Enshassi, A and Al Swaity, E (2015) Key stressors leading to construction professionals' stress in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 20(2), pp. 53-79. ISSN 1823-6499
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate the key stressors that lead to stress among professionals on construction projects. A total of 320 questionnaires were randomly distributed to construction professionals in the Gaza Strip, and 183 were returned, yielding a 51% response rate. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to explore the interrelationships among stressor attributes in four stressor groups (task, personal, physical, and organisational). The results of this study indicated that personality and home-work conflicts are the most prevailing personal stressors linked to stress experienced by Gaza Strip construction professionals. This type of stress was induced because construction professionals did not give attention to their personal lives in addition to their jobs. Task stressors resulted from two types of work overload: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative overload came from working for long hours with too much work, whereas qualitative overload resulted from a wide range of responsibilities. Physical stressors were not recognised by Gaza Strip construction professionals as an important source of stress. With regard to organisational stressors, it was found that the policies, treatment, and rewards were inadequate. A politicised environment and lack of feedback from the supervisor were responsible for organisational structure stressors. This study will add value to the existing body of knowledge concerning Palestinian professionals' perspectives of stressors in the construction industry. Professionals can take key stressors into consideration to manage and minimise stress on construction projects. Therefore, training sessions on managing and coping with stress is recommended for construction professionals.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | stressors; stress; professionals; factor analysis |
| Index terms: | organizational structure, stressors, exploratory factor analysis, body of knowledge, questionnaire, construction project, personality, Palestine, construction industry, Gaza Strip, supervisor, factor analysis, coping, construction professional |
| Subjects: | knowledge management, data collection methods, practitioner, health conditions and diseases, sociology, industry analysis, behavioral psychology, statistical analysis, physical geography and landforms, production management, Geography, professional development |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Project Management, Research Practice, Information Management, Health and Safety, Roles and Professions, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here