IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v98y2013icp18-23.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Finding the right interactional temperature: Do colder patients need more warmth in physician communication style?

Author

Listed:
  • Cousin, Gaëtan
  • Schmid Mast, Marianne
  • Jaunin-Stalder, Nicole

Abstract

Being aware of which communication style should be adopted when facing more difficult patients is important for physicians; it can help prevent patient reactions of dissatisfaction, mistrust, or non-adherence that can be detrimental to the process of care. Past research suggests that less agreeable patients are especially critical towards, and reactive to, their physician's communication style, compared to more agreeable patients. On the basis of the literature, we hypothesized that less agreeable patients would react more negatively than agreeable patients to lower levels of affiliativeness (i.e., warmth, friendliness) in the physicians, in terms of satisfaction with the physician, trust in the physician, and determination to adhere to the treatment. Thirty-six general practitioners (20 men/16 women) working in their own practice in Switzerland were filmed while interacting with 69 patients (36 men/33 women) of different ages (M = 50.7; SD = 18.19; range: 18–84) and presenting different medical problems (e.g., back pain, asthma, hypertension, diabetes). After the medical interview, patients filled in questionnaires measuring their satisfaction with the physician, their trust in the physician, their determination to adhere to the treatment, and their trait of agreeableness. Physician affiliativeness was coded on the basis of the video recordings. Physician gender and dominance, patient gender and age, as well as the gravity of the patient's medical condition were introduced as control variables in the analysis. Results confirmed our hypothesis for satisfaction and trust, but not for adherence; less agreeable patients reacted more negatively (in terms of satisfaction and trust) than agreeable patients to lower levels of affiliativeness in their physicians. This study suggests that physicians should be especially attentive to stay warm and friendly with people low in agreeableness because those patients' satisfaction and trust might be more easily lowered by a cold or distant physician communication style.

Suggested Citation

  • Cousin, Gaëtan & Schmid Mast, Marianne & Jaunin-Stalder, Nicole, 2013. "Finding the right interactional temperature: Do colder patients need more warmth in physician communication style?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 18-23.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:98:y:2013:i:c:p:18-23
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.08.034
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953613004991
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.08.034?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Street Jr., Richard L. & Gordon, Howard & Haidet, Paul, 2007. "Physicians' communication and perceptions of patients: Is it how they look, how they talk, or is it just the doctor?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 586-598, August.
    2. Kiesler, Donald J. & Auerbach, Stephen M., 2003. "Integrating measurement of control and affiliation in studies of physician-patient interaction: the interpersonal circumplex," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(9), pages 1707-1722, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Óscar Brito Fernandes & Petra Baji & Dionne Kringos & Niek Klazinga & László Gulácsi & Armin Lucevic & Imre Boncz & Márta Péntek, 2019. "Patient experiences with outpatient care in Hungary: results of an online population survey," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(1), pages 79-90, June.
    2. Lee, Yin-Yang & Lin, Julia L., 2010. "Do patient autonomy preferences matter? Linking patient-centered care to patient-physician relationships and health outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(10), pages 1811-1818, November.
    3. Fenton, Anny T. & Elliott, Marc N. & Schwebel, David C. & Berkowitz, Zahava & Liddon, Nicole C. & Tortolero, Susan R. & Cuccaro, Paula M. & Davies, Suzy L. & Schuster, Mark A., 2018. "Unequal interactions: Examining the role of patient-centered care in reducing inequitable diffusion of a medical innovation, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 238-248.
    4. Greenfield, Geva & Pliskin, Joseph S. & Feder-Bubis, Paula & Wientroub, Shlomo & Davidovitch, Nadav, 2012. "Patient–physician relationships in second opinion encounters – The physicians’ perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(7), pages 1202-1212.
    5. Teal, Cayla R. & Street, Richard L., 2009. "Critical elements of culturally competent communication in the medical encounter: A review and model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 533-543, February.
    6. Charles Crabtree & John B. Holbein & J. Quin Monson, 2022. "Patient traits shape health-care stakeholders’ choices on how to best allocate life-saving care," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 244-257, February.
    7. Attanasio, Laura B. & Hardeman, Rachel R., 2019. "Declined care and discrimination during the childbirth hospitalization," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 270-277.
    8. Meeuwesen, Ludwien & Harmsen, Johannes A.M. & Bernsen, Roos M.D. & Bruijnzeels, Marc A., 2006. "Do Dutch doctors communicate differently with immigrant patients than with Dutch patients?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(9), pages 2407-2417, November.
    9. Kelly-Irving, Michelle & Delpierre, Cyrille & Schieber, Anne-Cécile & Lepage, Benoit & Rolland, Christine & Afrité, Anissa & Pascal, Jean & Cases, Chantal & Lombrail, Pierre & Lang, Thierry, 2011. "Do general practitioners overestimate the health of their patients with lower education?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(9), pages 1416-1421.
    10. Sana LOUE, 2018. "Using Sociodrama to Foster Cultural Humility among Faculty and Students in the Academic Medical Center," Revista romaneasca pentru educatie multidimensionala - Journal for Multidimensional Education, Editura Lumen, Department of Economics, vol. 10(2), pages 45-57, June.
    11. Katarzyna Krot & Iga Rudawska, 2021. "How Public Trust in Health Care Can Shape Patient Overconsumption in Health Systems? The Missing Links," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-15, April.
    12. Manning, Mark & Albrecht, Terrance L. & Yilmaz-Saab, Zeynep & Shultz, Julie & Purrington, Kristen, 2016. "Influences of race and breast density on related cognitive and emotion outcomes before mandated breast density notification," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 171-179.
    13. Xesfingi, Sofia & Karamanis, Dimitrios, 2015. "In- and Out-patient satisfaction assessment: the case of a greek General Hospital," MPRA Paper 66672, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Park, Yujong, 2013. "Negotiating last-minute concerns in closing Korean medical encounters: The use of gaze, body and talk," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 176-191.
    15. Yiannakoulias, Nikolaos & Hill, Michael D. & Svenson, Lawrence W., 2009. "Geographic hierarchies of diagnostic practice style in cerebrovascular disease," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 1985-1992, June.
    16. Senft, Nicole & Hamel, Lauren M. & Penner, Louis A. & Harper, Felicity W.K. & Albrecht, Terrance L. & Foster, Tanina & Eggly, Susan, 2018. "The influence of affective behavior on impression formation in interactions between black cancer patients and their oncologists," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 243-250.
    17. François Birault & Lakshmipriva Le Bonheur & Nicolas Langbour & Sandivanie Clodion & Nematollah Jaafari & Marie-Christine Perault-Pochat & Bérangère Thirioux, 2022. "Exposure to High Precariousness Prevalence Negatively Impacts Drug Prescriptions of General Practitioners to Precarious and Non-Precarious Populations: A Retrospective Pharmaco-Epidemiological Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-23, March.
    18. Malcom Hopwood, 2020. "The Shared Decision-Making Process in the Pharmacological Management of Depression," The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Springer;International Academy of Health Preference Research, vol. 13(1), pages 23-30, February.
    19. Deml, Michael J. & Buhl, Andrea & Notter, Julia & Kliem, Paulina & Huber, Benedikt M. & Pfeiffer, Constanze & Burton-Jeangros, Claudine & Tarr, Philip E., 2020. "‘Problem patients and physicians’ failures': What it means for doctors to counsel vaccine hesitant patients in Switzerland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    20. Jones, Rhys G. & Trivedi, Amal N. & Ayanian, John Z., 2010. "Factors influencing the effectiveness of interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 337-341, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:98:y:2013:i:c:p:18-23. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.