Workplace causality orientations moderate impostorism and burnout: New insights for wellness interventions in graduate medical education

Neufeld, Adam, Malin, Greg, Babenko, Oksana and Orsini, Cesar ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5226-3625 (2024) Workplace causality orientations moderate impostorism and burnout: New insights for wellness interventions in graduate medical education. Teaching and Learning in Medicine. ISSN 1040-1334

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Abstract

Theory: Impostor phenomenon (IP) is strongly linked to physician burnout, but the nature of this association is not well understood. A better grasp of the mechanism between these constructs could shed new light on ways to mitigate physician IP and burnout. Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT), the present study explores whether and how residents’ general causality orientations at work—impersonal, controlled, and autonomous—each moderate the effect of IP on physician burnout. Hypotheses: We theorized that the autonomous orientation would buffer the facilitative effect of IP on burnout, while the controlled and impersonal orientations would each enhance it to varying degrees. Method: Two hundred forty-three residents from the Universities of Saskatchewan, Calgary, and Alberta, across various programs, specialties, and years of training, completed a survey containing demographic questions and three previously validated instruments: the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale, Causality Orientations at Work Scale, and Oldenburg Burnout Inventory. We used partial correlation analyses to test our moderation hypotheses. Results: In line with what we expected, the autonomous causality orientation buffered the facilitative effect of IP on burnout, while the controlled and impersonal causality orientations each enhanced it. Conclusions: Results suggest that possessing a stronger autonomous causality orientation (and creating learning/work environments that prime it) will dampen the effect of IP on burnout, while possessing a stronger controlled or impersonal causality orientation (and creating learning/work environments that prime them) will each augment it. Findings and their implications are discussed in terms of instigating theory-informed, system-level wellness interventions in graduate medical education.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Data availability statement: The data from this study can be made available upon reasonable request. Funding information: The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.
Uncontrolled Keywords: imposter syndrome,sdt,autonomy,burnout,residency,education ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3304
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 01 Aug 2024 10:31
Last Modified: 25 Sep 2024 17:58
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/96105
DOI: 10.1080/10401334.2024.2388223

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