Recovery attributions: explicit endorsement of biomedical factors and implicit dominance of psycho-social factors

J Behav Med. 2007 Jun;30(3):243-51. doi: 10.1007/s10865-007-9100-0. Epub 2007 Apr 19.

Abstract

Two studies assessed lay people's bio-medical and psycho-social attributions for recovery, using implicit and explicit methods, and one of them, Study 2, also measured individual differences in health locus of control. Participants were presented with a vignette of a patient with a severe disease for which chances of recovery vary widely, who had high or low levels of medical care and high or low psycho-social resources. They estimated his chances to recover from his illness (implicit attributions), and then, imagining another patient with the same disease, evaluated the relative importance of medical, psycho-social and other factors for his chances for recovery (explicit method). Findings show a moderation effect by assessment method: the explicit method pointed to dominance of biomedical attributions and the implicit method indicated dominance of psycho-social attributions. In addition, internal health locus of control was positively correlated with psycho-social attributions and external health locus of control (powerful others and chance) was correlated with biomedical attributions for recovery. The findings are discussed in relation to dual-process models of reasoning and self-serving defensive processes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Attitude to Health*
  • Culture*
  • Delivery of Health Care*
  • Disease / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Individuality
  • Internal-External Control*
  • Israel
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Personality Inventory
  • Social Support*