ABSTRACT
Health care professionals are continually puzzled by people who come to their offices showing no symptoms of physical illness. They are also hard pressed to understand those who, in the face of obvious need of medical help, refuse to seek help. This textbook delves into how interpersonal processes influence the origins, functions, and change of health-related beliefs and attitudes. The authors address such questions as: Why do so many people with nonorganic complaints seek medical aid? Why do so many other people delay getting help despite the presence of medically serious symptoms? How are social networks, such as lay referral systems, linked to the use of medical services? What constitutes the cluster of attitudes called "patient satisfaction," and how are those attitudes related to actual behavior during treatment (for example, compliance with medical instructions)? What do field experiments suggest with regard to modifying health beliefs and attitudes?
