“Don't Tell Me, I Don't Want to Know”: Understanding People's Reluctance to Obtain Medical Diagnostic Information†
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1This research was supported by a Jacob K. Javitz Grant to the first author and NIMH Grant R01-56072 to the third author. Portions of this research were presented at the 2001 and 2002 meetings of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. The authors thank Kim Atkinson, Aaron Bobb, Leah Doane, and Laura Horn for their help in conducting Study 2.
Abstract
Prominent theories of health-protective behavior predict increasing information seeking as a function of increasing disease severity, yet diagnostic screens for serious diseases are notoriously underutilized. We suggest that in addition to severity, disease treatability impacts people's willingness to submit to medical tests. In two studies, participants were relatively likely to seek a diagnostic test for a disease they believed to be serious and treatable (Study 1) and to avoid a test for a disease they believed to be serious but untreatable (Study 2). Implications for health-behavior models and persuasive health communication are discussed.