Abstract

Construction is a demanding work environment. Many construction professionals experience workplace stress, leading to physiological, psychological and sociological strain effects. They adopt a variety of coping mechanisms to manage these effects. A purposive sample of 36 construction professionals (architects, project managers, construction managers, civil engineers and quantity surveyors) in Cape Town, South Africa, were surveyed regarding their perceptions of workplace strain effects and stress counter measures. The Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric tests were used for data analysis. The findings show that the highest-ranked strain effects in terms of impact were (in descending order): “frustration”, “fatigue”, “strain on personal relationships”, “strain on professional relationships”, and “anger/irritability”. Male professionals identified greater fatigue and frustration effects than females; while females felt a greater lack of self-confidence. The highest-ranked coping mechanisms in terms of impact were “travel”, “non-competitive sporting activity”, “music”, “increased caffeine intake”, and “walking”. Males preferred more intensive physical activities than did females. Architects experienced anxiety more frequently than other professional groups. This study confirms important strain effects experienced by construction professionals and highlights the nature and effectiveness of counter measures. Limitations of the study include its exploratory nature and small sample size. Future research should establish the associations between strain effects and coping measures, in terms of how construction organizations can better support wellbeing among their professional employees.

摘要

施工是一个苛刻的工作环境。许多建筑专业人士会经历工作场所的压力，从而导致生理，心理和社会压力。他们采用各种应对机制来管理这些影响。针对南非开普敦的36名建筑专业人士（建筑师，项目经理，建筑经理，土木工程师和工料测量师）进行了有目的的抽样调查，以了解他们对工作场所压力影响和压力应对措施的看法。曼-惠特尼和克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯的非参数检验用于数据分析。研究结果表明，在影响方面，应变效果最高的是（降序排列）：“沮丧”，“疲劳”，“人际关系紧张”，“职业关系紧张”和“愤怒/烦躁”。男性专业人员发现比女性更大的疲劳和挫败感。而女性则更加缺乏自信。就影响而言，排名最高的应对机制是“旅行”，“非竞争性体育活动”，“音乐”，“咖啡因摄入量增加”和“步行”。男性比女性更喜欢进行剧烈运动。建筑师比其他专业人士更容易感到焦虑。这项研究证实了施工专业人员所经历的重要应变效应，并强调了反措施的性质和有效性。该研究的局限性包括其探索性和样本量小。未来的研究应建立应变效应与应对措施之间的关联，