Do patients judge the partisanship of physicians? How do judgements influence the patient-physician relationship? I hope to answer this question by exploring the impact of a doctor's partisanship on patients' judgements in the setting of a general practice consultation. The study would involve an experimental factorial design using vignettes with survey respondents receiving one of four photos of a doctor who varied in terms of partisan cues (e.g., an American flag pin (a Republican cue), a pride pin (a Democratic cue), a Vot-ER badge (a non-partisan, political cue), or nothing(control)). Respondents will then be asked to rate the doctor in terms of expected behavior of the doctor, the expected behavior of the patient, and the patient ease with the doctor as well as questions about physician trust and partisanship. For instance, a respondent might be asked to rate the doctor’s likelihood of “putting you at ease” (personal manner) or “explaining the likely cause of your symptoms” (explanation skills). Respondents might also be asked to rate their “faith in the correct diagnosis.” Follow-up questions might also include levels of physician trust as well as predictions about the partisanship of the physician. Heterogeneous treatment effects by respondent partisanship or partisan threat perceptions will be explored.

This project is part of Surveying the Social World research incubation initiative.