Lay Disease Representations and Responses to Victims of Disease

Abstract

This research extends current understanding of lay disease representations by examining the cognitive organization of disease information and the categories used in thinking about disease. In addition, the implications of these categories for people's responses to disease victims are explored. In the first study, subjects were asked to rate 22 diseases on a series of 18 bipolar scales and then to indicate how willing they would be to interact with a person who had one of 12 diseases. The results indicated that the primary dimensions used to categorize diseases were the extent to which the diseases were perceived to be contagious and serious/life threatening. Further, subjects' responses to disease victims were a direct function of the extent to which the disease was perceived to be contagious. Little apparent distinction was made between different types of contagious diseases. A second study then examined people's understanding of the concept of contagious disease. The results indicated that subjects tended to have a relatively simple and straightforward understanding of contagion. Subjects perceived flu, cold, and chicken pox to be the most typical of their concept of contagious disease as a category. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding disease representations as well as understanding the fear of persons with AIDS.