title: The influence of patient gender on medical and psychology students' illness attributions: experiences with a narrative technique.
abstract: We attempted to identify whether and how the gender of the patient influences interpretations of an illness narrative. We investigated how medical and psychology undergraduates' (n = 313) views change according to the patient's gender, students' gender, and field of study. A short story about a female patient was chosen as stimulus material, and a gender-modified version with a male protagonist was created for comparison. Responses were content analyzed by qualitative and quantitative methods. The female patient elicited more detailed descriptions and somatizing attributions. The gender of students had a stronger impact on responses than their field of study.
authors.affiliation: University of Debrecen, Hungary.
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Csörsz
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kakuk
authors.forename: Eszter M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Molnár
authors.forename: János
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Máth
authors.forename: Márta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Csabai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011584:Psychology / Q000193:education*; D012951:Socialization; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D013240:Stereotyping; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: future professionals; gender stereotype; illness narrative; somatization; symptom interpretation