Case Study on Job Stress and Adapting Strategy of Construction
Workers
Chin-Chiuan Lin, Yi-Kai Su, Chang-Jiang Lee and Yi-Chang Chen
Department of Business Administration, Kun Shan University, Tainan, Taiwan
Keywords: Job Stress, Adapting Strategy, Thinking Mode, Construction Workers.
Abstract: This study aimed to explore the relationship between job stress and adapting strategy of the construction
workers of Hushan reservoir dam project in Yulin, Taiwan. The results showed that there is an association
between salary and job stress, indicating the employees with higher salary had felt lower job stress, and
employees who have worked for shorter amounts of time were found to feel job stress more than those who
have been employed longer. Moreover, male employees showed more job stress than did the females.
Educational level is showed as another factor influencing their adapting strategy. The results showed that
the more positive thinking the employers have, the more job stress they would relieve. This study also
obtained the following results: (1) Experience has significant differences in job stress rating, the less
experience rating the higher the job stress. (2) There is a significant difference between the level of
education with the cool, optimistic and straight type of thinking mode. (3) Different education levels have
different levels of rating when faced with job stress. In general, the participants with bachelor’s degree have
higher job stress rating than the others. (4) The participants with optimistic type of thinking have lower job
stress than the others. (5) The relationship between job stress and adapting strategy showed a negative
correlation. The workers with positive thinking mode are able to adapt to job stress.
1 INTRODUCTION
Moderate job stress might improve the work quality,
but excessive job stress will be a major harming
factor for the physical and mental health of worker
and work quality.
In the face of job stress, the workers concerned
should develop a set of adapting strategy that meet
the individual’s needs according to their own
circumstances.
Therefore, the present study investigated the job
stress and adapting strategies of Hushan reservoir
construction workers in Yulin, Taiwan.
Simultaneously, the study investigated the job stress
and the physical and mental health status of workers.
Furthermore, this research aims to provide assistance
to workers that self adapt and provide reference for
the management policy of businesses.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature review focuses on definition,
theoretical model, affecting factor, and adapting
strategy of job stress of workers.
2.1 Definition of Job Stress
Stress was originally a physics and engineering term
used to describe a body’s resistance to external
forces (Chen 1981). Those are the responses of the
individual to the restoration of normal conditions in
the face of irritation (Yu, 2009).
Wu (1999) pointed out that when faced with job
stress, workers can help themselves by at least
changing the situation that causes job stress, such as
self evaluation and analysis, time management,
proper exercise, muscle relaxation training, seeking
social support, and establishing a positive outlook on
life.
2.2 Source of Job Stress
Wu (1999) point out that the source of job stress can
basically be classified into three aspects: individual,
organizational, and social environment. (1) The
individual factor includes age, physiological,
psychological, family, and financial condition. (2)
238
Lin, C., Su, Y., Lee, C. and Chen, Y.
Case Study on Job Stress and Adapting Strategy of Construction Workers.
DOI: 10.5220/0008491202380243
In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Business Management (ICEBM Untar 2018), pages 238-243
ISBN: 978-989-758-363-6
Copyright
c
 2019 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

The organizational factor includes organization
structure, interpersonal relationships, organization
leadership, working environment, role requirements,
and growth stage of the organization. (3) The social
environment factor includes economics, politics,
technical-related, organizational hierarchy, and
social expectation.
Wu (1986) pointed out that between degree of
stimulation and job stress has a concave curve
relationship. Too high or too low pressure
stimulation produces higher levels of job stress. Wu
(1986) also identify the source of job stress: work
connotation, role in the organization, career
development, structure and climate of the
organization, human relations, as well as extra-
organizational factors.
Individuals have different ways of responding to
job stress, such as increased job stress resistance,
gaining external support, and reducing job stress
injuries. However, job stress might arise from the
organization or even the social environment. Thus,
organizations and social systems should also have
their corresponding amendments.
2.3 Theoretical Model of Job Stress
Many researchers had proposed the theoretical
models of job stress. (1) Stimulus-response model:
Emphasize the impact of social and external
environmental changes on individuals. It’s about job
stress as an environmental stimulus. The theoretical
stimulus-oriented theory is similar to the Hooke’s
elasticity law. Selye (1956) considered those
responses of changes of the workers’ body is done to
adapt to stressful situations. Selye (1956) also
pointed out the reactions elicited under different
stress stimuli have a common property. (2)
Interactive model: Also known as cognitive theory
of stress (Shi, 1990). This model regards the job
stress as the interactive result of participants’
response to environmental stimulus, considered the
job stress as a mediating variable (Ivancevich and
Matteson, 1980).
