Malpractice fear and work motivation in anesthesiologists: an occupational self-efficacy perspective
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Medical malpractice fear (MF) is a growing concern that adversely affects physicians’ professional behaviors and motivation. Owing to the high-risk nature of their specialty, anesthesiologists are particularly vulnerable to malpractice-related stress and defensive medical practices. Occupational self-efficacy (OS-E), as a key psychological resource, may protect against the negative impact of MF on anesthesiologists’ work motivation (WM). This study examines whether OS-E moderates the relationship between MF and WM among anesthesiologists in Türkiye. METHOD: In this study, explanatory correlational design was employed, and data were collected from 239 anesthesiologists using online questionnaires comprising the MF, WM, and OS-E scales. WM has been addressed in two sub-dimensions: intrinsic WM (IWM) and extrinsic WM (EWM). Participants were recruited using the virtual snowball sampling method. Pearson correlation analyses were conducted to examine relationships among MF, IWM, EWM and OS-E. Moderation effects were tested using regression-based path analysis. RESULTS: MF showed a negative correlation with IWM (r = − 0.255, p < 0.001), EWM (r = − 0.367, p < 0.001), and OS-E (r = − 0.253, p < 0.001). Moderation analysis showed that OS-E significantly moderated both the relationship between MF and IWM (β = −0.11, ΔR² = 8%, F(3, 295) = 25.473, p < 0.001) and the relationship between MF and EWM (β = −0.15, ΔR² = 5.1%, F(3, 295) = 32.980, p < 0.001). MF’s negative effect on both IWM and EWM becomes more pronounced when OS-E is high. CONCLUSION: In light of the study findings, OS-E does not function as a uniform protective resource in the relationship between MF and WM. In fact, OS-E may function as a context-dependent reinforcing factor rather than a buffering mechanism in the relationship between MF and WM. Based on these findings, it may be useful to examine the interaction between negative motivational outcomes associated with MF in high-responsibility healthcare fields such as anesthesiology and external factors such as organizational factors and working conditions, in addition to psychological factors related to employees.
Source: BMC Anesthesiology
Authors: Ali Özgül Saltalı, Aysun Yeşiltaş
Institutions: Konya Numune Hastanesi, Necmettin Erbakan University
Language: English
Subfield: Pharmacy
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
OpenAlex ID: W7124450831