Projection, stereotyping, and the perception of chronic medical conditions

Abstract

To test the hypotheses that people with chronic medical conditions are more likely than those without chronic medical conditions to project personal characteristics onto the population with chronic medical conditions, and that people without chronic medical conditions are more likely to stereotype those with chronic medical conditions. The study is a secondary analysis of the 2000 Chronic Illness and Caregiving survey conducted by Harris Interactive Inc. using linear and probit regressions. The hypothesis that persons with chronic medical conditions project their characteristics onto the population of those with chronic medical conditions is strongly supported. The hypothesis that persons without chronic medical conditions stereotype the population of those with chronic medical conditions is weakly supported. The findings imply that characterizations of persons with chronic medical conditions vary more among those with chronic medical conditions than among those without, and that those without chronic medical conditions have more homogeneous representations. This difference between those who have chronic medical conditions and those who do not implies a potential for greater variation in support for the particulars of policies addressing chronic medical conditions among those with chronic medical conditions.