Elsevier

Social Science & Medicine

Volume 50, Issue 3, February 2000, Pages 309-315
Social Science & Medicine

Task and socioemotional behaviors of physicians: a test of reciprocity and social interaction theories in analogue physician–patient encounters

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00245-2Get rights and content

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to assess social interaction and reciprocity theories as explanations for patient responses to a physician in a medical consultation. Social interaction theory predicts that patients mostly recognize and react to socioemotional behavior of their physicians due to a lack of understanding of physician task behaviors or a preoccupation with anxiety. Reciprocity theory predicts that patients recognize socioemotional and task behaviors of their physicians, and they respond to these behaviors in thematically similar ways. We examined these hypotheses by having subjects view one of four videotapes which varied in physician task behavior (thorough or minimum levels of explanation of etiology, symptoms, and treatment) and physician socioemotional behavior (high or low levels of concern and affection displayed verbally and non-verbally). Results supported the general proposition of social interaction theory in that high levels of socioemotional behavior of the physician increased measures of patient self-disclosure, trust, satisfaction, and likelihood of recommending the physician. Physician task behavior had no effect on patient response to the physician, a finding inconsistent with reciprocity theory.

Section snippets

Participants

Ninety-three participants (52 male, 41 female; mean age=23) were patients recruited from the waiting room of the student health clinic at a historically black university. Participants were 67% African-American, 13% African, 8% West Indian, 7% white and 5% other. Eighty-four percent of participants had high school degrees and some college education, 11% had completed bachelor’s degrees, and 2% had graduate degrees. Seventy-six percent of participants had incomes of under $10,000/year, 16% made

Results

Participants generally rated the interaction portrayed in the videotape as believable (mean=4.2; with a score of 5 representing strongly agree). ANOVA showed no significant differences in believability scores between the four videotapes.

Q1 asked whether participants recognized task and socioemotional behaviors displayed by the physician. Participants rated the physician in the high socioemotional tapes as having more socioemotional attributes (mean=46.50±13.56) than the physician in the low

Discussion

The results of this study show support for the general proposition of social interaction theory: Physician socioemotional behavior was clearly recognized and affected patient trust, self-disclosure, satisfaction, likelihood of recommendation, and number of words written on the recall scale. Although the manipulation check suggested that patients recognized the physician’s task behavior, such behavior did not affect patient response to the physician. Social interaction theory further predicts

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a National Institutes of Health grant (No. S06-GM-08202-18) awarded to M.S.A. We are deeply indebted to Rebecca Logan and Tameika Culler for their time and energy on this project. We are also grateful to Vicki Rakes R.N. and Beth Clad R.M.A. for welcoming us into their clinic.

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