Psychological Dilemmas in the Performance-Oriented Era: Exploring Pathways to Resolving Workplace Stress

Abstract

Currently, a management environment oriented towards efficiency and growth has led to a "performance-first" approach dominating many organizations. While driving efficiency, this model has also profoundly reshaped the workplace ecosystem, triggering widespread psychological distress among employees. This article focuses on the workplace stress fostered by this culture, systematically analyzing its core manifestations-including persistent anxiety, deep burnout, fluctuating self-esteem, and interpersonal alienation-and uncovering its underlying causes: instrumental management thinking that alienates individuals into metrics, individualized risk-shifting exacerbates the burden of responsibility, and a lack of organizational support and the erosion of life boundaries by technology, all of which create a breeding ground for stress. To address this dilemma, the study proposes a multi-dimensional, coordinated intervention approach: organizational management must shift from control to empowerment, implementing flexible goal setting, strengthening developmental feedback communication, and fostering a psychologically safe environment. Individual employees should proactively cultivate psychological resilience, decouple performance from self-worth, master stress management techniques, and firmly maintain healthy boundaries between work and life. At the societal level, there is an urgent need to strengthen the occupational mental health service system and, through media, academia, and industry, guide society in reshaping a healthy performance ethic, promoting work-life balance and the concept of "decent work." Research indicates that alleviating performance pressure requires moving beyond technical solutions and re-evaluating the core values of organizational culture-anchoring the ultimate purpose of development in people rather than metrics. Only by fostering a new workplace ecosystem that respects individual integrity and fosters symbiosis between organizations and employees can we achieve true health, dignity, and sustainable prosperity in the era of efficiency.