of stress. She even claims that

shame can cause more stress at work than working too hard. She found that threats to our social

selfs increases the stress hormone. Besides the effect of shame on someone’s stress level, the other

negative consequences mentioned earlier can all cause more stress. It is therefore assumable that

women who cry more at work feel more stressed.

H2: Crying at work is positively related to stress.

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Feelings of helplessness and stress

Perceived helplessness is a reaction that is likely to occur when an in individual has the

feeling of losing control over the situation. The feeling of losing control can lead to frustration or

anger, which can induce the feeling to regain the control over the situation. When someone fails

to get control over the situation again, a point of giving up can eventually be reached which, then

induce feelings of helplessness (Alloy & Seligman, 1979). Therefore, helplessness is defined as

"The state that occurs when an individual perceives that a given outcome is independent of his or

her behavior" (Alloy & Seligman, 1979). The feeling of helplessness can be induced by exposure

to stress, a challenge, or an unfavorable situation. These are situational factors that easily can arise

during work. Not much research is done on research of helplessness within organizations. Still,

Cherniss (1980) found that unpredictable work environment can cause employees feeling of

helplessness. In addition, research shows that feelings of helplessness are associated with passive

behavior. This passive behavior expresses when an employee does not manage to solve the

problem themselves and therefore gives up in taking further actions (Martinko & Gardner, 1982).

According to Wood (1977) this can eventually reduce the level of their productivity. As described

earlier, experiencing helplessness can be compared to losing the sense of control over the situation.

According to Baum (1986), the repeated feeling of loss of control can cause more stress.

According to the theory of learned helplessness, when people are faced with painful

situations which they cannot control, they become helpless: they lose the desire to control

situations and come to believe that they are not able to control them (Seligman, 1975). Thus, there

arises a feeling that can be compared with loss of control, which can cause stress over time (Baum

et al., 1986). Therefore, it is assumable that there is a positive relationship between feelings of

helplessness and stress.

H3: Feelings of helplessness are positively related to stress.

Helplessness and stress mediated by crying at work

Research has shown that helplessness is a common cause of crying (Soares, 2003), which

implies a positive relationship between these two variables. In addition, it is known that crying is

not yet fully accepted in the work sector. For example the research of Wagner et al. (1997) showed

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that a fifth of the medical students who cried during their hospital work were ridiculed, screamed

at, or looked at with contempt by their colleagues. It is likely that these reactions may induce levels

of embarrassment and lower self-confident among the crying employees, which in turn can lead to

higher levels of stress. It is therefore expected that the relationship between helplessness and stress

will be partially mediated by work related crying.

H4: The relationship between helplessness and stress will partially be mediated by crying at work.

Crying at work and stress moderated by supervisor support

Social support refers to “positive behaviors and actions with the purpose of fostering

positive interpersonal relationships”. Thus, social support can be considered as a behavioral

variable that includes attempts to help a person (Bennett & Beehr, 2013). Regarding organizations,

this helping behavior is defined as beneficial and extra-role behavior towards a coworker. Social

support is both beneficial for the employee and the organization (Van Dyne & LePine, 1998).

Besides, it can come from different sources such as, co-workers, supervisors, family, friends and

others at work (Viswesvaran, Sanchez, & Fisher, 1999). This research will focus on the helping

behavior provided by supervisors. Supervisor plays an important role in structuring the work

environment and providing employees with feedback (M. A. Griffin, Patterson, & West, 2001).

As a consequence, supervisor behaviors have an impact on the affective reactions of their

employees (Durham, 1997). In addition, research has shown that receiving social support form

supervisors has a positive effect on ones well-being (Stringer, 2006). The negative emotions an

employee can experiences after crying at work, as shame or a bad self-image can be reduced when

someone feels supported. If a women feels supported by their supervisor it may give her the feeling

that the crying behavior will not affect her career or even is accepted, which makes her feel less

ashamed (Cooper, 2010). As a consequence she will feel less stressed, since she does not feels

judged by her crying behavior at work. That is why it is expected that the positive relationship

between crying at work and stress will be diminished by supervisor support.

H5: The positive relation of crying at work with stress is attenuated under conditions of more

perceived supervisor support.

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Conceptual model

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Methods

Research design

An explanatory quantitative research was conducted to test the different hypotheses

proposed in the theoretical framework. These hypotheses were based on evaluative research

questions. Since the data was only obtained once it is a cross-sectional study. The obtained data

was a combination of different validated scales of different constructs, which were conducted in

three different languages; Dutch, English and Mandarin.

Procedure

The questionnaires (appendix A) were distributed online using Qualtrics to employees working in

the Netherlands, China and Sint Maarten. Each member of the thesis circle had contacted around

100 female employees, which brought about a further distributions through the snowball effect.

Because of the latter, the study consists of a convenience sample. As part of the questionnaire,

every respondent needed to sign the consent form before answering the questionnaire. The cover

letter consisted of information about the study, and in addition it was made clear to the respondents

that participation was completely voluntary and that their anonymity would remain guaranteed.

Besides there was a reference at the end of the questionnaire to ‘Stichting Korrelatie1*”, since the

questions could arouse old negative emotions.

