Running in the family or swimming in the gene pool: discriminating between family history and genetic risk in illness perceptions.
The present study sought to understand how the genetic component of a disease affects individual's risk perceptions. Specifically, participants read three scenarios that asked them to imagine that they had either genetic, ambiguous, of no family history for a hypothetical disease and to imagine that their parents' lifestyles were either healthy or unhealthy. As expected, when participants received an ambiguous family history (rather than a genetic history or no family history), they rated a healthy diet and exercise as more effective at preventing the disease when their parents lifestyles were discribed as unhealthy rather than healthy (N = 97).
Riggs
Abigail L
AL
Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX 78626, USA.
Giuliano
Traci A
TA
D001294:Attitude to Health; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D015206:Southwestern United States; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States