Passage
Studies suggest that health outcomes for preventable diseases are impacted by delayed treatment and lack of compliance. People often postpone seeking medical care because they fear hearing bad news from their physician. Paradoxically, when they finally do see a doctor, they may find out that their disease is indeed serious, but only because treatment was so delayed.Refusal to comply with a physician's instructions is another major issue. Although there are many reasons for this, one possible explanation is that patients are responding with psychological reactance. Reactance theory suggests that when an individual perceives that free choice is threatened or limited, he or she may respond by wanting to perform the threatened behavior even more, as if to preserve original freedoms. For example, if a physician tells a patient to quit smoking, the smoker might respond by smoking even more in an effort to preserve the freedom to smoke.Researchers hypothesize that psychological reactance may be reduced or avoided when physicians communicate with their patients through a process known as deliberation. In the following example, the physician has already explained to the patient that her weight could be having a negative impact on her diabetes. The physician, using deliberation, then initiates a dialogue about how the patient would like to address the situation:Physician: "You are already taking pretty strong medications, so your options are either to change your eating habits or increase your level of exercise. It's your choice."Patient: "I think I could exercise more by joining a gym. I could stop eating dessert, but I would hate to give up chocolate."Physician: "Okay. Let's negotiate. Why don't you try going to the gym and giving up sweets-except chocolate-for the next month. Then come back to see me, and we'll see where we are."
Adapted from S. Bigi ©2016 Frontiers.
-Which psychological concept is most analogous to the scenario described in the first paragraph?

Question

Passage
Studies suggest that health outcomes for preventable diseases are impacted by delayed treatment and lack of compliance.  People often postpone seeking medical care because they fear hearing bad news from their physician.  Paradoxically, when they finally do see a doctor, they may find out that their disease is indeed serious, but only because treatment was so delayed.Refusal to comply with a physician's instructions is another major issue.  Although there are many reasons for this, one possible explanation is that patients are responding with psychological reactance.  Reactance theory suggests that when an individual perceives that free choice is threatened or limited, he or she may respond by wanting to perform the threatened behavior even more, as if to preserve original freedoms.  For example, if a physician tells a patient to quit smoking, the smoker might respond by smoking even more in an effort to preserve the freedom to smoke.Researchers hypothesize that psychological reactance may be reduced or avoided when physicians communicate with their patients through a process known as deliberation.  In the following example, the physician has already explained to the patient that her weight could be having a negative impact on her diabetes.  The physician, using deliberation, then initiates a dialogue about how the patient would like to address the situation:Physician:  "You are already taking pretty strong medications, so your options are either to change your eating habits or increase your level of exercise.  It's your choice."Patient:  "I think I could exercise more by joining a gym.  I could stop eating dessert, but I would hate to give up chocolate."Physician:  "Okay.  Let's negotiate.  Why don't you try going to the gym and giving up sweets-except chocolate-for the next month.  Then come back to see me, and we'll see where we are."
Adapted from S. Bigi ©2016 Frontiers.
-Which psychological concept is most analogous to the scenario described in the first paragraph?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_0d18_db2f_a3bf_7755e133831a_MD0008_00 A self-fulfilling prophecy is a belief or prediction about something (which may or may not be true) that influences the behavior of the person who believes it, which then causes the belief to come true. For example, a student believes he is terrible at chemistry, so he does not study very hard for the chemistry final because he thinks, "Why bother? I'm terrible at this subject, so what is the point in trying?" His lack of preparation causes him to fail the exam, thus reinforcing his belief that he is bad at chemistry. The first paragraph describes how people delay seeing a doctor about an ailment because they are afraid of hearing bad news. The fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when the patient eventually does see a doctor and receives bad news because the disease has progressed. (Choice A) Belief perseverance is a type of cognitive bias in which a person steadfastly holds a belief even when confronting strong evidence to the contrary. The first paragraph does not mention contradictory evidence, so this concept is not most analogous to the scenario described. (Choice B) The fundamental attribution error is a cognitive bias in which a person overemphasizes internal traits and underemphasizes the role of the environment when attempting to explain another's behavior. For example, a peer assumes that his classmate failed a test because he is stupid (internal trait) instead of because his parents are getting divorced (external stress). The first paragraph does not discuss attributing the actions of others. (Choice D) Stereotype threat occurs when someone's conscious or unconscious fear of confirming a negative stereotype (belief about a group) hinders performance. For example, females perform more poorly on math tests when they are first reminded of the stereotype "girls are bad at math." The first paragraph does not mention group membership, so this concept is not most analogous to the scenario described. Educational objective: A self-fulfilling prophecy is a belief about something (which may or may not be true) that influences behavior such that the belief actually comes true. Beliefs (I'm bad at chemistry) impact expectations (I won't do well on the chemistry test), which then influence behavior (not studying). The results (failing the test) then reinforce the belief.

Passage Studies Suggest That Health Outcomes for Preventable Diseases Are Impacted