What is the Image of the 'Typical Cancer Patient'? The View of Physicians
| Autor: | Karen Steindorf, Alexander Haussmann, Nadine Ungar, Martina Gabrian, Joachim Wiskemann, Monika Sieverding, Angeliki Tsiouris |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
cancer patient prototypes
Adult Male medicine.medical_specialty Health (social science) Attitude of Health Personnel Population lcsh:Medicine 050109 social psychology Breast Neoplasms 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Germany Neoplasms Physicians medicine Humans 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences education education.field_of_study Stereotyping business.industry 05 social sciences lcsh:R Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Cancer Gender Identity Prostatic Neoplasms Middle Aged medicine.disease gender stereotypes physicians’ attitudes Attitude 030220 oncology & carcinogenesis Family medicine favorability Original Article Female Stereotyped Behavior business cancer patients Colorectal Neoplasms |
| Zdroj: | American Journal of Men's Health, Vol 15 (2021) American Journal of Men's Health |
| ISSN: | 1557-9891 |
| Popis: | Former research has identified stigmatizing attitudes toward cancer patients in the general population. Little is known about (implicit) attitudes of physicians toward cancer patients. By using the prototype approach, the study investigated German physicians’ prototypical perceptions of cancer patients. Five hundred nineteen physicians (mean age: 46 years, 47% female) who regularly treat cancer patients participated in the questionnaire study. Participants were asked to state three prototype attributes that describe the “typical cancer patient.” Open format answers were coded on the dimensions favorability (coded with unfavorable, favorable, or neutral) and gender-stereotypicality (coded with masculine stereotypical, feminine stereotypical, or gender-neutral). Of all prototype attributes ( N = 1,589), 69.9% were coded as unfavorable and 14.3% as favorable, the remaining attributes were neutral (15.9%). Analysis of gender-stereotypicality revealed that nearly half of the attributes (49.5%) were compatible with the feminine, whereas only 6.5% were compatible with the masculine stereotype. The remaining attributes (44.0%) were gender-neutral. There were no significant associations between prototype favorability or gender-stereotypicality and demographic/professional characteristics of physicians. The prototype approach was successful to identify (implicit) attitudes toward cancer patients and might be more sensitive than social distance scales when investigating stigmatizing attitudes. Physicians described the “typical cancer patient” with predominantly unfavorable and feminine attributes, while favorable attributes were underrepresented and positive masculine attributes were barely mentioned. The finding that the “typical cancer patient” lacks (positive) masculine attributes should be followed up in further research. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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