The Effect of Perceived Patient Responsibility on Characterological, Behavioral, and Quality-of-Care Assessments

Perceived Patient Responsibility and Belief in a Just World Affect Helping

“…Consistent with a victim blaming ideology, "a person who is responsible for his or her illness should be responsible for the bill as well" (Crawford, 1990, p. 390). The negative consequences of being perceived responsible for disease onset have been demonstrated in past research (Madey et al, 1993;Weiner, 1995;Weiner, Perry, & Magnusson, 1988). Madey et al proposed that people have implicit theories of responsibility for disease onset that guide their judgments about medical patients' personality, their likely cooperation with medical advice, and the quality of medical care they should receive.…”

“…How medical patients are perceived by others (i.e., whether they are innocent or are perceived responsible in some way for their illness onset) has been shown to affect people's inferences about the patients' character and behavior and the quality of care they should receive (e.g., Charlton, DePalma, & Madey, 1994;Madey, DePalma, Bahrt, & Beirne, 1993). Very little research, however, has investigated how patient perception affects whether people will donate time or money to help someone in need.…”

“…Although perceived responsibility is often measured as an outcome variable, little research has investigated how the systematic manipulation of responsibility affects people's emotional reaction and social conduct (e.g., Weiner, 1995) or their inferences about patient character and behavior (e.g., Madey et al, 1993). Also, there is a dearth of research that investigates how patient perception affects whether people will donate time or money to help someone in need.…”

Do Health Care Workplaces Affect Treatment Environments?

“…The connection between philosophical orientation and staff attitudes and behaviours towards patients supports the idea that beliefs about patient illnesses influence feelings towards and interactions with patients (Madey et al, 1993). The degree to which the programme endorses a disease model of addiction strongly predicts less patient alienation and greater staff sensitivity towards patients.…”

“…For example, when health care providers perceive people with AIDS as being responsible for the onset of illness, their perceptions of AIDS patients are more negative (Hunter and Ross, 1991). Similarly, nursing students made more negative behavioural and trait inferences about patients who were described in scenarios as being responsible for the onset of their illness (Madey et al,1993). Clearly, such inferences may affect relationships between staff and patients, which are central to the treatment environment.…”