Functions of health fatalism: Fatalistic talk as face saving, uncertainty management, stress relief and sense making

Sociology of Health and Illness

Volumn 31, Issue 5, 2009, Pages 734-747

  Keeley, Bethany ^a   Wright, Lanelle ^a   Condit, Celeste M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA   (United States)

Author keywords

Content analysis; Fatalism; Functionalist theory; Health disparities

Indexed keywords

AFFECT; ARTICLE; ATTITUDE TO HEALTH; CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY; DEPRESSION; DIABETES MELLITUS; HEALTH BEHAVIOR; HEART DISEASE; HUMAN; INTERVIEW; LUNG TUMOR; MENTAL STRESS; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; SOCIAL CLASS; UNCERTAINTY;

AFFECT; ATTITUDE TO HEALTH; CULTURE; DEPRESSION; DIABETES MELLITUS; HEALTH BEHAVIOR; HEART DISEASES; HUMANS; INTERVIEWS AS TOPIC; LUNG NEOPLASMS; SOCIAL CLASS; STRESS, PSYCHOLOGICAL; UNCERTAINTY;

EID: 68749101250     PISSN: 01419889     EISSN: 14679566     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2009.01164.x     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Balsham, M. (1991) Cancer, control, and causality: talking about cancer in a working-class community, American Ethnologist, 18, 1, 152 72.
2. Bates, B.R., Templeton, A., Achter, P.J. et al 2003) What does 'a gene for heart disease' mean? A focus group study of public understandings of genetic risk factors, American Journal of Medical Genetics, 119A, 2, 156 61.
3. Blaxter, M. (1983) The causes of disease: women talking, Social Science and Medicine, 17, 2, 59 69.
4. Blaxter, M. (1997) Whose fault is it? People's own conceptions of the reasons for health inequalities, Social Science and Medicine, 44, 6, 747 56.
5. Blaxter, M. (2004) Health. Cambridge, MA : Polity Press.
6. Bolam, B., Hodgetts, D., Chamberlain, K. et al 2003) 'Just do it': an analysis of accounts of control over health amongst lower socioeconomic status groups, Critical Public Health, 13, 1, 15 31.
7. Calnan, M. Johnson, B. (1985) Health, health risks and inequalities: an exploratory study of women's perceptions, Sociology of Health and Illness, 7, 1, 55 75.
8. Chavez, L.R., Hubbell, F.A., Mishra, S.I. et al 1997) The influence of fatalism on self-reported use of Papanicolaou smears, American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 13, 6, 418 24.
9. Chin, M.H., Walters, A.E., Cook, S.C. et al 2007) Interventions to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care, Medical Care Research and Review, 64, 5, 7S 28S.
10. Condit, C.M. (1999) How the public understands genetics: non-deterministic and non-discriminatory interpretations of the 'blueprint' metaphor, Public Understanding of Science, 8, 3, 169 80.
11. Condit, C.M., Parrott, R. Harris, T.M. (2002) Lay understandings of the relationship between race and genetics: development of a collectivised knowledge through shared discourse, Public Understanding of Science, 18, 4, 373 87.
12. Condit, C.M., Gronnvoll, M., Landau, J. et al in press) Believing in both genetic determinism and behavioral action: a materialist framework and implications, Public Understanding of Science.
13. Davison, C., Frankel, S. Smith, G.D. (1989) Inheriting heart trouble: the relevance of common-sense ideas to preventative measures, Health Education Research, 4, 3, 329 40.
14. Davison, C., Smith, G.D. Frankel, S. (1991) Lay epidemiology and the prevention paradox: the implications of coronary candidacy for health education, Sociology of Health and Illness, 13, 1, 1 19.
15. Davison, C., Frankel, S. Smith, G.D. (1992) The limits of lifestyle: reassessing 'fatalism' in the popular culture of illness prevention, Social Science and Medicine, 34, 6, 675 85.
16. Dervin, B. (1983) An overview of sense-making research: concepts, methods, and results to date. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Dallas, Texas.
17. Egede, L.E. Bonadonna, R.J. (2003) Diabetes self-management in African Americans: an exploration of the role of fatalism, Diabetes Educator, 29, 1, 105 15.
18. Etchegary, H. (2007) Stigma and genetic risk: perceptions of stigma among those at risk for Huntington Disease (HD), Qualitative Research in Psychology, 4, 1, 65 84.
19. Facione, N.C., Miaskowski, C., Dodd, M.J. Paul, S.M. (2002) The self-reported likelihood of patient delay in breast cancer: new thoughts for early detection, Preventative Medicine, 34, 4, 397 407.
20. Franklin, M.D., Sclundt, D.J., McClellan, L. et al 2007) Religious fatalism and its association with health behaviors and outcomes, American Journal of Health Behavior, 31, 6, 563 72.
21. Gamm, J.L., Nussbaum, R.L. Biesecker, B.B. (2004) Genetics and alcoholism among at-risk relatives I: Perceptions of cause, risk, and control, American Journal of Medical Genetics, 128, A, 144 50.
