Measuring Millennials’ Adversity Quotient® and Its Correlation with Individual Performance in Project Teams By Lloyd Harriman Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment for the Degree of Master of Science in Programme and Project Management

Conceptualisation Active Experimentation Literature Review 24 Harriman Lloyd [1566804] duration of the adverse situation. Stoltz (1997) explains this through the CORE dimensions of Reach and Endurance which signifies the extent to which adversity is allowed to spread within an individual’s life, and the amount of time an individual perceives it to last. 2.3 Responses to Adversity Individuals with a high AQ® perceive that they have greater control over adversity, which causes them to view it as a temporary occurrence. Moreover, their perceived control is reinforced through a high self-efficacy. With regard to Rotter’s (1966) locus of control, Stoltz (1997) highlights that those who adopt an internal locus of control, and therefore believe that they control the rewards and punishments they receive, are more likely to try and overcome negative situations that arise. In spite of the above, individuals who possess high AQ® scores are more likely to adopt a locus of control which is between strong internal and external. For instance, there is a possibility that a strong locus of control may make an individual want to control everything. Consequently, conflict may arise in the workplace, causing disruptions to the progress of a project. At times, the use of an external locus of control during a project may be useful to ensure that the project team stays motivated. For example, a project manager may adopt an external locus of control to reinforce that the disruption to the project could not have been avoided. In general, high levels of achievement motivation are coupled with optimism. This is because an individual believes that they have the capability to overcome the adversity faced, which in turn presents an effort-reward relationship, providing an individual with high levels of motivation and empowerment (Conger and Kanungo, 1994). Conversely, for individuals who possess a lower AQ® the cause of adversity is seen to be entirely the fault of the individual, thus adopting an internal attribution style. Moreover, they perceive adversity to be outside of their capability by adopting an external locus of control. The indicated self-blame causes an individual to perceive adversity as permanent and any positive experience as temporary. Eventually, these individuals will experience learned helplessness. The likelihood of an individual with a Literature Review 25 Harriman Lloyd [1566804] low AQ® becoming overwhelmed by stress is high. For individuals with high AQ® scores, stress is likely to be seen as an inevitable occurrence which occurs in the pursuit of success. This will generally cause an individual to do whatever it takes to overcome the stress faced. With regards to male and female responses to stress, Matud (2004) found that women suffer from greater levels of chronic stress and daily stressors when compared to men. Interestingly, the difference was not due to the occurrence of life events, rather their perception of life events was seen to be more negative and out of control. This implies that women may have lower scores on the CORE dimensions of Control, Origin and Ownership. Physiologically, sex hormones are largely responsible for these differences. When stress is induced, internal changes take place which enable an individual to cope. Responsible for these changes are an individuals’ hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS), which work together to mediate the body’s response to stress (Verma et al. 2011). Verma et al. (2011) outlined that women’s HPA and SNS are reduced as a consequence of their hormones. They outline that the reduction makes women more susceptible to stress due to disrupted cortisol feedback on the brain, combined with less or delayed control over the stress response. Men’s HPA and SNS greater responsiveness is supported by Frankenhaeuser et al. (1976) who found that during an exam men’s stress hormones were released more quickly than women’s, further suggesting that women may be more susceptible to stress due to their delayed physiological stress response. With increased time invested in education and helicopter parenting giving their children instant access to money, many millennials have not experienced the working environment until they are older. Hence provoking further questions over how well they will respond to the demands of the project management environment. The attribution theory and learned helplessness theory provide an explanation for how millennials experiences with adversity may affect their response. The next step will be to examine the stress process in an attempt to understand exactly what stress is and how it occurs. This will help the author gain a clearer understanding of the likely physiological and psychological changes an individual is likely to experience as a result of adversity. Literature Review 26 Harriman Lloyd [1566804] 2.4 What Is Stress? With research dating back to the 1800s, the concept of stress has been widely studied (Selye, 1936; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). Of particular interest to scholars has been the underlying physiological and neurological responses that occur due to stress. Consequently, stress has been subject to various definitions being proposed in literature (see Table 2). Definition Researcher The non-specific response of the body to any demand Selye, 1936 A major imbalance between the demands of an environment and the response capability of an individual McGrath, 1970 A perceptual phenomenon arising from a comparison between the demand on the person and his or her ability to cope Cox, 1978 Subject’s inability to forestall or diminish perception, recall, anticipation, or imagination of disvalued circumstances Kaplan, 1983 A relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised as taxing or exceeding his or her resources and endangering their wellbeing Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 A psychological, physiological and behavioural response by an individual when they perceive a lack of equilibrium between the demands placed upon them and their ability to meet those demands Palmer, 1989 Table 2 Definitions of Stress Literature Review 27 Harriman Lloyd [1566804] Selye’s (1936) definition of stress takes a singular view of the term without consideration of the effect of the environment or the impact it has on an individual’s cognition. This is perhaps due to Selye’s roots in biology. The importance of the environment is recognised by both McGrath (1970) and Lazarus and Folkman (1984). Unlike Selye (1936), they both allude to the psychological importance in handling stress by outlining “response capability” and “appraisal. ” Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) definition highlights the subjective nature of stress by outlining the impact of an individual’s appraisal. Similar to adversity, what an individual perceives as stressful will vary depending on the person and the environment from which a situation arises. Cox (1978) highlights the importance of “coping,” which further reinforces the different ways in which people are seen to handle stress. Kaplan’s (1984) definition supports the importance of cognition, by underlining a range of perceptual processes. A number of the definitions (McGrath, 1970; Lazarus and Folkman, 1984; Palmer, 1989) all agree that the disruption to the homeostatic functioning of an individual is the primary onset of stress. A further agreement can be seen in the requirement that the perceived demands be lower than their perceived ability. Arguably the most comprehensive definition is that of Palmer (1989), as it refers to stress as a multidimensional concept with ‘psychological, physiological and behavioural’ responses being identified. Taking into account the definitions included in Table 2, stress can be defined as any environmental situation which an individual perceives to be a threat towards their response capability. In relation to project management, stress can therefore be thought to result from an individual’s response to change. With change being a fundamental part of a project, millennials must be able to handle stress on a daily basis. It is therefore essential that the author gains a grounded understanding of the physiological and emotional responses of stress. 2.5 How Does Stress Occur? The physiological changes that occur in response to stress were first researched by Cannon in 1897 (Brown and Fee, 2002). With an interest in the physiology of emotions, Cannon based much of his research on animals. After observing involuntary Literature Review 28 Harriman Lloyd [1566804] movements within animals’ stomachs as a result of fear, he became interested in the wider physiological effects of emotion (Brown and Fee, 2002). Cannon’s work (1897) formed the catalyst to further research, which led to the ‘fight-or-flight’ response (Cannon, 1915) being proposed. Cannon (1926) used the term ‘homeostasis’ to describe a mechanism within the body that maintains a normal state of functioning. According to Cannon (1935), as environmental challenges arise, physiological systems in the body must adapt in line with the greater demands placed on an individual’s resources. The ‘fight-or-flight’ response mechanism (also known as the acute stress response) explains the internal biological changes that occur when an organism is faced with a threat. In short, an organism will either confront or flee from the threat that is faced (Everly and Lating, 2013). Biologically, as stress is detected, a small region in the brain referred to as the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system and endocrine system. Hormones, namely adrenaline and cortisol, are subsequently released. The first part of the fight-or-flight response poses the question of whether the initial reaction to an external stressor is emotional or physiological. William James (1884) and Carl Lange (1885) were first to acknowledge the emotional and physiological trade off. Despite their theories being proposed separately, they wer