| dc.description.abstract | Physical environment is an important factor of workers' workplace setting. In a healthy universities approach, it could be influential for university students' health and well-being.
Objective: This study aimed to study the physical environment on university students, and whether it could influence their health, well-being and performance. The Job Demands- Resources (JD-R) theory was used as a structural framework.
Method: A quantitative approach was used to measure students' experiences of their university and to measure their reported physical workplace environment. With 320 students from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, data was collected. The study used the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Maslach Burnout Indicator - General Survey (Students) (MBI-GS(S)), and De Jong Gierveld's social experience scale, as well as constructed tools to gauge value and rated importance of physical environment.
Results: Students reported that their physical environment was important to their health and wellbeing, as it significantly predicting the psychosocial processes of engagement and burnout, as well as students' health. Subjectively experienced environment could only significantly predict burnout. Pathways of effect were discussed.
Conclusion: Because physical environment showed to influence students, the design of such workplace settings require more attention. The power of its effect remains undetermined, but the value of better understanding the concept, both in its formalization and its influence remains an important goal for future research. The current study could represent a valuable asset for future research on the precise role physical environment of the university has for its students. | nb_NO |
