Heteronormativity and practitioner–patient interaction

ABSTRACT

Heteronormativity is the presumption of heterosexuality as the default sexual orientation and can result in discrimination against the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population. This study serves as one of the first experimental studies to examine heteronormative perceptions in communication and their effects on practitioner–patient relationships. LGB participants were randomly assigned to read either heteronormative or non-heteronormative vignettes of a doctor–patient interaction. They then indicated how much health-relevant information they would disclose to the doctor in the vignette and their level of trust in the doctor. In the heteronormative condition, participants were less likely to disclose health-relevant information to the doctor in the vignette and were less trustful of the doctor as compared to those in the non-heteronormative condition. These results have important health implications, as lack of disclosure and trust may prevent people from getting needed care and prevent doctors from giving the best health advice possible. The results of this study provide further evidence that there is a need for more education for all health care professionals to feel comfortable while respectfully communicating with and treating patients who do not identify as heterosexual in order to ensure the best health care experience.

Notes

¹ The acronyms LGB, LGBT, and LGBTQ are used variably in the article based on the terminology that was used in each of the cited references.

² For access to vignettes, please contact the corresponding author.

³ Opinions vary as to whether asexuality is considered a sexual orientation. We chose to include it as a sexual orientation based on research suggesting that sexual orientation is most closely related to one’s erotic fantasy desire (Storms, 1980). Because people who identify themselves as asexual are often not attracted to anyone in an erotic fashion, we feel that, for this study, asexuality can be considered a sexual orientation (Bogaert, 2012).

⁴ While we recognize that gender is not solely binary, we created one vignette for male and one for female to eliminate the confounding variable that heteronormativity may also have an effect on gender identity since the focus of the study was in examining sexual orientation.

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank Dr. Janie Long, Dr. Nicole Schramm-Sapyta, and Dr. Brian Southwell for their valuable insight and input, and the Duke University Undergraduate Research Support Office for funding this research.