Job burnout of construction project managers in China: A cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

Construction project managers (CPMs) of contractors encounter a great deal of stress. The authors used job burnout as the core indicator of CPMs' chronic psychological stress. An occupation-oriented job burnout scale was developed based on MBI-GS. Then, a structural equation model was developed to investigate the cause and effect of job burnout among CPMs. The results show that CPMs suffer from a high level of job burnout, of which the major symptom is physical and mental fatigue. The highest level of job burnout occurs when CPMs reach their mid-forties, which highlighting their midlife professional crisis. Job stress significantly aggravates CPMs' job burnout, and rather than traditional project objective management, stakeholder relationship management is the main stressor. Direct and indirect mitigating effects on CPMs' job burnout are also obtained from the management system of construction companies. Additionally, job burnout ultimately causes poor health conditions among CPMs and increases their turnover intention.