Dogmatism, age and change: a perspective of a nurse practitioner program

Three classes of nurse practitioner students, 32 in all over a three-year period, were given the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale at the beginning of the Nurse Practitioner Program and the California F Scale at the conclusion of the program. Results of the Dogmatism Scale were compared with age groups to determine if dogmatism was associated with age. Results of the California F Test, another measurement of authoritarianism and/or dogmatism was used to determine whether one's degree of dogmatism was inalterable or whether it could be affected. The results of the analysis indicated that open- and/or closed-mindedness (dogmatism) was not related to age. The results additionally indicated that success in the completion of the Nurse Practitioner Program was not related to one's degree of dogmatism and that the program can affect the individual participant by causing her to be more open minded. The findings suggest that the administration of personality inventories as an admissions screening device may eliminate individuals with much potential. Additionally, the consideration of age as a possible deterrent to program success may also eliminate potentially contributive individuals. Finally, the study results suggest that the personality attribute of dogmatism as measured in this study was alterable rather than rigid. The alteration was effected in a manner that enabled closed-minded individuals to become more open-minded in their thinking.