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Occupational Psychology

Psychological Stress (Psychische Belastung)

Psychische Belastung is value-neutral (ISO 10075): it covers all external influences across work content, organization, social relations and work environment.

Psychological stress (Psychische Belastung) is defined according to DIN EN ISO 10075-1 as "the totality of all assessable influences that act upon a person from outside and affect them psychologically".

Important: Stress is Neutral!

The term "Belastung" (stress) in occupational psychology is value-neutral:

  • No negative connotation as in everyday language
  • Describes objective influences
  • Can have positive or negative consequences

Sources of Psychological Stress

Work content:

  • Task complexity
  • Emotional demands
  • Responsibility

Work organization:

  • Time pressure
  • Work interruptions
  • Working hours

Social relationships:

  • Leadership behavior
  • Collegial support
  • Conflicts

Work environment:

  • Noise
  • Lighting
  • Room climate

From Stress to Strain

The same stress leads to different strain in different people:

  • Experience and competence
  • Physical and psychological constitution
  • Current condition

Assessment with SafeMind

SafeMind captures all relevant stress factors according to GDA guideline and enables systematic evaluation.

Related Search Terms

psychological stresswork stressmental workloadstress factorsDIN EN ISO 10075

Frequently Asked Questions

What is psychological stress (Psychische Belastung)?

Psychological stress refers to all external influences that psychologically affect a person. The term is value-neutral and describes objective factors such as work content, time pressure or social relationships.

Is psychological stress always negative?

No, psychological stress is a neutral term. The same stress can lead to positive (activation, learning) or negative (stress, fatigue) consequences depending on the person and situation.

What factors belong to psychological stress?

Psychological stress includes work content, work organization, social relationships and work environment - the four characteristic areas of the GDA guideline.

Related Terms

Psychological Strain

Occupational

Psychische Beanspruchung is the individual response to Belastung - the same workload may activate one person and exhaust another based on personal resources.

DIN EN ISO 10075

Norms

DIN EN ISO 10075 defines the stress-strain model separating neutral Belastung from individual Beanspruchung - the scientific basis for GBU Psych instruments.

GDA

Legal

The GDA Guideline defines 7 process steps and 4 characteristic areas for psychological risk assessment, used as a benchmark by German authorities.

Stressors

Occupational

Stressors are physical, psychological and social triggers of strain - such as time pressure or noise - assessed across all four GDA characteristic areas.

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