22. Goffman, E. (1963) Interaction Ritual: Essays on face-to-face behavior. New York : Anchor Books.
23. Herek, G. (1986) The instrumentality of attitudes: toward a neofunctional theory, Journal of Social Issues, 42, 2, 99 114.
24. James, J. Eyles, J. (1999) Perceiving and representing both health and the environment: an exploratory investigation, Qualitative Health Research, 9, 1, 86 104.
25. Katz, D. (1960) The functional approach to the study of attitudes, Public Opinion Quarterly, 24, 2, 163 204.
26. Kohn, M.L. Schooler, C. (1983) Work and Personality: an Inquiry into the impact of Social Stratification. Norwood, NJ : Ablex Pub. Corp.
27. nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications.
28. Lange, L.J. Piette, J.D. (2006) Personal models for diabetes in context and patients' health status, Journal of Behavioural Medicine, 29, 3, 239 53.
29. Magai, C., Consedine, N., Conway, F. et al 2004) Diversity matters: unique populations of women and breast cancer screenings, Cancer, 100, 11, 2300 7.
30. Marmot, M. (2001) Inequalities in health, New England Journal of Medicine, 345, 2, 134 6.
31. Mayo, R.M., Ureda, J.R. Parker, V.G. (2001) Importance of fatalism in understanding mammography screening in rural elderly women, Journal of Women and Aging, 13, 1, 57 72.
32. Neff, J.A. Hoppe, S.K. (1993) Race/ethnicity, acculturation, and psychological distress: fatalism and religiosity as cultural resources, Journal of Community Psychology, 21, 1, 3 20.
33. Parrott, R.L., Silk, K. Condit, C.M. (2003) Diversity in lay perceptions of the sources of human traits: genes, environments, and personal behaviours, Social Science and Medicine, 56, 5, 1099 109.
34. Pill, R. Stott, N.C. (1982) Concepts of illness causation and responsibility: some preliminary data from a sample of working class mothers, Social Science and Medicine, 2, 16, 43 52.
35. Popay, J., Bennett, S., Thomas, C. et al 2003) Beyond 'beer, fags, egg and chips'? Exploring lay understandings of social inequalities in health, Sociology of Health and Illness, 25, 1, 1 23.
36. Powe, B.D. Finnie, R. (2003) Cancer fatalism: the state of science, Cancer Nursing, 26, 6, 454 65.
37. Powe, B.D. Johnson, A. (1995) Fatalism as a barrier to cancer screening among African Americans: philosophical perspectives, Journal of Religion and Health, 34, 2, 116 26.
38. Powe, B.D. Weinrich, S. (1999) An intervention to decrease cancer fatalism among rural elders, Oncology Nursing Forum, 26, 3, 583 8.
39. Prentice-Dunn, S., Floyd, D.L. Flournoy, J.M. (2001) Effects of persuasive message order on coping with breast cancer information, Health Education Research, 16, 1, 81 4.
40. Prior, L. (2003) Belief, knowledge and expertise: the emergence of the lay expert in medical sociology, Sociology of Health and Illness, 25, 3, 41 57.
41. Ramirez, J.R., Crano, W.D., Quist, R. et al 2002) Effects of fatalism and family communication on HIV/AIDS awareness variations in Native American and Anglo parents and children, AIDS Education and Prevention, 14, 1, 29 40.
42. Robinson, F.P., Mathews, H.L. Wikek-Janusek, L. (2003) Psycho-endocrine-immune response to mindfulness-based stress reduction in individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus: a quasiexperimental study, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 9, 5, 683 94.
43. Sankar, P., Cho, M.K., Condit, C.M. et al 2004) Genetic research and health disparities, Journal of the American Medical Association, 291, 24, 2985 84.
44. Schnoll, R.A., Malstrom, M., James, C. et al 2002) Correlates of tobacco use among smokers and recent quitters diagnosed with cancer, Patient Education and Counseling, 46, 2, 137 45.
45. Sharf, B.F., Stelljes, L.A. Gordon, H.S. (2005) 'A little bitty spot and I'm a big man': patients' perspectives on refusing diagnosis of treatment for lung cancer, Psycho-Oncology, 14, 8, 636 46.
46. Straughan, P.T. Seow, A. (1998) Fatalism reconceptualised: a concept to predict health screening behaviour, Journal of Gender, Culture, and Health, 3, 2, 85 100.
47. Urizar, G.G., Jr., Milazzo, M. Huynh-Nhu, L. (2004) Impact of stress reduction instruction on stress and cortisol levels during pregnancy, Biological Psychology, 67, 3, 275 82.
48. Van Steenkiste, B., van der Weijden, T.M., Stoffers, J.H.E.H. Grol, R.P.T.M. (2004) Patients' ideas, fears and expectation of their coronary risk: barriers for primary prevention, Patient Education and Counseling, 55, 2, 301 7.
49. Williams, R. (1983) Concepts of health: an analysis of lay logic, Sociology, 17, 2, 185 205.
50. Williams, R., Wright, W. Hunt, K. (1998) Social class and health: the puzzling counter-example of British South Asians, Social Science and Medicine, 47, 9, 1277 88.