Zhang, R P; Bowen, P and Edwards, P (2020) Work-related strain effects and coping strategies among South African construction professionals. In: Scott, L and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 36th Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-8 September 2020, Online Event, UK.
Abstract
The working environment in the construction industry is demanding and many construction professionals experience high levels of workplace stress, leading to physiological, psychological and sociological strain effects. The coping strategies that construction professionals adopt to manage work-related stress can be positive (e.g., physical and intellectual counter-measures) or negative (e.g. unhealthy lifestyles and substance abuse). A purposively-selected sample of thirty-six construction professionals (comprising architects, project managers, construction managers, engineers and quantity surveyors) were surveyed regarding their perceptions of stress effects and coping strategies for mitigating stress. Gender- and discipline-based differences in perceptions were also investigated. The highest-ranked physiological strains in terms of perceived intensity were fatigue, disturbed sleep, an inability to relax, and skeleto-muscular pain. The psychological strains of frustration, anger / irritability, anxiety, tenseness and feeing dissatisfied were perceived to be the most intensive. Strain on professional relationships and strain on personal relationships were the highest ranked sociological strains in terms of intensity. No significant difference in perceptions of strains was noticed between genders or discipline groups. Regarding stress coping strategies, respondents perceived non-competitive sporting activity and walking as the most effective physical stress counter-measures. The intellectual stress counter-measures of travel, humour, music, reading and book clubs and focus on smaller, manageable tasks were ranked the highest in terms of effectiveness. With regard to negative coping strategies, respondents ranked confrontation, increased caffeine intake, and “distancing / escape / avoidance” actions as effective negative stress counter-measures. Gender- and discipline-based differences were identified in the rating of some physical and intellectual stress counter-measures but not in the rating of negative stress counter-measures. The research contributes to the understanding of stress effects on construction professionals and provides important implications for the development of targeted stress-management strategies within professional practices and construction organisations.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | workplace stress; strain effects; stress coping; construction professionals |
| Index terms: | lifestyle, strategy, engineer, fatigue, project manager, quantity surveying, management strategy, pain, construction organization, professional practice, workplace stress, escape, professional relationships, construction industry, construction manager, architect, effectiveness, anxiety, coping, construction professional |
| Subjects: | professional development, performance management, management, behavioral psychology, industry analysis, health conditions and diseases, sociology, emergency and crisis management, demography, organization, mental health and wellbeing, profession, psychology |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Information Management, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Roles and Professions, Quality Management, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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