Development of the Chinese Version of the Physician Internalized Occupational Stigma Scale (PIOSS)

Abstract

Background/Objective

Internalized occupational stigma may develop in physicians as a result of their identification with the public negative labels and stereotypes about them, and then internalization of them as a part of their self-concept. This study aims to develop the Physician Internalized Occupational Stigma Scale (PIOSS) and to examine its reliability and validity.

Methods

In study 1, the initial scale was used to investigate 356 physicians. While in study 2, a total of 346 physicians were investigated with the survey tools named the PIOSS, the Career Commitment Scale (CCS), the Workplace Well-Being Scale (WWBS), the Scale for the Doctor with Patient-doctor Relationship (DDPRQ-10), the Intent to Leave Scale (ILS) and the Occupational Disidentification Scale (ODS).

Results

The PIOSS includes 19 items divided into 3 dimensions: label identification, status loss, and career denial. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) reveal that the three-factor model fitted well (χ²/df=2.574, RMSEA= 0.068, CFI= 0.931, IFI= 0.931, TLI= 0.919, PNFI= 0.762, PCFI= 0.795). The PIOSS total and each dimension scores were significantly negatively correlated with the CCS and the WWBS scores and remarkably positively associated with the DDPRQ-10, the ILS, and the ODS scores. Cronbach’s α coefficients for the PIOSS total scale and dimensions ranged from 0.775 to 0.914, and split-half reliability coefficients ranged from 0.801 to 0.931. In addition, the PIOSS exhibited cross-gender invariance.

Conclusion

Having good reliability and validity, the PIOSS can serve as a valid tool for the assessment of physician internalized occupational stigma.

Keywords:

• physician
• internalized occupational stigma
• reliability
• validity

Ethics Statement

Both study 1 and study 2 were approved by the Ethics Committee of Jilin International Studies University (Project Number: JY202111001). An anonymous survey was conducted in both studies, and informed consent was obtained from the participants before starting the survey who all signed the informed consent form. Both studies were in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Acknowledgments

We are very much thankful to all the researchers for data collection and processing. We thank all the survey participants in our study.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising, or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Social Science Research Project of the Education Department of Jilin Province “The research on the influence of the employment view of college students of traditional Chinese medicine on the employment quality” (Project No. JJKH20211014JY).