Perceptions of free will and self-control in a medically relevant treatment recommendation scenario

• Published in: The Journal of social psychology Vol. 162; no. 6; pp. 716 - 732
• Main Authors: Alderson, Courtney, Hagiwara, Nao, Green, Jeffrey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Routledge 02.11.2022; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Between-subjects design; Bias; Free will; Group identity; Intergroup relations; Medical Services; Medical treatment; Medicine; Patients; perceived free will; perceived self-control; Perceptions; Race; Racial bias; Racial differences; Racial Identification; Racial identity; Racial inequality; Racism; Research design; Self control; treatment recommendations; Will
• ISSN: 0022-4545; 1940-1183; 1940-1183
• DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2021.1953956

Do provider perceptions of patient free will and treatment related self-control influence treatment recommendations and do such perceptions differ due to race? If so, such bias may be a mechanism for racial disparities in medical treatment recommendations. We hypothesized: (1) greater perceived patient free will would indirectly effect treatment recommendations for patients through increased perceived patient treatment related self-control; (2) participants would perceive greater free will for a hypothetical racial ingroup patient than outgroup patient; and (3) such effect would be exacerbated by greater levels of racial identity and racial bias. A 2 (Participant: Black vs. White) x 2 (Target: Black vs. White) x Continuous (Racial Identity/Racial Bias) between-subjects design supported hypothesis 1. Perceived patient free will predicted more rigorous treatment recommendations treatment related self-control. No evidence was found in support of hypotheses 2 and 3. Using a novel experimental design, this work demonstrates the importance of free will and self-control perceptions.