Faculty of Psychology and Humanities, The Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski University, Cracow, Poland.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019;1133:97-104. doi: 10.1007/5584_2018_308.
Dehumanization is defined as aggressive behaviors which offend people's dignity. This phenomenon is a serious problem in medicine as it affects interpersonal relationships between medical professionals and patients, patients' well-being, and the capability of following medical recommendations. There are a few factors determining dehumanizing behaviors: infrahumanization, perceiving patients as nonhuman beings, compassion fatigue, and stress. The main goal of this study was to examine the impact of stress on dehumanizing behaviors. A quasi-experimental survey was conducted in a group of 96 nurses. The following psychometric measures were employed in the study: scale of behavioral indicators of patient's dehumanization (SBIPD), mood adjective checklist (UMACL), interpersonal reactivity index (IRI) assessing aspects of empathy, and the Eysenck personality traits (EPQ-R) questionnaires. Comparative inter-group analysis (experimental vs. control) confirmed that stress on the side of medical professionals influenced the acceptance of dehumanization; it particularly influenced the cognitive evaluations of patent dehumanizing behaviors. These evaluations have no relationship to empathy, neuroticism, and psychoticism in the control group. However, moderate correlation occurred between the patent dehumanization and neuroticism in the experimental group. The findings lead to the conclusion that stress experienced in the work setting can have an effect on dehumanizing practices in medicine. One of the best ways to combat dehumanization in medicine is to reduce stress by improving the work conditions.
去人性化被定义为侵犯人们尊严的攻击性行为。这种现象在医学中是一个严重的问题，因为它会影响医疗专业人员与患者之间的人际关系、患者的幸福感和遵循医疗建议的能力。有几个因素决定了去人性化行为：次人类化、将患者视为非人类、同情疲劳和压力。本研究的主要目的是研究压力对去人性化行为的影响。在一组 96 名护士中进行了准实验调查。该研究采用了以下心理测量学措施：患者去人性化行为的行为指标量表（SBIPD）、心境形容词检查表（UMACL）、评估同理心各个方面的人际反应指数（IRI）以及艾森克人格特质问卷（EPQ-R）。比较组间分析（实验组与对照组）证实，专业人员的压力会影响对去人性化的接受程度；它特别影响对患者去人性化行为的认知评估。这些评估与对照组中的同理心、神经质和精神病态无关。然而，在实验组中，患者去人性化与神经质之间存在中度相关性。研究结果表明，工作环境中经历的压力会对医学中的去人性化实践产生影响。减少医学中的去人性化的一种最佳方法是通过改善工作条件来减轻压力。
