Qualitative analysis of selected determinants of occupational stress – results of research conducted on public sector units

The paper analyses occupational stress occurring in three public sector units. The aim of the study was to identify stressors at work and working out solutions conducive to coping with stress present in professional life. Individual in-depth interviews covered 32 employees particularly exposed to strong stressors due to social nature of performed duties. In the course of the conducted research we have identified stressors’ sources, determined the perceived stress at work, and then tried to arrange them in the form of specific threats, appropriate for individual groups of studied officials according to their gender, age, education level, work experience and occupied position. Furthermore, we proved the importance of position at work in the human’s hierarchy of needs.