Explanatory models of illness: a study of within-culture variation

Cognitive Psychology
Elizabeth Lynch, Douglas Medin

Abstract

The current studies explore causal models of heart attack and depression generated from American healers whom use distinct explanatory frameworks. Causal chains leading to two illnesses, heart attack and depression, were elicited from participant groups: registered nurses (RNs), energy healers, RN energy healers, and undergraduates. The domain-specificity hypothesis predicted that psycho-social and physical causes would not interact in illness models. Across illnesses, RNs and undergraduates rarely cited interactions between mental and physical causes, consistent with the domain specificity hypothesis. In contrast, energy healers frequently mentioned interactions. Study 2 showed that these differences were not due to salience. These results suggest that domain-specificity theory is supported for groups with extensive exposure to western medicine but does not explain energy models of illness. Implications for other cultural models of illness are discussed.

Citations

Mar 17, 2010·Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health·Jonathan N MaupinCatherine A Timura
Sep 24, 2011·Depression Research and Treatment·Dinorah Dina Martinez TysonIraida Carrion
Apr 22, 2014·The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care : JANAC·Claire Penn, Jennifer Watermeyer
Jun 19, 2012·Social Science & Medicine·Susan C WellerAna L Salcedo Rocha
Sep 25, 2014·Annual Review of Psychology·Bethany L Ojalehto, Douglas L Medin
May 25, 2016·Journal of Ethnopharmacology·Charlotte Van't KloosterRia Reis
Aug 21, 2013·Public Understanding of Science·Benjamin D JeeJudy Diamond
Oct 28, 2019·Child Development·Noriko Toyama
Dec 6, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Yulia Chentsova-Dutton, Andreas Maercker
Oct 18, 2019·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Andrea Bender, Sieghard Beller
Jun 30, 2017·Rheumatology Advances in Practice·Bernadette BradyLucinda Chipchase

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