Role Stress, Job Burnout, and Job Performance in Construction Project Managers: The Moderating Role of Career Calling

Abstract

This study aims to explore the influence of role stress (role ambiguity and role conflict) on job burnout and job performance in construction project managers in the Chinese construction industry. Based on the JD-R (Job Demands Resources) model, this study introduces career calling as the moderating variable, in order to develop a theoretical model. The theoretical model is then tested with structural equation modeling. This work uses data from 191 owners, contractors, subcontractors, and supervisors in the Chinese construction industry. The results indicate that: (i) role ambiguity has a negative and significant effect on job burnout and job performance; (ii) role conflict has a negative effect on job burnout, but has a non-significant influence on job performance; (iii) job burnout has a negative impact on job performance; (iv) career calling negatively moderates the relationship between role ambiguity and job burnout, and positively moderates the relationship between role conflict and job performance. Furthermore, the results also show that career calling can positively moderate the effect of role conflict on job burnout. This study expands the existing body of knowledge by reasonably controlling role stress and appropriately introducing career calling. In addition, the study provides some suggestions relevant to construction project management.

Work–Family Conflict and Job Outcomes for Construction Professionals: The Mediating Role of Affective Organizational Commitment

“…Not surprisingly, researchers have found that high performers tend to have stronger professional skills and better career opportunities, as well as tend to be more likely than low performers to be promoted within their organizations [39]. Construction projects are temporary projects involving multi-disciplinary professionals, so the job performances of construction professionals are affected by multiple interdependent processes and tasks [1,4]. In general, the job performance of construction professionals includes task performance, situational performance, and adaptive performance [40].…”

“…The results indicate that job positions had a non-significant impact on job outcomes (job position→job satisfaction, −0.012, p > 0.05; job position→job performance, −0.015, p > 0.05). Third, since older construction professionals may respond differently to WFC compared to young construction professionals [1], this study implemented a homogeneity of variance test (WIF (Levene Statistic = 0.801, p > 0.05); FIW (Levene Statistic = 0.367, p > 0.05)). The results show that the assumption of homogeneity of variance was effective, indicating that the response of elderly construction professionals to WFC is the same as that of young construction professionals.…”

“…As a labor-intensive industry, the construction industry is characterized by high risks, heavy workloads, and long construction periods [1]. The demanding working environment in this industry involves long working hours [2,3], for construction projects are always of temporary, uncertain, and dynamic nature and tend to be in large, complex, and integrated scales [4].…”

“…Thus, it is not surprising that researchers found construction professionals to work much longer hours, typically, at least six days a week, than contracted [7]. Construction professionals include the technicians, as well as the middle and senior managers, of the owners' teams, contractors' teams, supervisors' teams, consultants' teams, and designers' teams [1]. Clearly, the heightened work demands have limited their abilities to fulfill family responsibilities [8].…”

Evaluating the Impact of Occupational Stress on Female Nurses Performance in National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi

“…Another study conducted by Amin, Khattak and Khan(2018) stated that occupational stress is associated with job commitment and satisfaction. The increment in the dissatisfaction level in relation to jobs result in burnout and high turnover rates (Wu, Hu& Zheng, 2019). In addition, the individual performance suffers as well with the increase in absenteeism, weakened decisions, missing deadlines and similar instances (Ratnawat&Jha, 2014).…”