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The unintended detrimental effects of pursuing a professional vocation: The case of veterinarians

Author

Listed:
  • Marco A Palma
  • Peilu Zhang
  • Karen Cornell
  • Matthew Salois
  • Bridget Bain
  • Clinton Neill

Abstract

Pursuing one’s life calling can be personally fulfilling and professionally rewarding, but it also requires sacrifice. We provide evidence of a strong vocational drive using veterinary students as a case study and find that they willingly contribute higher monetary donations for helping animals relative to students in other fields. We also find a significant reduction in the cognitive performance of veterinarian students when exposed to an animal-in-need manipulation. The performance of non-veterinary students in the cognitive task is unaffected by the manipulation. Our results highlight the need for programs to address the economic, financial, and mental health well-being of students and professionals to promote sustainable vocational career commitment.“You owe it to all of us to get on with what you’re good at.” W.H. Auden

Suggested Citation

  • Marco A Palma & Peilu Zhang & Karen Cornell & Matthew Salois & Bridget Bain & Clinton Neill, 2023. "The unintended detrimental effects of pursuing a professional vocation: The case of veterinarians," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(5), pages 1-12, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0284583
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284583
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ernst-Jan Bruijn & Gerrit Antonides, 2022. "Poverty and economic decision making: a review of scarcity theory," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 92(1), pages 5-37, February.
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