title: A Self-Determination Perspective on Online Health Information Seeking: The Internet vs. Face-to-Face Office Visits With Physicians.
abstract: This study elucidates the experiential and motivational aspects of online health information beyond the theoretically limited instrumental perspective that dominates the extant literature. Based on a sample of 993 online health information seekers in India, the survey found that online health information seeking offers individuals greater autonomy, competence, and relatedness compared to face-to-face office visits with physicians. According to self-determination theory, individuals are motivated to act by a sense of volition and experience of willingness, validation of one's skills and competencies, and feeling of connection with others who shaped one's decisions. These 3 psychological needs, which motivate individuals to pursue what they innately seek as human beings, help explain why individuals turn online for health information. T tests showed that all 3 self-determination theory constructs -autonomy, competence, and relatedness-were higher for online health information seeking than for face-to-face office visits with physicians. A regression analysis found that 2 variables, autonomy and relatedness, explained online health information seeking. Competence was not a significant factor, likely because of competency issues faced by individuals in interpreting, understanding, and making use of online health information. The findings, which do not suggest that online health information seeking would displace physicians as many have feared, offer promise for an integrated system of care. Office visits with physicians would necessarily evolve into an expanded communicative space of health information seeking instead of an alternative channel for health information.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Media Design, College of Media, Communication, and Information , University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder , Colorado , USA.
authors.forename: Seow Ting
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: b Department of Communications and New Media, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences , National University of Singapore , Singapore.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult