ArticleLangenbeck's archives of surgery2023
Surgeon's narcissism, hostility, stress, bullying, meaning in life and work environment: a two-centered analysis.
Article in Langenbeck's archives of surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Concept of a Bidirectional Loop of Behavior in Surgery: How Personality and Environment May Reinforce Each Other.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2026Article
- Surgeon Perceptions of Failure to Rescue After Surgery.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Unappreciated, undervalued, and working in a toxic environment: the silent struggles of some surgeons.Updates in surgery · 2026Article
- Let's talk about the surgeon well-being.BMC surgery · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionDisruptive physician behaviour can affect patients' safety. If surgical trainees throughout higher education experience disruptive behaviour, impaired work-life may follow. Therefore, we aimed to study surgeons' level of narcissism (N), hostility, and stress in relation to their work environment and potential experience of bullying. We also scrutinized search for or presence of meaning in life.
methodsGeneral surgeons in UK National Health Service from 2 hospitals participated with 3 levels of training: junior trainees (JT), senior trainees (ST), and consultants (CONS). Participants completed 52 VAS-formed questions plus demographics. Modified questionnaires were used for assessments of 'hostility', 'narcissism', meaning in life, quality of work-life, and bullying.
resultsAltogether 33% of surgeons displayed narcissism and 22% could exhibit disruptive behaviour. MANOVA significant differences between low, medium, and high narcissism groups were revealed in hostility (p<.01), perceived stress (p=.001), and presence of meaning in life (p<.05). Regression analyses explained hostility both by N-scale (p=.000) and 'being bullied during training'(p=.009) but negatively by 'presence of meaning in life'(p=.004). Surgeons' perceived stress was explained both by N-scale (p=.000) followed by 'seeing others bullied during training (p=.000) and negatively by 'working extra days beyond schedule' (p=.007). The presence of meaning in life was explained mostly by good beneficial stress (p= .000) but negatively both by 'doing extra work beyond schedule' (p= .016) and hostility (p= .003).
conclusionSurgeons may exhibit disruptive behaviour in a challenging situation. The narcissim-scale was the best predictor of hostility and perceived stress. Being bullied during surgical training predicted hostility. Seeing others being bullied during surgical training predicted stress. Beneficial stress is explained best by surgeons' experience of the presence of meaning in life.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.