2.4 Affecting Factor of Job Stress
The influence of job stress on individuals includes
psychological and physiological aspects (Huang,
1999). Excessive job stress can easily cause anxiety,
depression, or anxiety in terms of psychological
aspects of workers. In the physiological level,
excessive job stress can cause cardiovascular disease,
diseases of the digestive system or other organs, and
reduce immunity. Serious cases can even lead to
death. When the job stress is too high to be
effectively relieved, personal emotions may be
affected and individuals’ personal health may be
seriously injured (Pan, 1995).
Background factors related to job stress are
mainly divided into parts (
Lu & Gao, 1999). They are
personal, work, and professional factors. The
description is as follows: (1) Personal factor includes
age and gender. (2) Work factor includes job
position and work experience. (3) Professional factor
includes reputation, prospects, and particularity. The
effects of job stress can vary due to those individual
conditions.
2.5 Adapting Strategy of Job Stress
Wu (1999) pointed out that when faced with job
stress, workers can at least change the situation, such
as self evaluation and analysis, time management,
proper exercise, muscle relaxation training, seeking
social support, and establishing positive life values.
This might help the workers increase resistance to
job stress, gain external support, and reduce stress
injuries.
Folkman and Lazarus (1980) also pointed out the
individuals’ perceptions and feelings of job stress
often differences. Therefore, when job stress comes,
workers will first produce different assessment
methods based on their own perceptions of stressors.
According to different assessment results,
individuals decide the mode of response that should
be adopted. In response to job stress, the individual’s
response is rational and deliberate.
Folkman and Lazarus (1980) also illustrates the
process of assessment of worker response when they
recognize the job stress. The first stage, primary
appraisal, refers to the process by which workers
judge whether an event will cause a threat. The
second stage is the secondary appraisal, which
means that the workers evaluate once again what
kind of effective experience they have, the resources
available, and the measures they need to take.
Reappraisal, the third stage, is a feedback process. It
has two forms. (1) When a perceivable and
environmentally favourable message arises, it causes
a change in the previous judgment. This is called a
realistic consideration. (2) When the workers feel
that the general trend has gone, they will again
assess the threatening event as non-threatening in
order to reduce negative emotions. This is called
self-defence. The fourth stage is response mode,
which is divided into three types. (1) The problem
focuses on the law, such as the formulation of plans.
(2) Emotional focus methods, such as self-isolation.
Case Study on Job Stress and Adapting Strategy of Construction Workers
239

(3) The third type is the combination of the two
methods of responding to the job stress, such as
discussing with others or seeking social support, etc.
3 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
The research framework of the present study mainly
includes demographic variables, job stress (peer
relations, workload, job autonomy, and job
feedback), and adapting strategies. Adapting strategy
refers to the individual’s thinking mode (TM) when
individuals face job stress. The adapting strategy
includes seeking support, self resolving, and
emotional adjustment.
Figure 1: Research framework.
3.1 Research Hypothesis
The research framework of the present study
conducted three hypotheses as follows:
 H
1
: Workers with different demographic
variables have significantly different responses
in job stress.
 H
2
: Workers with different demographic
variables have significantly different adapting
strategies.
 H
3
: There is a significant relationship between
job stress and adapting strategies of workers.
3.2 Participants and Tool
The participants of the present study are the
construction workers of the Hushan reservoir dam
project in Yulin, Taiwan. The present study used a
questionnaire survey method.
3.3 Questionnaire Design
The questionnaire includes three parts: demographic
variables, job stress, and adapting strategy.
The job stress section is mainly based on Lu
(1997) who surveyed four large state-owned
enterprises at Kaohsiung city in 1994. Job stress is
referred to as peer relations, workload, job autonomy,
and job feedback.
The adapting strategy is mainly based on the
relevant literature of Lin et al., (1996). Adapting
strategy is referred to as the individual’s TM when
individuals face job stress. This strategy mainly
includes support seeking, self resolving, and
emotional adjusting.
The rating used the Likert 5-point score. The
scales are divided into 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point. They
represent the following: strongly agree, agree, no
difference, disagree, and strongly disagree,
respectively. 75 questionnaires were delivered, and
60 were recovered. The recovery rate was 80%.
4 RESULTS
4.1 Demographic Variables
Table 1 shows the demographic variables.
Demographic variables include gender, age,
department, education, marital, experiences, and
monthly salary.
Table 1: Demographic variables of participants.
