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ScholarshipGlenna C. Chang The Hidden Curriculum: Hazing and Professional Identity

Scholarship: Glenna C. Chang The Hidden Curriculum: Hazing and Professional Identity — Copy available at 

Abstract Glenna C. Chang 329 words In this study, I examined the role of hazing as a rite of passage on social identity development among medical residents. I hypothesized that when hazing is experienced as a part of a socialization process that is perceived as fair, social identity is maximized. A total of 161 physicians in training participated in this study; 64.6% were female, 34.2% were male. Participants came from a range of disciplines and were at various stages of completion of their residency programs. The survey was administered on-line and participants completed two social identity measures, a justice measure, and a workplace mistreatment measure, which was used in the absence of a validated hazing measure. There were two waves of data collection. At Time 1, participants completed questions for all four variables. All participants were invited to return the following day to complete justice items, which served as the moderator variable; 22 participants returned to complete the survey at Time 2. Moderated multiple regression was conducted to test the hypothesis that there would be an interactional effect of hazing and perceived justice on social identity such that social identity is maximized under conditions of high hazing and high perceived justice. The results indicated that justice was a significant predictor of social identity (? = .35, p < .05) as measured by the social identification scale (Cameron, 2004), and both justice (? = .29, p < .05) and hazing (? = -.19, p < .05) were significant predictors of social identity. However, the interaction between justice and hazing was non-significant. PREVIEW x The results indicated that justice was a significant predictor of social identity as measured by both dependent variables, and hazing was a significant predictor only with one of the dependent variables. However, the interaction between justice and hazing was non-significant. Results suggest that a fair work environment, regardless of the level of hazing, is related to high social identity. Moreover, in environments of high organizational justice, when hazing occurs, social identity makes a sharp decline.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

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