Project management and burnout: Implications of the Demand–Control–Support model on project-based work

Project-based work has long been characterized as frenetic, fast-paced, and dynamic. The often competing constraints imposed by schedules, stakeholders, and budgetary restrictions make project activities conflict-laden and highly conducive to work-related stress. Stress is not an end unto itself but...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of project management 2014-05, Vol.32 (4), p.578-589
Main Authors: Pinto, Jeffrey K., Dawood, Shariffah, Pinto, Mary Beth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Burnout
Exhaustion
Fuel consumption
Males
Moderators
Occupational psychology
Occupational stress
Precursors
Project management
Self control
Social support
Stress
Stresses
Studies
Work-related health
Workplaces
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Project-based work has long been characterized as frenetic, fast-paced, and dynamic. The often competing constraints imposed by schedules, stakeholders, and budgetary restrictions make project activities conflict-laden and highly conducive to work-related stress. Stress is not an end unto itself but instead, is often a precursor for burnout. Burnout is a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced personal accomplishment. This paper reports on the results of a study of burnout among project management personnel. Using the Demand–Control–Support model as our conceptual framework, we analyzed a sample of respondents from four project-intensive organizations. Our findings demonstrated that women tend to experience emotional exhaustion to a greater extent than their male counterparts. Further, control and social support do serve as moderators for the burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion and cynicism, suggesting limited support for the Demand–Control–Support model. Implications of this study for project management and workplace burnout are discussed. •Burnout in project-based work has not received attention to date.•We used the Demand–Control–Support model of burnout to test the impact of stress.•Burnout is a significant problem, though control and support buffer its impact.•Women are more prone to suffer the effects of burnout than men.
ISSN:0263-7863
1873-4634
DOI:10.1016/j.ijproman.2013.09.003