Population and sample

The population consist of female employees working in the following countries; the

Netherlands, China and Sint Maarten. Divided among these three countries, the researches set out

a total of 334 questionnaires in their personal networks. Of these 334 questionnaires, 217

employees actually completed the questionnaire. However, after controlling the data, 4 men

appeared to fill out the questionnaire which needed to be deleted. This resulted in 213 useful

responses (response rate of 63,8%). The population consisted of 70,4% Dutch female employees

and 29,6% Chinees employees. In addition, almost half of the respondents (44,6%) have a

completed bachelor's degree. Furthermore, the majority of participants work in the education

(21,1%) or healthcare (16,9%) sector. Besides, more than a quarter of the respondents always have

to deal with emotions of others during work. Further details about the sample will be explained in

1 A helpline where you can go if you would like psychological help.

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the table below. Regarding the representativeness for the working female population of China and

the Netherlands there is a remark. The average age is 33.14, which is low since people in the

Netherlands have to work until their 67th and in China at their 60th.

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of respondents

M SD Min. Max.

Age 33.14 10.53 16 62

Tenure 6.91 7.87 0 39

Nationality Frequency Percentage

Dutch 150 70.4%

Chinese 63 29.6%

Education

1. Primary School 3 1.4%

2. Secondary School 28 13.1%

3. Vocational Education 42 19.7%

4. Bachelor 95 44.6%

5. Masters/PhD 33 15.5%

6. Other 12 5.6%

Sector

1. Construction industry 5 2.3%

2. Retail 21 9.9%

3. Financial services 21 9.9%

4. Wholesale 2 0.9%

5. Catering and residential recreation 5 21.1%

6. Agriculture and horticulture 2 0.9%

7. Education 45 21.1%

8. Government 14 6.6%

9. Social work, youth care and childcare 7 3.3%

10. Transport and logistics 4 1.9%

11. Healthcare 36 16.9%

12. Other 51 23.9%

Emotionally laden*

Never 5 2.3%

Rarely 16 7.5%

Sometimes 73 34.3%

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Note: N=213

* = Answer to the question: “Do you have to deal with emotions of clients, patients, customers, children or pupils at work?”

* = lawyer, cleaner, researcher, business owner, HR.

Instruments

For this research the following constructs have been measured; crying at work,

helplessness, stress, and supervisor support. In order to measure these constructs, various

questionnaires have been used from different previous studies. To check the validity of these scales

a factor analyses (principal component analysis-PCA) was executed on each scale (appendix B).

The examination of the scales was performed with IBM’s statistical analysis package SPSS 24.0

(IBM, 2016). All KMO scores are significant and high, with a 0.813 being the lowest score.

Besides, reliability analyses are done for every construct, which were all above .85. Given these

positive results on both the reliability and factor analyzes, the internal consistency can be

considered good for each construct.

Crying at work. This is the meditating variable (M). The construct of crying at work has

been measured by using a questionnaire that is developed by a former thesis circle consisting of

Hagendijk (2015) and Dekker (2015). They developed the questionnaire, which was inspired by a

questionnaire used by Vingerhoets et al. (2000). In this questionnaire a clear distinction was made

between the different forms of crying based on intensity, ranging from a lump in your throat to

screaming and crying at the same time. In addition, the questionnaire indicates how often these

crying episodes occurred, ranging from daily to never. Because the research from Hagendijk

(2015) revealed that ‘daily’ did not occur ones, this level is removed from this research to make it

more reliable. The scale of this questionnaire will therefore consist of five response categories

varying from ‘weekly’ to ‘never’. The questions regarding work related crying will be asked twice

to make a distinction between crying at home about work, and crying at work in public. The first

question will be ‘How often have you had the following experiences in the past 12 months at home

about work?’ The second question will be; ‘How often have you had the following experiences in

the past 12 months in a public situation at work?’. Because this research will measure the construct

‘crying at work’, only the output of the second question are used for the main analysis. A factor

analysis was performed on the scale ‘cry at work’. The factor analysis was done under the

Very often 62 29.1%

Always 57 26.8%

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condition that the fixed number of factors was forced to 1. Since the different items did not fall

below .30, the scale could be included as one component for further analysis. The KMO of the

scale ‘crying at work in public’ was .878 (P<0.001), with a significant Barlett’s Test of Sphericity.

Furthermore, the component explained 67.81% of the total variance. Next, the reliability was

measured, which was 0.927.

Helplessness. This is the independent variable (X). For this variable the questionnaire of

Lester (2001) is used. It is a 10 item scale, with a Likert-type response format ranging from 6

(strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). An item example is; “I don't seem to be able to cope with

crises without the help of others”. Results from a research of the relationship between helplessness

and depression provided evidence for the construct validity of the scale (Leenaars & Lester, 2007).

To prevent the questionnaire form becoming too long, the 10 item scale was shortened to a 7 item

scale. Therefore, a new factor analysis has been performed on the 7 item construct, with a KMO

score of .867. All factor loadings were above .66, and the scree plot shows that there is only one

factor, which explains 57.51% of the variance. In addition, the reliability was high, with a

Cronbach’s Alpha score of .90.

Stress. This is the dependent variable (Y). In order to measure this variable the

questionnaire conducted by Griffin, Hogan, Lambert, Tucker-Gail and Baker (2010) was used for

this study. The scale consists of 5 items, which is measured with a 5 point Likert scale ranging

from ´strongly disagree´ to ‘strongly agree’. Item examples of this questionnaire are; “A lot of

time my job makes me very frustrated or angry” and “I am usually under a lot of pressure when I

am at work”. The fourth question about job stress was reversed and therefore needed to be recoded.

