Negative consequences of self-presentation on disclosure of health information: A catch-22 for Black patients?

RATIONALE: Most patients assume that it is adaptive to present oneself in a positive light when interacting with medical professionals. Here in two studies focused on Black patients we ask: might this desire to present oneself well inhibit the disclosure of health-relevant information when patients are concerned about negative and stereotypic evaluations by their health care providers? OBJECTIVE: Specifically, we explore three important questions: First, whether self-presentational efforts (e.g., working hard to sound knowledgeable or "smart") are negatively associated with disclosure of health information (e.g., not taking certain medications); Second, whether patient-provider racial congruence (e.g. Black patients interacting with a Black vs. a White doctor) moderates that relationship; and third, more broadly, what factors promote or inhibit disclosure of health information for Black patients in medical interactions. METHODS: These questions were investigated using mixed methodology (survey, experimental, qualitative) studies on CloudResearch and Prolific. RESULTS: We found a potential catch-22: participants who spend more effort self-presenting tend to be less comfortable disclosing health information to their healthcare providers. Moreover, Study 1 (N = 321) indicated that the negative relationship between self-presentation and disclosure was significant in Black-incongruent (i.e., Black patient and White provider) and White-congruent (i.e., White patient and White provider) medical interactions. Study 2 (N = 361) did not find a significant moderation by race of the provider but instead suggested that the relationship between self-presentation and disclosure was moderated by expectations of unfair treatment. Exploratory qualitative analyses suggested that some Black participants face a dilemma when deciding whether to disclose information to their healthcare providers. They weigh the kind of information they will share, and how sharing some information might lead to embarrassment and judgment. CONCLUSION: Mitigating the potentially counteractive effects of self-presentation on disclosure and working to foster contexts that encourage honest disclosure of health information may help to reduce health care inequalities.

Making sense of a pandemic: Mindsets influence emotions, behaviors, health, and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

RATIONALE: As the SARS-COV-2 virus spread across the world in the early months of 2020, people sought to make sense of the complex and rapidly evolving situation by adopting mindsets about what the pandemic was and what it meant for their lives. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to measure the mindsets of American adults over the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic to understand their relative stability over time and their relationship with emotions, behaviors, experiences, and wellbeing. METHODS: American adults (N = 5,365) were recruited in early March of 2020 to participate in a longitudinal survey with follow-up surveys at 6-weeks and 6-months. Three mindsets that people formed about the COVID-19 pandemic were measured: 'the pandemic is a catastrophe', 'the pandemic is manageable' and 'the pandemic can be an opportunity'. RESULTS: In line with our pre-registered hypotheses, these mindsets were associated with a unique and largely self-fulfilling pattern of emotions (positive, negative), behaviors (healthy, unhealthy, and compliance with CDC guidelines), experiences (growth/connection, isolation/meaninglessness) and wellbeing (physical health, mental health, quality of life). Moreover, mindsets formed in the first week of the pandemic were associated with quality of life 6 months later, an effect that was mediated by emotions and health behaviors. CONCLUSION: The mindsets that people adopted about the COVID-19 pandemic - that it is 'a catastrophe', 'manageable', or 'an opportunity' may explain some of the heterogeneity in the lived experiences of Americans through their self-fulfilling impact on peoples' emotions, health behaviors, and wellbeing.