It is no secret that different people may react in vastly different ways to stressful situations. The basic tendencies of people who are working in stressful conditions are relatively universal across industries. In psychology, some researchers1 have identified the perceived level of control that an individual has over their environment as a major factor in how they react to stress and frustration in the workplace.
People who believe they have a higher level of control of their environment tend to handle adversity in a more engaged manner by making efforts to fix the problem. People who believe they have no control over their environment tend to become more frustrated and take that frustration out on their coworkers.