The factor analyses indicated that the scale consists of one component, with a KMO score of .813,

which explained 63.19% of the variance. Besides, all the factor loadings scored above the .72,

which is more than the required .30. Finally, the Cronbach’s alpha was measured which was .85.

Supervisor support. This scale is measured with the social support scale from Caplan, Cobb

& French (1995). This scale consists measures two different variables, namely supervisor support

and collegial support. For the main analyses of this study only the items related to supervisor

support were used. An example of an item was; ‘my supervisor is prepared to go the extra mile to

help me’, which was answered with a five-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to

“strongly agree”. The KMO for this scale was .84, and a Cronbach´s alpha of .94, which is very

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high. The factor loaded on one component, which explained 84.00%, besides the scree plot also

showed a loading on one factor. For the additional analysis the scale of colleague support was

used. Therefore a factor analysis has also been performed on this scale. The KMO of the colleague

support scale was .822, which explained 75.01% of the variance. The measured Cronbach’s alpha

of .89.

Control variables. In order to rule out any spurious relations there were added some control

variables; age, emotionally laden, gender supervisor, tenure and country. Age is added because

Vingerhoets and Bylsma (2016), found significant differences between younger and elder people

in their crying behavior. From the age of 20-25 the frequency of crying began to increase. Another

control variable that was added was emotionally laden. This variable indicates how much the job

of the respondent is emotionally loaded. In order to measure this, the following question was asked;

Do you have to deal with emotions of clients, patients, customers, children or pupils at work? This

variable was included because we expect to found differences between employees working in less

emotionally laden occupation and more emotional laden, which has not been measured before.

Furthermore, country was included as control variables because of the expected cultural

differences in crying behavior between female employees from China and the Netherlands. The

respondents from Sint Maarten and the Netherlands were merged, because it is expected that the

cultural differences are not so great. Finally, gender of the supervisor will be controlled for, since

study has shown that men feel less empathy for women who cry that women (Hendriks, Croon, &

Vingerhoets, 2008). Therefore, a difference is expected to occur in the frequency of crying between

employees with a male or female supervisor.

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Results

Table 8 below shows the frequencies of crying at work in the different intensities of crying.

Hereby it is notable that the more intensive the crying behavior, the less it occurs. This is clearly

shown in table 9, where the frequencies can be seen of the employees who have never cried at

work. Furthermore, it is notable that when the crying behavior can be seen by others the

frequencies drops.

Table 8. frequency crying at work (different intensities)

Lump in throat Frequency Percentage

Never 116 54.5%

Once 40 18.8%

A few times a year 53 24.9%

Monthly 4 1.9%

Weekly 0 0%

Feel tears rise

Never 109 51.2%

Once 44 20.7%


Monthly 13 6.1%

Weekly 1 0.5%

Wet eye corners

Never 132 62.0%

Once 35 16.4%


Monthly 8 3.8%

Weekly 2 0.9%

Tears in your eyes

Never 134 62.9%

Once 30 14.1%


Monthly 9 4.2%

Weekly 1 0.5%

Tears running down your cheek

Never 161 75.6%

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Note: N=213

Table 9. Frequencies of respondents who never experienced crying at work

Note: N=213

Once 19 8.9%


Monthly 6 2.8%

Weekly 1 0.5%

Sobbing

Never 168 78.9%

Once 21 9.9%


Monthly 5 2.3%

Weekly 0 0.0%

Crying out loud

Never 182 85.4%

Once 15 7.0%


Monthly 2 0.9%

Weekly 1 0.5%

Screaming and crying simultaneously

Never 196 92.0%

Once 6 2.8%


Monthly 2 0.9%

Weekly 1 0.5%

Never Percentage

Lump in throat 116 54.5%

Feel tears rise 109 51.2%

Wet eye corners 132 62.0%

Tears in your eyes 134 62.9%

Tears running down your cheek 161 75.6%

Sobbing 168 78.9%

Crying out loud 182 85.4%

Screaming and crying out loud simultaneously 196 92.0%

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Descriptive and correlations

The table (10) below shows the output of the correlation analysis for the variables of the

conceptual model and the control variables. The more an employee experience support from their

supervisor the less work stress the employee will experience (r=-.20, p<.001) and the less they will

cry at work (r=-.20, p<.001). In addition, people who cry more frequent, experience more stress

(r=.28, p<.001). When focusing on the significant correlations of the control variables, there are

some interesting outcomes. Female employees with a man as supervisor cry less then employees

with a women as supervisor (r=.15, P<.01). Besides whether someone works in an emotional laden

occupation seems to have influence on both their crying behavior (r=.18, P<.01) as their level of

stress at work (r=.21, P<.01). furthermore, it states that someone who works longer at their firm

is more likely to cry more frequent (r=.14, P<.01). When looking at the possible cultural

differences between the Netherlands and China, only helplessness seems to be related (r=.22,

P<.01). Employees in China seems to feel more helpless then employees working in the

Netherlands

Table 10. Correlation matrix

Note: N=213

**p<.01 *p<.05. Country was coded 1 Netherlands 2 China and gender manager was coded 1 male 2 female.

Helplessness, cry at work, supervisor support, work stress and emotional laden had answer possibilities from

1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1. Helplessness 1,96 0.81 1

