How Music Alleviates Job Burnout: Uncovering the Mediating Mechanism of Leisure Crafting Among Construction Workers

With the continuous development of the construction industry, work pressure faced by construction workers has been increasing, leading to a growing prominence of job burnout that adversely affects workers’ physical and mental health as well as work efficiency. Constantly exposed to high-pressure environments, construction workers are prone to symptoms such as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment, which in turn impair their work performance and quality of life. However, existing literature has largely overlooked the potential role of leisure activities such as music in alleviating job burnout. Although music is widely recognized as an effective tool for emotional regulation, its application and impact among construction workers remain underexplored. Based on a sample of 1086 construction workers (71.09% male, 48.99% aged 36–45), this study examines four dimensions of music engagement, including Time Commitment (TC), Economic Spending (ES), Emotional Investment (EI), and Personal Participation (PP), and investigates how these dimensions, through the mediating role of leisure crafting (LC), negatively influence job burnout (JB) among this population. This study employed covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) with a sample of 1086 construction workers (71.09% male, 48.99% aged 36–45) to examine how four dimensions of music engagement, namely Time Commitment (TC), Economic Spending (ES), Emotional Investment (EI), and Personal Participation (PP), influence job burnout through leisure crafting. The results show that: (1) time commitment, economic spending, emotional investment and personal participation all have a negative influence on job burnout; and (2) leisure crafting mediates the effect of music engagement by construction workers on job burnout. This study emphasizes the necessity of incorporating mental health interventions into high-pressure work environments, providing guidance for companies to develop more flexible and effective employee care and welfare policies. This research therefore holds significant theoretical and practical value, as it promotes sustainable development in the construction industry, improves workers’ well-being and enhances the design of related work environments.