Psychological Tools Research Articles

Experience in Organizin IPMITE events in the Conditions of Distance Learning

The article discusses the features of the organization of the educational process of students of a pedagogical university during the period of distance learning. The difficulties and limitations faced by the teachers are considered. The tasks of the implementation of the educational process in a pedagogical university in this period are presented. The purpose of the article is to present the experience of teaching and educating students, taking into account the possibilities and limitations of distance technologies at the Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, from the position of a systematic approach. Methodology. The research was carried out within the framework of the implementation of pedagogical years of practice and the organization of educational online events for graduates of IPMITE. We have identified the problems of students: educational level related to the level of mastering the disciplines of the psychological and pedagogical block and general cultural disciplines; insufficient integration of interdisciplinary connections among students; problems of a personal nature: students’ lack of confidence in their own pedagogical powers and creativity, a tendency to algorithmization; problems of self-discipline and activity. In conclusion, it is concluded that the current stage of training future teachers requires the creation of integrated courses for students, for testing and updating digital technologies in the educational process of the university; to reveal the problems of using psychological and pedagogical tools in a virtual environment, problems of psychological and pedagogical safety support.

Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of People Addicted to Psychoactive Substances: Research Results

The article presents the empirical study of resocialization and socio-psychological rehabilitation of addicts to psychoactive substances, carried out by the scientific and pedagogical staff of Lviv State University of Internal Affairs (Ukraine), working in the field of social and behavioral sciences. The study started in November 2020 and was completed in February 2021. It was conducted in three cities of Ukraine (Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv). 46 people addicted to psychoactive substances aged 16 to 51 were involved. The men presented the sample of 89%, the women estimated by 11%. Regarding individual age, it should be noted that 51% of the researched were 35-37 years old, namely: 17.4% alcohol addicts; 60.9% – drug addicts; 21.7% – alcohol and drug addicts. The goal and objectives of the experimental study were highlighted; a hypothesis was formulated. The category of people addicted to psychoactive substances was selected, with the psychological portrait of the subjects undergoing treatment in the indicated rehabilitation centers of the cities of Ukraine was clarified, while comparing them with practically healthy persons, who correspond to age and sex characteristics. The following psychological tools were used in the study: life-sense orientation test in the adaptation by D. Leontiev, the methodology for diagnosing interpersonal relations by T. Leary, the MMPI questionnaire («Mini-Mult»), the method for diagnosing the socio-psychological adaptation of K. Rogers-R. Diamond. The main differences between the subjects were determined according to various characteristics: the presence and absence of addicted relatives, alcohol and drug addiction, use of up to ten and over ten years. The negative consequences for the brain, in particular, and human life in general, when using psychoactive substances are described.

Should psychological distress be listed as a surgical indication for indeterminate pulmonary nodules: protocol for a prospective cohort study in real-world settings

BackgroundPulmonary nodules (PNs) are documented in up to 30% of computed tomography (CT) reports. PNs of indeterminate nature (IPN) have been reported to be associated with increased psychological distress and deterioration of the quality of life. Despite lack of solid evidence, severe anxiety or depression has been proposed to be one of the surgical indications in expert consensus for IPN management. So far, there is no established criterion to guide the decision-making process, or to ensure evidence-based management. This study aims to evaluate whether psychological distress could be a surgical indication for IPN, and to establish an evidence-based distress threshold for necessary surgical intervention.MethodsThis prospective observational study in real-world setting will involve an expected sample size of 1,253 IPN patients from the thoracic clinic of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital. Web-based questionnaires powered by Wen Juan Xing (WJX) platform will be delivered to the patients for baseline data collection and psychological screening. Based on our pilot study, a total of 376 IPN patients with abnormal or borderline abnormal psychological states, as assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), will be followed for 1 year before proceeding to the final analysis. The planned study period is from Jan 1, 2021, to Sept 30, 2022, and will entail two HADS assessments at baseline and follow-up. Sleep quality and indicators of healthcare-seeking behavior, such as the number of unplanned clinic visits or CT scans per year, will be used as anchors of psychological state. Patients who undergo surgical resection against the follow-up plan will be enrolled into a surgical group (expected n=94), while those who adhere to their plan will be automatically classified as a follow-up group after 1-year follow-up (expected n=282). Statistical measures such as independent-samples t-test and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis will be used to assess the difference in psychological changes between the groups, and to generate an optimal threshold alerting surgical need. A Chi-square test or nonparametric test will be used to compare the baseline characteristics. Contributors to psychological burden and their effect sizes will be evaluated using general linear regression.DiscussionTo date, data on the psychological benefits of surgical resection of IPN remains scanty. Evidence-based procedure of patient selection using appropriate psychological screening tools is crucial in improving the quality of care and preventing overtreatment. This protocol describes the rationale and methodology to address this unmet clinical need using real-world data, aiming to bridge the gap between clinical guidelines and real-world practice.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04857333. Registered April 23, 2021.