Var. Items # %
Gender
Male 40 66.7
Female 20 33.3
Age
19-25 31 51.7
26-35 18 30.0
36-45 9 15.0
46-55 2 3.3
56-65 0 0.0
Department
Management 2 3.3
Personnel 4 6.7
Ministry of works 16 26.7
Engineering 29 48.3
Accounting 2 3.3
Design 7 11.7
Education
Below high school (BHS) 46 76.7
Bachelo
r
14 23.3
Graduate school (GS) 0 0.0
Marriage
Married 31 51.7
Not married 29 48.3
Experience
Less than 5 years 20 33.3
6-10 years 14 23.3
11-15 years 11 18.3
More than 16 years 15 25.0
Salary
Less than 30
K
14 23.3
31-50
K
30 50.0
51-70
K
14 23.3
More than 71
K
2 3.3
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4.2 Job Stress
Table 2 shows the results of job stress. The mean (M)
rating scores ranged between 2.48 and 3.83, and the
standard deviation (SD) was also shown. The results
indicated that the participants regard their job stress
were not high.
Item 4, when you are angry at work, will you sit
down and tell myself “I’m tired of living”? The
mean rating score was only 2.48 and less than 3.0,
which indicated that most construction workers
cherish their life and do not give up on themselves.
Item 11, do you feel that you can overcome the
current or future possible problems? The mean
rating score was 3.83 and was higher than 3.0, which
indicated that most construction workers, in the face
of problems, will find a way to overcome problems.
Table 2: The M and SD of job stress.
Item Question M SD
1
Are you always worried about what
you have done during the past 3
months?
2.75 0.97
2
In each working day, sometimes there
is no obvious reason but you feel
uneasy and upset?
2.80 1.12
3
When job stress accumulated, do you
have enough energy to act?
3.23 1.02
4
When you are angry at work, will you
sit down and tell yourself “I’m tired of
living”?
2.48 1.11
5
Do you doubt your ability and
judgment, which lowers your
confidence?
2.67 1.07
6
If your colleagues and friends are
alienated from you, do you worry about
what you did to annoy them?
3.27 0.97
7
If you have made a mistake, will you
panic, as if things have become
impossible?
2.78 0.94
8
Have you recently discovered and dealt
with problems at work or a
t
the home?
3.57 0.75
9
In work and daily life, do you often
have some difficulties or concerns?
3.30 0.99
10
With the time past, do you feel sad or
depressed?
2.62 1.08
11
Do you feel that you can overcome the
current or future possible problems?
3.83 0.72
12 Do you feel exhausted when you work? 3.40 1.07
4.3 Adapting Strategy
Table 3 shows the results of adapting strategy. The
mean rating scores ranged from 3.53 to 4.10, and all
are higher than 3.0. The results indicated that the
participants with all types of TM have low job stress.
Table 3: The M and SD of TM.
Types of TM M SD
Active type 3.82 0.62
Cool type 3.72 0.65
Optimistic type 3.77 0.60
Belief type 3.53 0.61
Straight type 3.88 0.60
Courage type 3.96 0.47
Targe
t
-oriented type 3.70 0.62
Rational type 3.68 0.63
Project type 4.10 0.49
5 ANALYSIS
5.1 Analysis of Thinking Mode
The analysis of TM with gender and marriage in job
stress were analyzed by student t tests. Other
demographic variables such as age, department,
education, experiences, and monthly salary in job
stress were analyzed by one-way analysis of
variance (ANOVA).
Table 4 shows that the cool type of TM will have
different response depending on gender and the
straight type of TM will have different response
depending on marital in job stress.
Table 4: t-test of gender and marital vs. significant TM.
MSD
t
-value
p
-value
Variable Gende
r
TM Cool type
Male 3.86 0.54
2.40/ 0.03***
Female 3.45 0.76
Variable Marital
TM Straight type
Married 3.72 0.42
4.16 0.04***
Not married 4.03 0.71
The age, department, and monthly salary all not
have different response depending types of TM.
Table 5: F-test of education vs. significant TM.
Education M SD
F
-value
p
-value Group
TM Cool type
BHS 3.33 0.72
3.57 0.02 2>3>1
Bachelo
r
3.86 0.55
GS 3.42 0.74
TM Optimistic type
BHS 3.67 1.10
4.44 0.01 2>1>3
Bachelo
r
3.90 0.50
GS 3.39 0.53
TM Straight type
BHS 4.20 0.83
7.46 0.001 1>2>3
Bachelo
r
4.00 0.50
GS 3.39 0.56
Table 5 shows that education was the only
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241

significant factor that have different responses
depending on type of TM in job stress. The
participants with bachelor degree has higher rating
score in job stress than GS and BHS on cool type;
the participants with bachelor degree has higher
rating score in job stress than BHS and GS on
optimistic type; and the participants with BHS
degree has higher rating score in job stress than
bachelor and GS on straight type.
5.2 Analysis of Job Stress
Table 6 shows the mean and SD of job stress with
demographic variables.
Table 6: The job stress with demographic variables.
