Throwing in the Towel: Burnout among Practicing Interior Designers

Abstract

Job turnover is often preceded by burnout, a psychological syndrome involving prolonged response to stressors on the job (Maslach & Leiter, 2008). This phenomenon is measured along a continuum ranging from job engaged to full burnout. Higher levels of burnout can result in turnover, excessive absenteeism, and numerous physical and emotional symptoms among employees. The purpose of this study was to assess levels of burnout among practicing interior designers, and identify both individual and situational factors relative to burnout. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS) was used to measure burnout and a Job Satisfaction survey gathered basic demographic and situational (job-related) information from practicing interior designers (N = 130). The voluntary and anonymous surveys were distributed via US Mail and the response rate was 52%. Results revealed that study participants were experiencing a moderate level of burnout. However, when compared with other professions, interior designers rated highest in cynicism and second only to nurses in exhaustion, as measured by the MBI-GS. Statistically significant correlations and regressions were found between burnout and the individual factors of age and years of professional practice as well as the situational factors of workload, control, reward, and fairness. The results and implications of the study are relevant to both interior design practitioners and academics and the discussion calls upon these communities to reconsider discipline-based traditions and expectations that may exacerbate burnout to keep practitioners healthy and positively engaged in the profession.

Research Utilization in the Design Decision Making Process

“…While information is widely available, it is often widespread and decentralized (Mays & Kossayan, 2011). Moreover, interior designers may be working on multiple projects and are concerned with the number of hours billed to their respective clients (Hill, Hegde, & Matthews, 2014). These concerns can truncate research efforts, as emphasis may be placed on the rapid production of contracted deliverables.…”

Emotional Intelligence in the Interior Design Context

“…First, the transition from academia to practice can be improved within the last academic semester and the first 2–3 years of practice if the individual understands his or her own EI. Mentors in both the academic and professional settings have the opportunity to teach and train the young design professional, who likely has high EI based on the findings of this study, to be ready and able to handle the low MWD that are characteristic of entry‐level positions (Farh et al, ; Hill et al, ). Research based on the methodology established in other professional contexts (Miao, Humphrey, & Qian, ), connecting EI with internship programs and longitudinal studies that follow students into practice to examine how those with high and low EI weathered the professional transition, would likely be incredibly impactful.…”

“…The high-stress, deadline-driven nature of the work could be associated with emotionally charged responses by those involved. One study shows that interior designers are experiencing moderate to high frequencies of burnout (Hill et al, 2014), which, coupled with EI research, reveals a possible line of further inquiry in relation to ID professionals. Findings related to student stress in context with team-based design studio projects has suggested that burnout may increase as the same group of students work together repeatedly and that adding student training on team dynamics and conflict resolution could provide some needed relief (Gale, Martin, Martin, & Duffey, 2014).…”

“…Findings have shown that leaders' EI greatly impacts the job satisfaction of team members, which, in turn, impacts burnout, stress, and other factors (Miao et al, 2016;Mikolajczak, Balon, Ruosi, & Kotsou, 2012). ID could benefit significantly from leveraging existing research and applying the findings within design firms (Hill et al, 2014).…”

“…It appears that high EI individuals can become easily distracted from their work by the emotional cues of others (Elfenbein & Ambady, ; Tett & Burnett, ). This observation provides an opportunity for design educators to prepare their students for the realities of entry‐level roles within the ID profession (Hill, Hedge, & Matthews, ; Lee & Hagerty, ).…”