Abstract
Background: People-pleasing (PP) is a behavioral tendency characterized by an excessive desire to be liked, avoid conflict, or meet others' needs, often at the expense of one's own well-being. PP is linked with societal expectations of female-dominated professions like nursing, leading to normalization of self-sacrifice (Kaylor et al., 2025). PP is under-explored in prelicensure nursing students despite evidence linking similar behavioral patterns to negative outcomes including diminished resilience and burnout (Zhou et al., 2022); and emotional exhaustion, anxiety, and low self-worth (Georgescu & Bodislav, 2025). High performance expectations in prelicensure education likely reinforce PP behaviors (Li et al., 2025). The purpose of this research is to identify the extent to which these students manifest PP tendencies and to explore the roles of demographic and personal factors in expression of PP tendencies.
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey of United States prelicensure nursing students was conducted to assess PP tendencies and explore possible relationships between this phenomenon and demographic or environmental factors. A digital survey was distributed using several social media platforms. The 22-item survey included 11 demographic and personal experience questions to identify characteristics potentially promoting PP behaviors. PP tendencies were examined with Blotner’s (2025) 10-item People-Pleasing Scale (PPS) and one open-ended question.
Results: Recruitment is ongoing. More than half of the initial sample scored in the top third of the PPS. Relationships between demographic and personal characteristics and PPS scores will be examined. Responses to the open-ended item will undergo content analysis.
Discussion: The majority of prelicensure nursing students demonstrate high PP tendencies. This has implications for academic nurse educators (ANEs) who prepare students to thrive in a career that may take advantage of these tendencies. ANEs need to consider developing students’ skills related to boundary-setting, assertiveness, and emotional resilience to decrease risk for burnout and attrition from the profession.
Notes
References:
1. Roswell, R.O., Cogburn, C.D., Tocco, J., Martinez J., Bangeranye, C., Bailenson, J.N., et. al. (2020). Cultivating empathy through virtual reality: Advancing conversations about racism, inequity, and climate in medicine. Academic Medicine, 95(12), 1882-1886.
2. Peck, Seinfeld, Agliati, & Slater. (2013). Putting yourself in the skin of a Black avatar reduces implicit racial bias. Conscious Cognition, 22, 779-787.
3. Breining, G. Future or fad? Virtual reality in medical education. https:/www.aamc.org/news-insights/future-or-fad-virtual-reality-medical education. Published August 28, 2018. Accessed July 7, 2020.
4. Williams, Lawrence, & Davis (2019). Racism and health: Evidence and needed research. Annual Review of Public Health, 40, 105-125.
5. Cogburn, C. (2019). Culture, race and health: Implications for racial inequities and population health. Milbak Quarterly, 97, 736-761.
6. Feagin, J., and Bennifield, C. (2014). Systemic racism and U.S. health care. Social Science Medicine, 103, 7-14.
7. McGibbon, E.A. & Etowa, J.B. (2009). An antiracist framework to guide practice, chap 5. In McGibbon, E.A., & Etowa, J.B. (2009). Antiracist Health Care Practice (p. 113). Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholar’s Press.
8. Herrera (2018). Building long-term empathy: A large scale comparison of traditional and virtual reality perspective-taking. PLoS One, 13, e0204494.
9. Valdez, A., Fontenot, J., Millan, A. & McMurray, P. (2023). Knowledge, skills and attitudes about diversity, equity & inclusion among nurse educators. Teaching and Learning, 18, 308-316.
10. Williams, DR, Lawrence, JA, Davis, BA, Vu,C. Understanding how discrimination can affect health. Health Services Research, 2019; 54(suppl2):1374-1386
Sigma Membership
Pi Lambda
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Cross-Sectional
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Nursing Students, Nursing Education, Emotions, Interpersonal Relations, Relational Autonomy, Nurses--Psychosocial Factors
Recommended Citation
Carnahan, Alexa Grace; Gaffney, Mary Kathryn; and Blötner, Christian, "The Need to Please: People-Pleasing Tendencies in Prelicensure Nursing Students" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 51.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/posters_2026/51
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-07-30
The Need to Please: People-Pleasing Tendencies in Prelicensure Nursing Students
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Background: People-pleasing (PP) is a behavioral tendency characterized by an excessive desire to be liked, avoid conflict, or meet others' needs, often at the expense of one's own well-being. PP is linked with societal expectations of female-dominated professions like nursing, leading to normalization of self-sacrifice (Kaylor et al., 2025). PP is under-explored in prelicensure nursing students despite evidence linking similar behavioral patterns to negative outcomes including diminished resilience and burnout (Zhou et al., 2022); and emotional exhaustion, anxiety, and low self-worth (Georgescu & Bodislav, 2025). High performance expectations in prelicensure education likely reinforce PP behaviors (Li et al., 2025). The purpose of this research is to identify the extent to which these students manifest PP tendencies and to explore the roles of demographic and personal factors in expression of PP tendencies.
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey of United States prelicensure nursing students was conducted to assess PP tendencies and explore possible relationships between this phenomenon and demographic or environmental factors. A digital survey was distributed using several social media platforms. The 22-item survey included 11 demographic and personal experience questions to identify characteristics potentially promoting PP behaviors. PP tendencies were examined with Blotner’s (2025) 10-item People-Pleasing Scale (PPS) and one open-ended question.
Results: Recruitment is ongoing. More than half of the initial sample scored in the top third of the PPS. Relationships between demographic and personal characteristics and PPS scores will be examined. Responses to the open-ended item will undergo content analysis.
Discussion: The majority of prelicensure nursing students demonstrate high PP tendencies. This has implications for academic nurse educators (ANEs) who prepare students to thrive in a career that may take advantage of these tendencies. ANEs need to consider developing students’ skills related to boundary-setting, assertiveness, and emotional resilience to decrease risk for burnout and attrition from the profession.
Description
People-pleasing is a behavioral tendency characterized by an excessive desire to be liked, to avoid conflict, or to meet others' needs, often at the expense of one's own well-being. A cross-sectional survey of United States prelicensure nursing students revealed high people-pleasing tendencies. Academic nurse educators need to help students develop strategies such as boundary setting, assertiveness, and emotional resilience to decrease the risk for burnout and attrition from the profession.