Substantiation of the use of virtual and augmented reality as a means of developing cognitive interest in children.

The article discusses the options for using virtual and augmented reality in education, provides a justification for their use for the development of interest in children and motivation. VR and AR tools will soon become full-fledged educational tools, as the presentation of information is interesting and understandable. And the coronavirus epidemic has attracted the attention of people forced to stay at home to online education and interactive tools that can make learning more visual. Online classes can be a great way to involve the student even more in the educational process through immersion and detail. The novelty of the research is that it was possible to justify the need for the use of virtual reality in the educational process using psychological and astrological tools. By combining astrological studies obtained by mathematical calculations with psychological knowledge, it makes it possible to build a teacher's work in the right and unique direction. Therefore, each educational product with augmented reality can be made as individual as possible by dividing children into four main groups using astrological calculations. Someone is receptive and learns more successfully with a dynamic presentation, someone from a colorful one, and there are children who perceive more chrome and static.

Research and Evidence Regarding the Validation of the Psychological Evaluation for Selection of Future Officers

Abstract The purpose of this study is to present some scientifically validated evidence on the usefulness scales designed to assess the skills and predictors of the psychological profiles of military services/specialties in relation to psychological criteria. The procedures performed ensure that the used predictors and psychological assessment tools optimally participate to the selection of future officers, substantiating the best decision regarding the correspondence between the psychological profile of the person and the psychological profile of the function/military specialty in which it can develop.

Testimonios in the mouth of the dragon: A call for Black liberation in psychology.

U.S. society has witnessed and experienced the impact and suffering caused by the racial pandemic within the COVID-19 viral pandemic. In response to anti-Blackness, a multigenerational and multiracial movement of people is rising and demanding justice for Black lives. Using testimonio research and Liberation Psychology as a theoretical framework, the authors describe their current understanding of what it means to practice a more responsible resistance to racist power structures as non-Black Latinas in the field of psychology. Braun and Clarke's (2016) thematic analysis (TA) was used to search for patterns of meaning within the authors' testimonios. Results revealed four themes: (a) to "hold the line" means to struggle for Black liberation, (b) confront anti-Blackness and colonial mentality in the self and community, (c) challenge anti-Blackness within the field of psychology, and (d) collective struggle. The third theme was divided into two subthemes: (a) tear down and (b) center Black lives. The testimonios emphasize that practicing allyship involves being a dissenter who questions and challenges colonial mentality and anti-Blackness, who fights for the abolition of racist policies and power systems, and who moves beyond the hegemonic values that exist in the field of psychology. This study presents the use of testimonio research and Liberation Psychology as suitable tools for psychologists to increase their racial consciousness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Screening of psychiatric disorders in women with high-risk pregnancy: Accuracy of three psychological tools.

PurposeThis study investigated the optimal cutoff points of three psychological tools for screening psychiatric disorders in women with high‐risk pregnancy.Design and MethodsIn this cross‐sectional study (N = 155), sensitivity/specificity of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Brief Symptom Inventory 53‐items (BSI‐53), and the BSI‐18 were computed with respect to having a psychiatric diagnosis based on the clinical interview.ResultsThe usual cutoffs (≥13 for EPDS, T‐score of 63 for BSI‐53) demonstrated poor diagnostic accuracy. The optimal thresholds were computed for EPDS cutoff of 6.5, GSI = 0.47 for BSI‐53, and GSI = 0.5 for BSI‐18.Practice ImplicationsThe use of psychological tools among pregnant women with high‐risk pregnancy may need to be modified in order to accurately identify psychiatric disorders.