2. Cry at work 1,51 0.68 .28** 1

3. Supervisor support 3,79 1.16 -.20** -.20** 1

4. Work stress 2,8 1.01 .37** .29** -.34** 1

5. Age 33,14 10.53 -.14* .14* -.02 .03 1

6. Emotional laden 3,7 1.02 .03 .20** -.01 .21** .05 1

7. Tenure 6,91 7.87 -.11 .14* -.05 .01 .73** .02 1

8. Country 1,30 0.46 .22** -.03 .12 -0.3 -.34** .06 -.22** 1

9. Gender supervisor 1.57 0.50 .00 .15* -.01 .01 -.09 .12 -.06 .19** -.14*

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Conditional indirect effects

In order to measure the conceptual model, conditional indirect effects were tested (A. Hayes,

2013). For the moderated mediation analysis, helplessness (X) was the independent variable, cry at

work (M) as the mediator, supervisor support (V) as the moderator and work stress (Y) as the

dependent variable. Besides the control variables age, tenure, emotionally laden, country and gender

supervisor, were added to the model as covariates. To perform this analysis the data was

centralized and an interaction term was made of work related crying*supervisor support. The results

in table 11 shows that the moderation effect of supervisor support between crying at work and

work stress was not significant (B=.04, se=.08, p>.05). Based on this finding hypothesis 5 can be

rejected and therefore concluded that supervisor support does not diminish the positive relation

between crying at work and stress. Since the moderated mediation effect was not significant, the

mediation effect was tested separately (A. Hayes, 2013). The results of this analysis are shown

below in table 12. In order to confirm the third hypotheses; feelings of helplessness are positively

related to work stress, the direct relationship between helplessness and work stress was measured,

which was significant (B=.43, se=.08, p<.001). The results shows that there is a positive significant

relationship of helplessness on crying at work (B=.27, se=.05, p<.001). Furthermore, the R-square

value indicates that helplessness explains 18% of the variance of crying at work. Thus, hypothesis

1; feelings of helplessness are positively related to work related crying, can be confirmed.

Furthermore the relationship between crying at work (M) and work stress (Y) in presence of

helpessness (X) was significant (B=.23, se=.10, p<.05), in which the second hypothesis could be

confirmed; crying at work is positively related to work stress. Hereby, 21% if the variance in work

stress can be explained by crying at work. The mediation effect was confirmed which was described

in hypothesis 4; the relationship between helplessness and stress will partially be mediated by work

related crying. To check the significance of the mediation effect the criteria of Mackinnon &

Fairchild (2009) were used;

1. Confirm the significance (p<.05 ) of the relationship of helplessness (X) on crying at

work(M). (M= a + b1 *X+ e). This way, hypothesis 1 was tested.

2. Confirm the significance (p<.05 ) of relationship between the mediator crying at

work(M) and stress (Y) in the presence of X (M|X → Y) for testing hypothesis 2.

S. van den Brand

20 Crying at work

Since the beta of the relationship between crying at work and work stress in presence of

helplessness is smaller than the beta of the direct effect between helplessness and work stress it

can be concluded that there is partial mediation. Figure 2 shows the regression coefficients of the

mediation effect of a part of the conceptual model.

Table 11. Conditional direct and indirect effects of helplessness on work stress, mediated by

crying at work, and moderated by supervisor support.

Predictor variable B Se t R²

Model 1: F(6,206) = 6.72** 0.18

Main effect on the mediator: crying at work

Helplessness .27** .07 3.91

Age .01 .01 .35

Emotionally laden .11** .04 2.62

Gender supervisor .22** .09 2.38

Tenure .01 .01 0.92

Country -.14 .11 -1.30

Model 2: F(9,203)=10.00** 0.27

Main effect on the dependent variable: work stress

Crying at work .19 .10 3.26


Supervisor support -.22** .06 -3.68

Crying at work*supervisor support .04 .08 .52

Age .00 .01 .53

Emotionally laden .17* .06 2.89

Gender supervisor -.06 .13 -.44

Tenure -.01 .01 -.58

Country -.13 .16 -.81

Indirect effects:

Indirect effects of work related cry on work stress

S. van den Brand

21 Crying at work

** p<.01 *p<.01

Gender supervisor; 1=male, 2=female and country; 1=Netherlands, 2=China

Table 12. Conditional direct and indirect effects of helplessness on work stress, mediated by crying

at work

** p<.01 *p<.01


boot indirect effect Boot s.e. LL 95% CI UL 95% IC

Work related crying .37 .08 .22 .52

B Se t R²

Model 1: F(6,206) = 7.35** 0.18

Main effect on the mediator: crying at work


Age .01 .05 .86


Gender supervisor .22* .09 2.52

Tenure .01 .01 1.04

Country -.14 .10 -1.34

Model 2: F(7,205)=7.93** 0.21


Crying at work .23* .10 2.29


Age .00 .01 .35

Emotionally laden .17* .06 2.68


Tenure -.00 .01 -.29

Country -.21 .15 -1.41

Indirect effects:

Indirect effects of helplessness on work stress

boot indirect effect Boot s.e. LL 95% CI UL 95% IC

Crying at work .06 .08 .01 .13

S. van den Brand

22 Crying at work

Figure 2. regression coefficients mediation effect between feelings of helplessness on work stress mediated by work

related crying. With as control variables; age, country, emotionally laden, gender supervisor and tenure.

