Ambiguity Tolerance of Students Matriculating to U.S. Medical Schools

Caulfield, Marie; Andolsek, Kathryn M.; Grbic, Douglas; Roskovensky, Lindsay Brewer

doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000000485

Cited by 67 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…This concurs with Enns [40] who found medical students to be significantly higher in levels of Perfectionism-High Standards compared to general arts students. Across the whole sample, irrespective of Profile, older students and males had higher levels of Tolerance of Ambiguity [42] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Socio-demographic characteristics such as sex and age are associated with individual differences in ambiguity tolerance. Higher levels are found in men and older students, [42] in leaders, [44] and in people willing to work in rural or underserved areas [45] . In contrast, low ambiguity tolerance has been associated with negative attitudes to underserved groups of people, [45] burnout in primary care [46] and emergency physicians, [47] higher levels of stress in medical students, [42] and a fear of making mistakes [48] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Higher levels are found in men and older students, [42] in leaders, [44] and in people willing to work in rural or underserved areas [45] . In contrast, low ambiguity tolerance has been associated with negative attitudes to underserved groups of people, [45] burnout in primary care [46] and emergency physicians, [47] higher levels of stress in medical students, [42] and a fear of making mistakes [48] . Personality traits have also been associated with the way Manuscript to be reviewed physicians deal with uncertainty and their diagnostic decision making [49] , but little research has investigated the relationship between temperament and character traits with Tolerance of Ambiguity in medical students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ambiguity tolerance exerts a strong influence on the attitudes and behaviours of medical students. In particular, low Tolerance of Ambiguity has been linked to higher perceived stress [42] and higher rates of burnout [43] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Peer Review #1 of "Temperament and character profiles of medical students associated with tolerance of ambiguity and perfectionism (v0.1)"

Laidlaw¹

2019

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Background. Certain personal attributes, such as perfectionism and tolerance of ambiguity, have been identified as influential in high achieving students. Medical students have been identified as high achievers and perfectionistic, and as such may be challenged by ambiguity. Medical students undertake a long and challenging degree. Personality has been shown to influence the well-being and coping and may equip some students to better cope with challenges. This paper examines the association between temperament and character personality profiles with measures of tolerance of ambiguity and with both adaptive and maladaptive constructs of perfectionism. Methods. A self-report questionnaire collected data on a sample of 808 Australian medical students in 2014 and 2015. Personality was measured using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCIR-140) and classified traits as profiles using a latent class analysis. Two profiles were found. Profile 1 was characterized by low-average levels of Harm Avoidance, and high to very high levels of Persistence, Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness. Moderately-high levels of Harm Avoidance and high levels of Persistence, Self-Directedness and Cooperativeness characterized Profile 2. Moderation regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between the personality profiles with levels of Tolerance of Ambiguity (MSAT-II), Perfectionism-Concern over Mistakes and Perfectionism-High Standards (FMPS), considering demographic characteristics. Results. Students with Profile 1 were higher in levels of Tolerance of Ambiguity, and Perfectionism-High Standards, and lower levels of Perfectionism-Concern over Mistakes compared to Profile 2. These findings remained statistically significant after adjusting for age and gender. A significant personality by age interaction on Tolerance of Ambiguity was found. While higher levels of Tolerance of Ambiguity were associated with older age overall, it remained low across age for students with a personality Profile 2. Conclusions. A particular combination of personality traits was identified to be associated with low Tolerance of Ambiguity and high levels of maladaptive Perfectionism. An intolerance of ambiguity and over concern about mistakes maybe maladaptive and underlie vulnerability to stress and poor coping. The psychobiological model of personality provides insight into traits that are stable and those that can be self-regulated through education and training. The interaction between biological mechanisms and socio-cultural learning is relevant to a sample of medical students because it accounts for interaction of the biological or innate aspects of their personal development within an intense and competitive learning environment of medical school.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Peer Review #1 of "Temperament and character profiles of medical students associated with tolerance of ambiguity and perfectionism (v0.1)"

Laidlaw¹

2019

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show abstract

“…Although there are numerous studies on patient and surrogate decisionmaker comfort with uncertainty, there are few efforts to investigate whether trainees recognize or feel comfortable with medical ambiguity (7,8). Limited data suggest that intolerance of uncertainty correlates with higher stress levels in medical students, but it is not clear if this relationship holds true for residents, fellows, or attending physicians (9). Thoughtful research outside of medicine has examined how to improve decision-making in the face of uncertainty, but evidence-based strategies to incorporate these approaches into educational curricula for trainees in the ICU are lacking (10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%