How false feedback influences decision‐makers' risk preferences

AbstractRecent decision‐making research provides empirical evidence that human risk preferences are constructed “on the fly” during risk elicitation, influenced by the decision‐making context and the method of risk elicitation (Kusev et al., 2020). In this article, we explore the lability of human risk preferences and argue that the most recent choices guide decision‐making. Accordingly, our novel proposal and experimental method provide a psychological tool that measures people's shift in preferences. Specifically, in our experiment (240 participants, registered UK users of an online survey panel), we developed and employed a two‐stage risk elicitation experimental method. The results from the experiment revealed that providing participants with false feedback on their initial decisions (stage 1) changes their risk preferences at the feedback stage of the experiment in the direction of the false feedback. Moreover, participants' final decisions (stage 2) were influenced by the type of feedback (correct or false) and informed by their altered risk preferences at the feedback stage of the experiment. In conclusion, our work provides experimental evidence that human preferences are constructed “on the fly,” influenced by the decision‐making context and recent decision‐making experience (e.g., Kusev et al., 2020; Slovic, 1995).

An Energy-Efficient Wearable Functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy System Employing Dual-level Adaptive Sampling Technique.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a powerful medical imaging tool in brain science and psychology, it can also be employed in brain-computer interface (BCI) due to its noninvasive and artifact-less-sensitive characteristics. Conventional ways to detect large-area brain activity using near-infrared (NIR) technology are based on Time-division or Frequency-division modulation technique, which traverses all physical sensory channels in a specific period. To achieve higher imaging resolution or brain-tasks classification accuracy, the NIRS system require higher density and more channels, which conflict with the limited battery capacity. Inspired by the functional atlas of the human brain, this paper proposes a spatial adaptive sampling (SAS) method. It can change the active channel pattern of the fNIRS system to match with the real-time brain activity, to increase the energy efficiency without significant reduction on the brain imaging quality or the accuracy of brain activity classification. Therefore, the number of the averaging enabled channels will be dramatically reduced in practice. To verify the proposed SAS technique, a wearable and flexible NIRS system has been implemented, in which each channel of light-emitting diode (LED) drive circuits and photodiode (PD) detection circuits can be power gated independently. Brain task experiments have been conducted to validate the proposed method, the power consumption of the LED drive module is reduced by 46.58% compared to that without SAS technology while maintaining an average brain imaging PSNR (Peak Signal to Noise Ratio) of 35 dB. The brain-task classification accuracy is 80.47%, which has a 2.67% reduction compared to that without the SAS technique.

Online Learning Satisfaction and Internet Addiction During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Two-Wave Longitudinal Study.

Stay-at-home orders and quarantines have not only shifted traditional face-to-face learning to online learning, but have also led to greatly increased consumption of digital devices during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Thus, many students who were new to online learning were forced into a new environment. The purpose of this two-wave longitudinal study is to investigate the effects of internet addiction on online students’ learning satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of two hundred and forty-nine undergraduate-level students from 51 of the 81 cities in Turkey completed an online questionnaire. The data used cross-lagged structural equation modeling. The results indicated that internet addiction at Time 1 decreased online students’ learning satisfaction at Time 2. The results also revealed that online students’ learning satisfaction (Time 1) did not affect internet addiction (Time 2). It is concluded that internet-addicted students had lower learning satisfaction in online learning environments. Thus, it is essential for institutions to provide effective online instruction, psychological coping tools, and social and behavioral support, which may help reduce internet addiction and minimize its negative impacts on online learning environments during the pandemic.

Use of the Stanford Integrative Psychosocial Assessment for Transplant as a Pre-surgical Psychological Evaluation Tool for Bariatric Surgery.

