The Effect of Ethnocentric Tendency on Patient-Physician Orientation: The Case of Istanbul

A society's understanding of health, health literacy and attitudes towards health may differ from another society. The society's disdain for the other community, which has different attitudes towards health, occurs as a result of the ethnocentric thinking tendency. The general motivation of the study is the question of whether such people are physician or patient-oriented in the health sector. The patient-physician relationship requires mutual support, respect and trust. This complex, dynamic relationship is influenced by many cultural, social, economic, technological, psychological and ethical factors. The aim of this study is to reveal how people with high culture of ethnocentric feelings behave in physician-patient orientation, and how and in what direction there is a relationship between them. From this point of view, analyzes were carried out for 414 individuals living in Istanbul. As a result of the correlation analysis, the consumer ethnocentrism score has a positive (increasing) effect on the patient-physician orientation general score by 19.3%. As a result of the regression analysis, consumer ethnocentrism has the power to explain the patient-physician orientation behavior by 29.8%. Consumer perception of ethnocentrism 1 unit increases, the perception of patient-physician orientation behavior is 0.275 unit will increase. Thus, being focused on ethnocentrism positively affects the patient-physician orientation.