The relevance of the study of student learning behavior is determined by various factors that influence it. Such a factor as stress takes the leading place among the nuances that determine students’ behavior in a university. Today’s volume and intensity of the work-loads experienced by students often approach a level that entails persistent disorders of both the physical functioning of the body and the violation of its psychological stability. This essay will look deeper into the effect of stress on academic performance and its origins.
There is ample evidence that chronic stress and college life are inseparable. Researchers note that students’ causes of stress are mostly related to problems with financing, housing, security, and others. The stress experienced by students can affect learning (acquisition, application, and processing of knowledge), which hinders academic performance [1]. Besides the ability to learn, stress also affects learning behaviour. This kind of stress develops from the lack of semester’s work systematization, a schedule for work and rest, part-time jobs, and others. Academic difficulties, in return, also create discomfort, resulting in an overall increased state of anxiety. Exam stress is one of the primary causes of mental stress for high school students. Those who experience high intellectual and emotional stress while studying at a university are often observed to have negative dynamics of attitudes towards educational activities. One of the reasons for this occurrence in all active members of any institution is the lack of a proper time management routine.
A properly balanced schedule has proportionate and timely amounts of work and rest. Svedberg [2] mentioned in her work that “individuals can handle much strain as long as they recover, during the day and over time, and during sleep, with sleep having powerful restorative qualities.” If a person does not even out their energy waste and recovery, it could lead to a whole spectrum of possible health risks and even psychological problems. This is where stress appears, as it is almost always a cause of sleep deprivation. Going by the footprints of causality, stress has a bit of influence in almost every possible negative effect on a person’s life. It even touches upon the relationships within family, friends, and loved ones.
It is generally accepted in society that work is a place for stress and labour, and a home is a place for leisure. Some people argue that both social institutions are equally demanding, or, possibly, that the house and families even more time-consuming and stressful. An excellent example of the two contrasting views is in articles by Hoboudi [3] and Damaske [4]. While Hoboudi, in his research on productivity, does not even consider home stress or satisfaction as a variable, Damaske clearly defines and considers the stress coming from both institutions. He also explains that stress may come from competition between them for the time that the person spends with each.
Although stress had a universal presence in living creatures since the dawn of life, it does not mean that we should not try to avoid it and help reduce it for others. Stress can come from anywhere: school, work, family, even a dog barking at night, but regardless of the origin, all stress has the same impact on a human. Covering all kinds of possible damage, from social to physical, stress is an enemy that should not be ignored.
References
J. Ortuño-Sierra, E. Fonseca-Pedrero, R. Aritio-Solana, E. Chocarro de Luis, “Stress assessment during adolescence: Psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the Student Stress Inventory-Stress Manifestations across gender and age,” European Journal of Developmental Psychology, vol.13, no. 5, pp. 529-544, 2016.
P. Svedberg, L. Mather, G. Bergström, P. Lindfors, V. Blom, “Time pressure and sleep problems due to thoughts about work as risk factors for future sickness absence,” International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, vol. 91, pp. 1051-1059, 2018.
N. Hoboubi, A. Choobineh, F. K. Ghanavati, S. Keshavarzi, A. A. Hosseini, “The impact of job stress and job satisfaction on workforce productivity in an Iranian petrochemical industry,” Safety and Health at Work, vol. 8, pp. 67-71, 2017.
S. Damaske, J. M. Smyth, M. J. Zavadski, ”Has work replaced home as a haven? Re-examining Arlie Hochschild’s Time Bind proposition with objective stress data,” Social Science and Medicine, vol. 115, pp. 130-138, 2014.