How clinicians perform pre-surgical psychological evaluations (PSPE) for bariatric surgery remains variable across institutions. Bariatric PSPE guidelines state that self-report measures should be incorporated in the PSPE procedure, yet only 50-60% of PSPEs utilize patient self-report measures. Previous studies describing the presurgical psychological evaluation report a range of measures, however a gold standard in PSPE has yet to be agreed upon. Given this gap in how a presurgical psychological evaluation for bariatric patients is defined, incorporating more objective measures into this process may help clinicians identify specific areas in which a patient is struggling and benefit from additional psychosocial support. The present study proposes the use of the SIPAT, a semi-structured interview initially developed to assess organ transplant candidates, as part of this evaluation. A total of 292 adult patients underwent a pre-surgical psychological evaluation for bariatric surgery between November 2017 and February 2020 at a Midwest medical center. Patient average age was 45.2 (11.3) years and 83.3% were female. At time of analysis, 160 patients received bariatric surgery. Logistic regression and analyses of bivariate associations were conducted in R. The SIPAT exhibited good convergent validity via correlations with analogous scales on the PROMIS 43, and it yielded a small effect size predicting patients who ultimately received surgery. Accordingly, this semi-structured interview may be a useful tool to help differentiate patients for surgical candidacy.

The effect of lung-conduction exercise in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Randomized, assessor-blind, multicenter pilot trial.

Background:Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a management modality that improves the quality of life of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, PR is not readily accessible. Therefore, we developed lung-conduction exercises (LCE) that can be performed easily without any limitations. The purpose of this randomized, assessor-blind, multicenter pilot trial was to compare the effects of LCE with PR and standard care (SC) in COPD patients.Methods:Twenty-five participants who met the eligibility criteria were randomly allocated to the SC group (only medication, n = 9), LCE group (medication + LCE, 5 times a week, n = 8), or PR group (medication + PR, 5 times a week, n = 8). The 6-minute walk distance (6WMD), pulmonary function test, modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale, COPD assessment test (CAT), and St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) survey were carried out before starting the trial and after 4 and 8 weeks to determine motor performance, lung function, and dyspnea.Results:After 8 weeks, the pulmonary function test scores were the same. The 6MWD (PR, 28.3 ± 38.5; LCE, 14.5 ± 53.1; SC, 11.5 ± 20.5; P = .984), modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale (PR, 0.8 ± 1.0; LCE, 0.8 ± 0.8; SC, 0.3 ± 0.5; P = .772), CAT (PR, 7.3 ± 6.2; LCE, 4.2 ± 5.2; SC, 1.0 ± 2.2; P = .232), and SGRQ scores (PR, 11.5 ± 15.4; LCE, 5.5 ± 13.1; SC, 4.8 ± 5.1; P = .358 [PR vs LCE], P = .795 [PR vs SC]) had improved in order of PR, LCE, and SC group. Although there were no statistically significant differences in the outcome measures between the groups, there were clinically significant improvements in the CAT and SGRQ scores.Conclusions:In this trial, PR showed more improvement in symptoms and quality of life than SC alone. To seek a more precise use of LCE, further full-sized studies with a long duration and additional outcome measures such as psychological assessment tools and cost-effectiveness ratio should be conducted.Trial registration:KCT0004724.

Psychological Tools Affecting Increasing Motivation to Learn Two Foreign Languages

The problem of the formation and development of motivation to learn occupies one of the central places in educational institutions. Its relevance is due to the priority areas of development and modernization of education. In the article, the authors analyzed the motivation for learning a foreign language, the factors that affect it. Analysis of the literature revealed two main factors that can increase students' motivation to learn a second foreign language. The authors examined the maximum effectiveness of increasing student motivation to learn a second foreign language as a synergy of three components: the teacher's personality, which can create a safe motivating environment, focusing on other people's culture and the connection between two foreign languages. The authors proposed psychological and methodological tools to increase the motivation of students to learn two foreign languages. A distinctive feature is the synergy of 3 components (personality of the teacher, safe motivating environment and connection between two foreign languages). This toolkit was tested in 2 stages during 2019-2021 and showed its effectiveness.

