Open-mindedness, rigidity, and the tendency to change inferences among psychiatric nursing staff: a pilot study.

To test the relationship between open- and closed-mindedness, between rigidity and nonrigidity, and the tendency of psychiatric nursing staff to alter inferences when given additional information about a patient, the Dogmatism Scale, Form E, And the Gough-Sanford Rigidity Scale were presented to 120 psychiatric nursing staff members, all employed and working directly with patients. Low-dogmatic subjects changed their inferences regarding patient behavior significantly more than high-dogmatic subjects. Although high-rigid subjects changed their inferences about patient behaviour more than low-rigid subjects, the relationship was not significant.