Additional analysis

No moderation effect was found for the analysis regarding the conceptual model. Therefore

additional analysis has been done on the moderation effect with different forms of support. During

data collection information about supervisor support and colleague support had been collected.

When changing supervisor support into colleague support, the interaction effect of crying at

work*colleague support was found to be significant (B=.20, se=.09, p<.05). When looking at the

conditional effect of crying at work on work stress at the values of colleagues support, the high

(+1SD) and mean value (M) does not show 0 between the BootLLCI and BootULCI and are

therefore found to be significant. This suggest that in contrast with supervisor support, colleague

support does has an influence on the relationship between crying at work and work stress. although

this relationship is the opposite of what was expected based on the theory. Based on this result it

can be concluded that when employees experience more colleague support, the effect of crying at

work on work stress strengthened.

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23 Crying at work

Table 20. Moderation effect of colleagues support on the relationship between crying at work and

stress.

** p<.01 *p<.01


Predictor variable B Se t R²

Model 1: F(8,204) = 8.23** 0.24


Colleague support -.71** .16 -4.36

Crying at work -.45 .37 -1.21

Crying at work*colleague support .20* .09 2.19

Age -.00 .01 -.25



Tenure -.00 .01 .11

Country .03 .15 .18

Conditional effect of crying at work on work stress at values of colleague support:

Colleague support B Se LLCI ULCI

-1SD .16 .13 -.09 .40

Mean .34 .09 .15 .52

+1SD .52 .13 .27 .76

S. van den Brand

24 Crying at work

Discussion

In this section all five hypotheses will be explained with the expectations from the theory

of the theoretical framework. This will be followed by the limitations of the study and

recommendations for future research. Finally the theoretical and practical implications will be

discussed.

The first hypothesis was; “Feelings of helplessness are positively related to crying at

work.” which was also confirmed. According to Frijda (1988) who states that feelings of

helplessness is one of the most important feelings that evokes crying. when someone feels helpless

they often think that it is impossible to successful regain control, which evokes negative emotions

like crying. After feeling helpless, a way to express oneself is to cry. If another employees sees a

colleague crying they know that she is in need for help.

The second hypothesis; “crying at work is positively related to stress” was confirmed,

which is in accordance with the theory (Elsbach, 2011). This positive relationship is based on the

negative associations people have of employees who cry at work. According to the study of

Elsbach (2017), women who cry at work are quickly seen as manipulative, unprofessional and

weak. After which the consequences can be so harsh that an employee even might miss out on

promotions. The more someone cries at work the more they feel weak about their functioning and

are afraid for the possible negative consequences which causes stress.

The third hypothesis was confirmed and reads as follows; Feelings of helplessness are

positively related to stress. This result is in accordance with the research of Baum (1986) , who

states that feelings of helplessness are associated with the feeling of loss of control. An employees

that often feels helpless at work often has a strong sense of loss of control over the situation, which

causes stress.

Next, the fourth hypothesis; “The relationship between helplessness and stress will be

partially mediated by crying at work.” which was also confirmed. The output showed that the

relationship between helplessness and stress indeed was partially was mediated by crying at work.

This relationship can be explained by the theory based on hypotheses 1, 2 and 3.

Interesting finding with regards to the control variables were the positive significant

relationship between gender supervisor and crying at work, and emotionally laden occupations and

crying at work. The first finding indicates that a female employee who has a male supervisor cry

S. van den Brand

25 Crying at work

less then with a female supervisor. This can be explained by research of Elsbach and Beckly

(2017). They found that men become very uncomfortable when a female colleague cries. Besides

they observed that women are much more empathic to other women when they cry. Men often

perceived the crying episode as manipulative and therefore acted harder against women who cried

at the(A. F. Hayes, 2009) workplace. Therefore, it is assumable that female employees cry more

often in presence of their female supervisor instead of a male supervisor. Besides emotionally

laden was also found to be significant in relation with crying at work. This is not surprising since

employees who work in a highly emotionally laden occupations often needs to deal with

emotions(Soares, 2003). Constantly being in contact with other people and their emotions can lead

to you having to cry more often at work. Besides employees who choose to work in an emotionally

laden job are often more emotional themselves then people who choose a less emotional job

(Soares, 2003). Finally, the results showed a positive relationship between emotionally laden and

stress. This is in accordance with previous research, which states that exposure to emotional

situations is often causes a higher stress level with people (Nejtek, 2002).

The last hypothesis was; “The positive relation of crying at work and stress will be

diminished by perceived supervisor support”, which was rejected. The expectation was that

supervisor support would reduce the negative effect of crying at work that causes stress. however,

the results shows that supervisor support is not a moderating effect but that is has a direct

relationship with work stress. The results show a negative relationship between supervisor support

and stress, which indicates that the less supervisor support someone experience the more stressed

they feel. this can be explained by theory of Stringer (2006) who states that receiving social support

from your supervisor has a positive effect on ones well-being, and therefore reduces the stress

level.

Regarding the additional analysis about the moderating effect of colleague support between

crying at work and stress a possible explanation can be given based on previous research. The

results show that colleague support strengthen this relationship. Thus, the more colleague support

someone experience the more stress she experience after a crying episode. Research from

Vingerhoets and Cornelius (2012) states that women cry more with people they feel comfortable

with. It is assumable that female employees feel more comfortable with their co-workers then their

supervisor. The respondents probably have cried more in presence of their co-workers than with

S. van den Brand

26 Crying at work

their supervisor which can be an explanation for finding a significant relationship with colleagues

support and not with supervisor support. For further research it would therefore be better to ask

the respondent who saw the crying episode.