Predictors of successful professional activity of Ukrainian civil service specialists in emergency situations

The article presents the results of an empirical study to establish predictors of successful (effective) professional activity of emergencies specialists. The study was conducted in several stages. At the first stage, its participants were 25 ordinary citizens aged 18 to 65 and 15 professionals with experience in emergencies and representing the age group 22-45. Two focus groups were conducted: the first – with ordinary citizens (90 minutes), the second – with specialists (120 minutes). As a result, a list of professional competencies of a specialist in the extreme field of activity was formed. This list also contained competencies (as some respondents did not distinguish between competencies and competencies due to low level of awareness) and consisted of 27 items. A semi-structured interview was conducted with each expert (20 minutes). The group of experts consisted of 12 people (police, military, rescuers, psychologists). The selection of experts was carried out taking into account the following criteria: experience of at least five years, participation in the elimination of the consequences of emergencies (floods, fires, hostilities, accidents). In the end, erroneously included competencies were removed from the list, and some were combined into competencies. Subsequently, the experts were asked to identify the essential competencies for predicting successful professional activity. Each professional competence had to be assessed on a five-point scale. The frequency of representation of a certain competence was calculated based on the obtained data. This made it possible to determine the predictors of successful professional activity of emergencies specialists, in particular, such competencies as tolerance for uncertainty and risk competence. The article also presents the results of a review of theoretical and empirical research on the phenomena of «tolerance for uncertainty» and «risk-taking». It offers psychological tools for studying these phenomena. The main conclusion of our analysis is that attempts to understand better the phenomena of tolerance for uncertainty and risk-taking are not currently effective enough to achieve a single conceptual definition or an adequate empirical measure covering the full range of tolerances and uncertainties. This significantly complicates the practical acquisition of competencies necessary for the successful (effective) professional activity of emergencies specialists. And questionnaires, which are the main psychological tools, are too subjective

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Background:Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of gastrointestinal system, characterized by abdominal pain, diarrhoea, constipation, or both. IBS-M (diarrhoea and constipation) has reported to cause significant distress to the person and often goes misdiagnosed; leading to different psychological problems such as stress, anxiety, depression, etc. These psychological problems maintain IBS-M. As these problems reduce, symptoms of IBS-M also reduce.Aim:To assess and compare the effect of MBSR on anxiety and depression. To see the effect of MBSR on level of mindfulness of patients with IBS-M.Methods:Total 24 patients of IBS, diagnosed by physician, between 18-59 years of age, both genders, literate and illiterate belonging from rural and urban population were included from the Medicine and Psychiatry OPD for the study. Those fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were taken for the study. After explaining the purpose of the study, consent was attained and assessment was done using different psychological tools. Patients were randomly divided into experimental (12) and control (12) groups. MBSR intervention was given for 2 months (weekly sessions) and follow-up was done after 3 months of termination of the therapy. For statistical analysis Wilcoxon Signed Ranked was used.Results:Results shows that gradually, after every session improvement was found in anxiety and depression as well as IBS-M symptoms improved after MBSR intervention. Mindfulness also improved after every session.Conclusion:The result concluded that 8-weeks MBSR intervention positively improves anxiety and depression and also increases the mindfulness of patients with IBS-M.

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Background:Gastrointestinal disorder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), often goes misdiagnosed, leading to multiple consultations and medications. Various pharmacological and surgical treatments attempts to provide the desired relief; however, no fruitful results have been obtained so far. This often leads to poor quality of life among patients. Keeping in view, the present study explores the effect of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on IBS patients.Aim:To assess and compare the effect of MBSR on quality of life in patients of IBS. To see the effect of MBSR on level of mindfulness in patients of IBS.Methods:Total 38 patients of IBS between 18-59 years of age, both genders, literate and illiterate belonging from rural and urban population were included for the study. Those fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were taken for the study. They were explained the purpose of the study, consent was attained and assessment was done using different psychological tools. Using random sampling, patients were divided into experimental (19) and control (19) groups. Intervention of MBSR was given for 2 months; weekly sessions. Follow-up was done after 3 months of completion of therapy. The pre-post research design was used.Results:The obtained results show that with intervention of MBSR, after every session, QoL of IBS patients also improved, accompanied by improvement in mindfulness level.Conclusion:The present study concludes that MBSR is an effective intervention strategy for improving QoL of IBS patients.

