Sexism Interacts with Patient-Physician Gender Concordance in Influencing Patient Control Preferences: Findings from a Vignette Experimental Design.

Background: Patient preferences regarding their involvement in shared treatments decisions is fundamental in clinical practice. Previous evidences demonstrated a large heterogeneity in these preferences. However, only few studies have analysed the influence of patients' individual differences, contextual and situational qualities, and their complex interaction in explaining this variability.
Methods: We assessed the role of the interaction of patient's sociodemographic and psychological factors with a physician's gender. Specifically, we focused on patient gender and attitudes toward male or female physicians. One hundred fifty-three people participated in this randomised controlled study and were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions in which they were asked to imagine discussing their treatment with a male and a female doctor.
Results: Analyses showed an interplay between attitude towards women and the gender of patients and doctors, explaining interindividual variability in patient preferences.
Conclusions: In conclusion, patients' attitudes toward the physicians' gender constitutes a relevant characteristic that may influence the degree of control patients want to have and the overall patient-physician relationship.
(© 2020 The Authors. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association of Applied Psychology.)