Limitations and recommendations for future research

First, a cross sectional study was used for the data. Therefore, no causal conclusions may

be drawn, since the data is collected at one time. This is especially important when looking at the

found positive relationship between crying at work and stress. Research also shows that it is very

likely that stressful situations at work can cause crying at work (Newfoundland, 2005). That is

why it is recommended for future research to use another disturbed research design, as a

longitudinal study. It would have been better to obtain the data over different time periods so that

causal relationship could be concluded.

The second limitations is about the sample of respondents. The overall educational level

was very high, 60.1% of the respondents graduated a bachelor, master or PhD degree. As a result,

the sample can be less well generalized over the entire population. Besides, research has shown

that people with a higher educational level, experience more work stress (Matud, 2004). Another

limitations regarding the respondents is the exclusion of male employees. This was chosen for

because male employees cry to little (Kreamer, 2013), which could therefore influence the results.

As a result, the study cannot be generalized over the entire work population. It is therefore

recommended to use a larger sample size in subsequent study, so the men can be included.

The next limitation could be solved by making use of a diary over time. Since a few

respondents needed to recall a crying episodes which was maybe a year ago. In these cases the

intense crying moments as; screaming and crying out loud, will be remembered, but crying as; a

lump in the throat me bot not remembered. In this way the frequency of the less intense crying

behavior will be less remembered.

Since the questionnaire has been translated into 3 different languages, interpretation errors

may have been made here. In future research a cultural validation by mapping the concept to the

target culture, for example, appropriateness of wording, potential misinterpretation due to different

ways of thinking can be conducted.

The last limitation is about the way crying is measured. As mentioned before can crying

be described in different forms of intensity (Lutz, 1999). Therefore, the eight different forms of

S. van den Brand

27 Crying at work

intensity were used ranging from; lump in the throat, to screaming and crying out loud. However,

to get one variable of crying at work all these different forms of crying were merged. As a result,

there was no longer any differences in the different intensities of crying. It is however plausible

for this research that someone who screamed and cried at the same time experienced more shame

afterwards then someone were the crying was not visible. For future research it is therefore

recommended to distinguish in, for example, visible and invisible crying.

Theoretical implications

Despite the limitations of this study, there are also some theoretical and practical

implications. First, the theoretical implication will be explained. The most important implication

about this study is that more has become clear about the causes and consequences of crying. in

recent years, more and more research has been done on crying in general. This research however

focusses on the context in which someone cries, namely in a work environment. Based on theory

from Hoover-dempsey (1986), the context of crying is very important in the acceptance of crying.

Since very little is known about the causes and consequences of crying at work, this research add

new knowledge about this subject.

Another theoretical implication is about the relationship of crying at work with regards to

the gender of the supervisor. Previous research has already proved that women cry more than man

at work (Kreamer, 2013). However, no research has been conducted as to whether the presence of

male or female supervisor also affects the frequency of crying of a female employee. This is an

interesting finding that can be further investigated for possible causes. Following studies can focus

on differences between personality traits between men and women. female supervisors may give

other women the feeling that it is accepted to cry, where men have a much bolder attitude.

Practical implications

This study has shown that crying at work does occur, perhaps even more often than people

think. Since there was found a positive significant relationship between crying at work and stress

it is important for organizations to pay more attention to employees who cry frequent. It is

important for organizations that the taboo around crying at work need to be handled. In this way

employees will feel less stressed which is better for the overall performance. This can be down by

S. van den Brand

28 Crying at work

creating more knowledge around crying at work. Supervisors and colleagues need to know who to

react on someone who cries. However, this study showed that it is important that the colleagues

do not pay too much attention on a crying employee, because the crying person may feel even

more ashamed by this, which can cause stress.

S. van den Brand

29 Crying at work

Conclusion

In order to give an answer to the research question described in the introduction; What is

the effect of feelings of helplessness and crying at work on stress? Does supervisor support

diminish the relationship between crying at work and stress? the output of the results described

earlier are used. Based on the mediation analysis it can be concluded that there is a positive

relationship between feelings of helplessness and crying at work. Employees who feel helplessness

cry more often, which is in line with the expectations. Furthermore, feelings of helplessness does

has a positive relationship with stress. Since a significant mediation effect has been found, it can

be stated that the relationship between helplessness and stress can partly be explained by crying at

work. To answer the second question; Does supervisor support diminish the relationship between

crying at work and stress? a moderation analysis has been performed. This relationship was not

significant, which means that although employees receive supervisor support this does not reduce

the positive relationship between crying at work and stress. This is in contrast to the expectations

based on research (Stringer, 2006). A significant interaction term was found when changing

supervisor support in colleague support. It states that colleague support would strengthen the

positive relationship between crying at work and stress. Regarding the control variables it became

clear that emotionally laden professions have an effect on someone’s crying behavior. In addition,

the gender of the supervisor plays a role in de frequency of crying at work. In summary, it became

clear that crying is a very complex construct which deserves much more attention from other

researches. Different aspects as the reason of crying and crying in other contexts need to be

investigated.