Psychological Tools in the Prevention of Occupational Burnout of the Information Technology Worker

Psychological Tools in the Prevention of Occupational Burnout of the Information Technology Worker

Infrastructure for internalization and protection of sexual restraint for adolescents based on Islamic sources

Background and Objectives: In general, sexual desire and behavior are more likely to grow in adolescence than in other periods and since the sexual desire has a delicious function, and given that the sex industry and its associated branches, especially the Internet, have accelerated this trend, it can expose teenage to mental and psychological damage. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the infrastructures of internalization and maintaining of sexual restraint for adolescents based on Islamic sources. methods: the type of this research was applied in terms of purpose and the type of this research in terms of the method of collecting components, taking into account the family of religious texts, internalizing and maintaining sexual restraint components with the aim of regulating behavior toward sexual emotions was extracted and Islamic and psychological teachings related to sexual restraint were investigated by descriptive-analytical method. Results: the results showed that considering moral sense when facing sexual provocations, and enhancing adolescent's psychological abilities in sexual struggles and its internal pressure are among the topics that have been emphasized. The elements related to the internalization and maintenance of restraint, especially during adolescence, which were extracted from Islamic and psychological teachings are as follow: 1. Acquiring inhibitory control skills by disregarding internal stimuli, enhancing behavioral inhibition, delaying satisfaction and resisting temptation, 2. Increasing inhibitory capacity with psychological tools such as patience, resilience and positive foresight and 3. Creating love and kindness maintaining self-esteem, god-friendlyness, compassion and spiritual connection with God. Conclusion: considering the existing gap in individual regulation of sexual behavior with emphasis on internalizing and maintaining sexual restraint based on Islamic texts, this study explains and identifies its elements and infrastructure.

THE EFFECTS OF USING OCULAR MOTOR METHODS FOR SCREENING ON JOB APPLICANTS DURING PRE EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEWS AT CORPORATE AGENCIES

Investigation process plays a very crucial role not only in the criminal justice system, but also in various organizations to prevent the risk and harm and also to maintain the peace and order in the society and often it is shown that there are no such direct evidences present in the crime scene. Hence to investigate properly and accurately scientists are continuously trying to develop various Forensic Psychological investigative tools and techniques, which focus only on the psycho-physiological activities to detect deception, such as Polygraph, Narco Analysis, and Suspect Detection System etc. Nowadays there is an instrument which is very new in the Indian Environment, known as Eye Detect Technology, which measures very small and slight changes in our eye movements, especially pupil dilation. The technology is already an award winning technique with 90% accuracy level, but still it is unknown how reliable the instrument is in the Indian setup especially in the corporate sector as a screening tool. Hence it is needed to perform or to conduct the research on this instrument to check the reliability. Therefore this research will focus on the reliability and the applicability of eye detect instruments as ascreening tool in various corporate sectors to distinguish between truthful and deceptive applicants during Pre Employment screening. Hence for seeking the answer, first suitable samples were collected and then basic interviews wereconducted for knowing the background of each and every participant. At last the experiments were conducted in a controlled condition and also in a controlled manner. The main goal behind this experiment is to check whether it is reliable enough to detect deception in deceptive individuals or not and if it is reliable enough then what are the future applications of using this instrument in investigative as well asscreening purposes etc. Hence this research is trying to find its future applicability as a screening tool in corporate sectors because; in this generation employees are the biggest threat of their own organization and to prevent the risk it is important to introduce a new system which is reliable enough to detect deception.

Understanding gender bias toward physicians using online doctor reviews

Abstract Gender bias continues to be an ongoing issue in the field of medicine. While bias may come in many forms, patients’ biases and perceptions have been understudied and may impact adherence to treatment, leading to unequal outcomes. Online reviews for doctors are a naturalistic way to study gender bias. In this study, we leveraged the LIWC psychological linguistic analysis tool to analyze the language styles of ZocDoc and RateMDs reviews and understand the potential role of gender in patients’ perceptions of their doctors. Mean differences were calculated using bootstrapped hierarchical linear modeling. We found that reviews for female physicians are generally more informal and emotional than those for male physicians. While our study was exploratory, the results suggest that both patients and physicians need to increase their awareness of how their biases may be affecting how they give and receive vital health information.