Three questionnaires were administered to 75 workers and 75 middle managers in the Durban-based Portnet business unit of Transnet. The aims of this administration were the following: * to establish whether there is any relationship between perceived stress and general health within a single occupational group of middle managers and workers separately (horizontal comparisons). * to find out if there are any differences between the perceived stress, coping strategies and the general health of the middle managers and that of the workers (vertical comparisons). It was found that the relationship between high levels of perceived stress and the general health is very weak. This was attributed to the effectiveness of the coping strategies used by the members of the two occupational groups in their work environment. Significant differences between middle managers and workers on perceived stress, coping strategies and the general health were also established. These differences were ascribed to the different content and contextual work dimensions existing in these two occupational levels.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, 1993.