S. van den Brand

30 Crying at work

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Appendix

Appendix A

Survey work-related crying

Dear Participant,

Welcome to the survey for "Stress at work". This survey has been compiled by researchers from

the Human Resource Studies at Tilburg University. This survey was made in order to gain more

insight into work stress and how employees cope with it. With these insights we would like to help

employees improve their social aspect of work and enhance their work experience. If you would

like to know more about this survey, please feel free to contact one of the researchers via the e-

mail adreses provided below.

Confidentiality

This survey is strictly confidential. Your participation is entirely voluntary but greatly

appreciated. Under no circumstances will your individual responses be made available to

anyone within your organisation. Moreover, it will be processed anonymously. This research

has been approved by the ethical research board of Tilburg University.

Instructions

This survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Please select the box that

corresponds the most with your opinion regarding to a statement or type in your answer where

indicated. It is important that as many people as possible fills in this survey to ensure that valid

and reliable conclusions can be drawn. If you are interested in the results of this study, feel free

to contact one of the researchers.

Your participation is greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much.

With kind regards,

Denecia Meade

Jiayi Fan

Maja de Looff

Sjoukje van den Brand

Consent form “stress at work” study,

In accordance with the ethical guidelines of the Ethics Review Board of Tilburg School of Social

S. van den Brand

36 Crying at work

and Behavioral Sciences we ask you to formally agree to the following before you start this

questionnaire:

I hereby declare that all of the following applies:

1. I voluntarily participate in the “Stress at work” study;

2. I read all relevant information about the “Stress at work” (the information provided

in the text thus far in this questionnaire);

3. I had sufficient room for questions about the study beforehand;

4. I am aware that I am able to withdraw from this study at any point in time, without

any negative consequences and without providing an explanation;

5. I agree with the processing of my answers for academic research;

6. I give permission to the University of Tilburg to store the research data full

anonymous; (untraceable to individual level) for a period of 10 years in line with

the regulations for scientific research.

7.

Any questions or concerns with regard to this can be discussed with Dr Renee de

Reuver, researcher from Tilburg University

Control variables

1. Gender (male/female)

2. Age (years)

3. Occupation

4. Do you work more than 50 % of your time directly with clients, patients, costumers,

children or pupils (yes/no)

5. Do you have to deal with emotions of clients, patients, costumers, children or pupils at

work: (1= never –5= always)

6. Sector:

-Construction industry

-Retail

-Financial services

-Wholesale

-Catering and residential recreation

-Agriculture and horticulture

-Education

-Government

-Social work, youth care and childcare

-Transport and logistics

-Healthcare

-Other:

7. Country (The Netherlands, China)

8. Education :

-Primary School

-Secondary School

-Vocational Education

-Bachelor Applied University/ university

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37 Crying at work

-Masters University /PhD

-Other

9. Management position or not (yes/no)

10. Is manager female/male

11. Organizational tenure ( years)

Distributive justice (1= strongly disagree – 5 = strongly agree)

12. My labor conditions are appropriate for the efforts I make on my job.

13. My labor conditions justify the work that I have done.

14. My labor conditions reflect the responsibilities that I have

15. My labor conditions are justified in view of my work performance.

Lack of social support (1= strongly disagree – 5 = strongly agree)

16. When it gets difficult at work, I can rely on my colleagues to help me solve the

problem.

17. My colleagues are willing to go the extra mile to help me.

18. It is easy for me to talk to colleagues when I need help.

19. My colleagues are always willing to listen to me.

20. When it becomes difficult at work, I can rely on my direct supervisor to solve the

problem with me.

21. My direct supervisor is willing to make extra effort to help me.

22. It is easy for me to talk to direct supervisors when I need help.

23. My direct supervisor is always willing to listen to me.

24. When it gets difficult at work, I can rely on my family to help me solve the problem.

25. My family is willing to go the extra mile to help me.

26. It is easy for me to talk to family when I need help.

27. My family is always willing to listen to me.

Work stress (1= strongly disagree – 5 = strongly agree)

28. A lot of time my job makes me very frustrated or angry.

29. I am usually under a lot of pressure when I am at work.

30. When I’m at work I often feel tense or uptight.

31. I am usually calm and at ease when I’m working.

32. There are a lot of aspects of my job that make me upset.

Emotional exhaustion (1= strongly disagree – 5 = strongly agree)

33. I feel mentally exhausted by my work.

34. A whole day of work is a heavy burden for me.

35. I feel ‘burned’ by my work.

36. At the end of the day I feel empty.

37. I feel tired when I get up in the morning and there is another working day for me again.

Conscientiousness (1= strongly disagree – 5 = strongly agree)

38. I get chores done right away

39. I often forget to put things back in their proper place

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40. I like order

41. I make a mess of things

Neuroticism (1= strongly disagree – 5 = strongly agree)

42. I have frequent mood swings

43. I am relaxed most of the time

44. I get upset easily

45. I seldom feel blue

Psychological flexibility (1= never true – 5 = always true)

46. My painful experiences and memories made it difficult for me to have a valuable day.

47. Today I was afraid of my feelings.

48. Today I worried about not being able to control my worries and feelings.

49. My painful memories prevented me from having a fulfilling day.

50. Emotions caused problems today.

51. Today it seemed that most people were handling their day better than I did.

52. Worries got in the way of my success today. (R)

Emotional demand (1 = Strongly Disagree– 5 = Strongly Agree)

53. My work is emotionally demanding

54. In my job, I am confronted with things that are personally touching

55. I face emotionally charged situations in my work

Helplessness (1 = Strongly Disagree– 5 = Strongly Agree)

56. I don't seem to be able to cope with crises without the help of others.

57. I certainly feel useless at times.

58. I can hardly ever find ways around the problems that I face.

59. Sometimes I think I may as well give up because there's nothing I can do about making

things better for myself.

