Burnout and commitment profile of architecture students

Abstract

This paper examines commitment profiles of Hong Kong Chinese architecture students, and the correlation between burnout and the healthiness of students' commitment profiles. 294 students enrolled in the Bachelor and Master programs of architecture in two universities in Hong Kong participated in the study. The Chinese version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey and revised version of Occupational Commitment Questionnaire are administered to measure burnout and commitment profile. Multiple regressions are conducted to test the hypothesis. The findings support the idea that burnout does not necessarily result in turnover. As affective commitment and normative commitments decrease with burnout, continuance commitment increases to retain the burned-out students in the program. However, burnout de-healthilizes the commitment profile of students, shifting students' focus of learning from the task to the cost. The study suggests a need to prevent burnout and build up healthy commitment profile among architecture students.