Gender, affiliation, and control in physician-patient encounters

This study investigates the effects of physician gender and communication s tyles on participant responses to physicians. Participants were 146 mostly low-income students (50% Caucasian, 50% African-American) who each viewed o ne of four videotapes of physicians varying in communication style (affilia tive, controlling) and gender (male, female). The affiliative communication style evoked the greatest levels of participant satisfaction, trust, self- disclosure, and compliance. Physician gender did not significantly affect t hese variables. Participants' recall of medical information showed an inter action: When the physician was male, participants recalled more when he was controlling than when he was affiliative; when the physician was female, c ommunication style did not affect participant recall. Results suggest that physician communication style is more important than gender in determining patient response.