60. When I find myself in a jam, I can never think of ways of getting out of it.

61. I have difficulty starting to do things.

62. I can't think of reasonable ways to reach my current goal.

Work related crying: (1 = never – 5= weekly)

How often have you had the following experiences in the past 12 months in a private

situation at work or at home about work?

63. Lump in your throat.

64. Feel tears rise.

65. Wet eye corners.

66. Tears in your eyes.

67. Tears running down your cheek.

68. Sobbing

69. Crying out loud.

70. Screaming and crying simultaneously.

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How often have you had the following experiences in the past 12 months in a public

situation at work? (1=never – 5=weekly)

71. Lump in your throat

72. Feel tears rise.

73. Wet eye corners.

74. Tears in your eyes.

75. Tears running down your cheek.

76. Sobbing

77. Crying out loud.

78. Screaming and crying simultaneously.

How do you generally feel after a crying episode as compared with just before?

(Check for each emotion/mood the most appropriate alternative!)

1 2 3

79. relaxed: less same more as before

80. tense: less same more as before

81. in control: less same more as before

82. depressed: less same more as before

83. sad: less same more as before

84. happy: less same more as before

85. relieved: less same more as before

86. How would you rate your general tendency to cry?

I hardly I can very

ever cry 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 easily cry

Resilience (1= strongly disagree –5= strongly agree).

87. I tend to bounce back quickly after hard times.

88. . I have a hard time making it through stressful events.

89. It does not take me long to recover from a stressful event .

90. It is hard for me to snap back when something bad happens.

91. I usually come through difficult times with little trouble .

92. I tend to take a long time to get over set-backs in my life.

Recovery from work (1= strongly disagree –5= strongly agree).

During time after work:

Psychological detachment

93. I forget about work.

94. I don’t think about work at all.

95. I distance myself from my work.

96. I get a break from the demands of work.

Relax

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97. I kick back and relax.

98. I do relaxing things.

99. I use the time to relax.

100. I take time for leisure.

Mastery

101. I learn new things.

102. I seek out intellectual challenges.

103. I do things that challenge me.

104. I do something to broaden my horizons.

Control

105. I feel like I can decide for myself what to do.

106. I decide my own schedule.

107. I determine for myself how I will spend my time.

108. I take care of things the way that I want them done.

COPE (1= never – 4 = often)

what have you done to cope with the most stressful situation you had experienced during

the previous three months:

Problem solving:

109. I took additional action to try to get rid of the problem.

110. I concentrated my efforts on doing something about it.

111. I did what has to be done, one step at a time.

112. I tried to come up with a strategy about what to do.

113. I made a plan of action.

114. I thought hard about what steps to take.

115. I thought about how I might best handle the problem.

Emotional:

116. I refuse to believe that it has happened.

117. I pretend that it hasn't really happened.

118. I act as though it hasn't even happened.

Other:

119. I looked for something good in what is happening.

120. I tried to see it in a different light, to make it seem more positive.

121. I learned something from the experience.

122. I drank alcohol or took drugs, in order to think about it less

123. I learn to live with it.

124. I accept that this has happened and that it can't be changed.

125. I get used to the idea that it happened.

Turn over intentions (1= intention to stay –5= intention to leave the organization)

126. Sometimes I consider about changing employer.

127. I plan to search for a new job for next year.

128. I expect that soon I will be working in another company

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Absenteeism

129. In comparison to my colleagues, my absenteeism is: (1= much less – 5= much

more)

130. How many days were you absent due to illness, last year: ….days

Voice (1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree). 131. I develop and makes recommendations concerning issues that affect my work.

132. I speak up and encourage others to get involved in issues that affect the work.

133. I communicate about work issues to others even if their opinion is different and

others disagree with me

Appendix B

Principle component matrix crying at work

Principle component matrix helplessness

Component loading

Lump in throat .647

Feel tears rise .833

Wet eye corners .880

Tears in your eyes .900

Tears running down your cheek .900

Sobbing .850

Crying out loud .823

Screaming and crying out loud simultaneously .718

Component loading

I don’t seem to be able to cope with crises without the help of others. .661

I certainly feel useless at times. .736

I can hardly ever find ways around the problems that I face. .818

Sometimes I think I may as well give up because there's nothing I can do

about making things better for myself.

.776

When I find myself in a jam, I can never think of ways of getting out of it. .832

I have difficulty starting to do things. .662

I can't think of reasonable ways to reach my current goal. .804

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Principle component matrix stress

Principle component matrix supervisor support

Component loading

A lot of time my job makes me very frustrated or angry. .818

I am usually under a lot of pressure when I am at work. .783

When I’m at work I often feel tense or uptight. .873

I am usually calm and at ease when I’m working. .728

There are a lot of aspects of my job that make me upset. .765

Component loading

I can rely on my direct supervisor to solve the problem with me .925

My direct supervisor is willing to make extra effort to help me .934

It is easy for me to talk to direct supervisors when I need help. .937

My direct supervisor is always willing to listen to me. .869

Master thesis Crying at work, cause and consequence

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