Var. Items M SD
Gender
Male 2.98 0.53
Female 2.82 0.54
Age
19-25 3.41 0.32
26-35 2.91 0.52
36-45 2.96 0.51
46-55 2.62 0.63
56-65 3.16 0.24
Department
Management 3.00 0.40
Personnel 2.91 0.32
Ministry of works 2.66 0.60
Engineering 3.06 0.53
Accounting 2.50 0.24
Design 3.04 0.45
Education
BHS 2.66 0.24
Bachelo
r
2.99 0.51
GS 2.81 0.66
Marriage
Married 3.04 0.45
Not married 2.80 0.59
Experience
Less than 5 years 3.18 0.41
6-10 years 2.97 0.57
11-15 years 2.60 0.44
More than 16 years 2.77 0.57
Salary
Less than 30
K
3.02 0.51
31-50
K
2.92 0.55
51-70
K
2.83 0.58
More than 71
K
3.00 0.47
Among the demographic variables, only
experience reached statistical significant level. The
participants with 11-15 working experience rating
has the lowest job stress, followed by more than 16
years, 6-10 years, and less than 5 years.
The demographic variables did not reach
statistically significant level. However, male
participants rate higher in terms of job stress than
female participants; youth participants have the
highest job stress compared to others; engineering
department have the highest job stress compared to
others; participants with bachelor degree have the
highest job stress compared to others; participants
with less than 30K salary have the highest job stress
compared to others.
6 CONCLUSION
Table 7 shows the results of the hypotheses.
Table 7: Summary of hypotheses.
Hypothesis Variable dimension Resul
t
HI: Participants with different demographic variables have
significant differences in their job stress rating.
H1-1 Gende
r
Not supporte
d
H1-2 Age Not supporte
d
H1-3 Department Not supporte
d
H1-4 Education Not supporte
d
H1-5 Marriage Not supporte
d
H1-6 Experiences Supporte
d
H1-7 Salary Not supporte
d
H2: Participants with different demographic variables have
significant differences in adapting strategy when under
stress.
H2-1 Gende
r
Suppor
t
e
d
H2-2 Age Not supporte
d
H2-3 Department Not supporte
d
H2-4 Education Supporte
d
H2-5 Marriage Supporte
d
H2-6 Experiences Not supporte
d
H2-7 Salary Not supporte
d
H3: There are significant negative correlations between
thinking modes and job stress of participants.
H3-1 Active type Supporte
d
H3-2 Cool type Supporte
d
H3-3 Optimistic type Supporte
d
H3-4 Belief type Supporte
d
H3-5 Straight type Supporte
d
H3-6 Courage type Supporte
d
H3-7 Targe
t
-oriented type Supporte
d
H3-8 Rational type Supporte
d
H3-9 Project type Supporte
d
Table 7 indicated that only H1-5 was significant
among hypothesis H1 that participants with different
demographic variables have significant differences
in their job stress rating. Participants with 11-15
years of work experience had lowest job stress rating.
The other demographic variables did not
significantly affect job stress rating.
For hypothesis H2, only H2-4 and H2-5 reach
statistical significance. Participants with bachelor
degree and are married rate higher in adapting score.
This result also indicated that the participants with
bachelor degree and a marriage are more tolerant
higher working stress.
For hypothesis H3, correction analysis indicated
that the TM were all negatively correlated with
rating of job stress. This result indicates that the
participants with more active type of TM have lower
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242

job stress. The others types of TM all had the same
results. Therefore, this hypothesis was supported.
7 RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
There are many kinds of construction projects, such
as railroad, highway, bridge, skyscraper, airport, and
reservoir dam … etc. The present study was just
conducted on the workers of Hushan reservoir dam
project in Yulin. Therefore, the research results
might apply only to big construction projects in
Taiwan.
Further, the sources of job stress and thinking
modes of employees among industries are different.
Therefore, it is recommended that further research
can investigate different industries to develop
relevant scales related to job stress.
8 PRACTICAL IMPLICATION
In personnel suitability in work configuration, result
showed that the work configuration is currently the
biggest source of job stress for employees. Therefore,
it is suggested that relevant units or contracting units
can rationally configure the manpower structure
according to the amount of business volume. In
particular, the allocation of personnel quotas in the
engineering department will reduce the workload of
related personnel.
The company should assist employees in
balancing work and family. Results showed that the
sources of job stress for employees are ranked
second in the “work and family” conflict. Therefore,
it is recommended that companies or related
organizations can understand and properly handle
employees’ “work and family relations” and give
them time or spiritual incentives. When employee
morale is motivated, they indirectly affect the
effectiveness of the work, and at the same time,
productivity will increase.
Finally, regularly held lectures on stress relief
and job stress therapy should be held. Long working
hours, lack of sports, and lack of rest often resulted
in the body and mind to be prone to anxiety and
panic. It is suggested that related enterprises may
hold job stress seminars with professional agencies
and regular job stress management courses.
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