Oncologists' psychological flourishing: A driving force for positive attitudes at work

• Published in: Psycho-oncology (Chichester, England) Vol. 33; no. 7; pp. e6372 - n/a
• Main Authors: Bossard, Marie, Lejeune, Julien, Coillot, Hélène, Colombat, Philippe, Fouquereau, Evelyne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.07.2024; Wiley
• Subjects: Adjustment; Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Attitudes; cancer; Cross-Sectional Studies; Empathy; Female; France; Health status; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Male; Mental health; Middle Aged; occupational health; Oncologists; Oncologists - psychology; oncology; Organizational support; Perceptions; psychological functioning; Psychological well being; Psychology; psycho‐oncology; Social environment; social isolation; Social Isolation - psychology; Social Support; Surveys and Questionnaires; Work; Work Engagement; Workplace - psychology; Workplaces; France; social support; empathy; social isolation; psychological functioning; cancer; work engagement; oncologists; psycho‐oncology; occupational health; oncology; psychooncology
• ISSN: 1057-9249; 1099-1611; 1099-1611
• DOI: 10.1002/pon.6372

Objective Oncologists' psychological health is a major challenge due to the consequential concerning the quality of the care they provide. However, only critical states of their health have been really examined by scientists. This study sought to plug this gap by investigating the mediating role of psychological flourishing in the relationship between the perception of the professional social context (i.e., perceived workplace isolation and organizational support) and positive attitudes at work among oncologists (i.e., work engagement, task adjustment and empathy). Methods The study was a cross‐sectional, including 541 French oncologists. Participants completed a self‐report questionnaire. Structural Equation Modeling was employed to test the hypotheses. Results The analysis revealed that workplace isolation and organizational support perceptions were related to oncologists' work engagement, task adjustment and empathy. Additionally, psychological flourishing acted as a partial mediator between these perceptions of professional social context and oncologists' work‐related attitudes. Conclusions This research underlined the potential of enhancing the psychological flourishing of oncologists by improving organizational support and mitigating their sense of isolation, and in turn, to enhance some dimensions of their positive attitudes at work.