Patients who are in greater need of care tend to objectify their physicians and view them as "empty vessels" more so than patients whose care needs are less urgent, according to a new study published in the journal Social Psychology & Personality Science.
The study — led by University of Chicago Booth School of Business Professor Ayelet Fishbach, PhD, and University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business Assistant Professor Juliana Schroeder, PhD — is unusual in that is focused on how patients view physicians, not the other way around.
The researchers designed a series of six studies to test how instrumentality, or the importance of a physician's role in a patient's health, influences how patients perceive their physicians. In all six studies, patients in higher need for care believed their physicians lacked emotions or personal lives of their own.
Despite their insensitivity, higher-need patients wanted their emotions to be the focus of their physicians more so than patients with less-urgent needs.
"When people really need to see a doctor, whether it is for something immediate such as a broken bone or a life-threatening illness, they look at the doctor in terms of their own health goals and not as a person with emotions," said Dr. Fishbach. "When patients 'objectify' their doctors — when they treat them like objects or machines — it can have negative consequences and lead to burnout."
Dr. Fishbach argues patients who are sensitive to their physicians' emotions, may ultimately receive better care.
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