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Organisations are being warned not to make "stereotypical assumptions" that leaders are less vulnerable to workplace psychosocial hazards, with new research showing they have their own psychological response to alleviating these risks for employees.

In studying how supervisors responded to psychosocial hazards in a four-week period, Queensland University of Technology researchers Nerina Jimmieson and Adele Bergin discovered which responses were best suited to different types of employee stressors.

However, they also found supervisors experienced some level of stress themselves when dealing with employees' issues.

In the study, 342 supervisors dealt with more than 20 different psychosocial hazards (employee stressors), which the researchers grouped into eight 'themes'...