Understanding the provider contribution to race/ethnicity disparities in pain treatment: Insights from dual process models of stereotyping

Diana J. Burgess, Michelle van Ryn, Megan Crowley-Matoka, Jennifer Malat

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

118 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective. This article applied dual process models of stereotyping to illustrate how various psychological mechanisms may lead to unintentional provider bias in decisions about pain treatment. Stereotypes have been shown to influence judgments and behaviors by two distinct cognitive processes, automatic stereotyping and goal-modified stereotyping, which differ both in level of individual conscious control and how much they are influenced by the goals in an interaction. Although these two processes may occur simultaneously and are difficult to disentangle, the conceptual distinction is important because unintentional bias that results from goal-modified rather than automatic stereotyping requires different types of interventions. We proposed a series of hypotheses that showed how these different processes may lead providers to contribute to disparities in pain treatment: 1) indirectly, by influencing the content and affective tone of the clinical encounter; and 2) directly, by influencing provider decision making. We also highlighted situations that may increase the likelihood that stereotype-based bias will occur and suggested directions for future research and interventions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)119-134
Number of pages16
JournalPain Medicine
Volume7
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2006

Keywords

  • Disparities
  • Ethnicity
  • Pain management
  • Provider behavior
  • Race
  • Stereotyping

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Neurology
  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

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