Date and Time
April 13, 2011
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Availability
Open to the public
No RSVP required

Please note: All research in progress seminars are off-the-record. Any information about methodology and/or results are embargoed until publication

Previous research suggests that the emotions people value ("ideal affect") can help explain cultural differences in health care preferences. For example, those valuing excitement tend to prefer physicians who promote excitement and medications that induce feelings of excitement. However, the emotions people want to avoid ("avoided affect") may be just as influential, particularly among older adults and East Asian Americans who tend to be motivated more by avoiding (versus approaching) certain outcomes.

Participants read several hypothetical health care scenarios and indicated their preference for two options framed in terms of approaching positive or avoiding negative affective states. We will present data that will illuminate the influences of ideal and avoided affect on health care preferences. Results from this study may have important implications for understanding cultural differences in decisions to utilize health care across the life span. Such differences may account for existing disparities in patient physician communication and adherence to medical treatments among different minority groups.