PS285 Lecture 9: PS285 - Lecture Notes - 05.25.16 - Chapter 8
Document Summary
Individual differences in personality: some people are consistently more likely to notice symptoms than other people, most frequent symptoms are physical symptoms, neurotics recognize and report symptoms more quickly than those who are not neurotic. Those who focus on themselves are quicker to notice symptoms. Situational factors: boring situations make people more attentive to symptoms than when in interesting situations, symptoms are noticed more on days at home than on days full of activity, medical students" disease: As medical students study an illness, many imagine they have it. People in positive moods report fewer symptoms than people in negative moods. Individual, historical, cultural, social and psychological factors are all important in understanding people"s interpretations of their symptoms. Expectations: people ignore symptoms that are not expected and amplify symptoms that are expected, similar to behaviour concerning threats. Seriousness of symptoms: the part of the body matters, pain matters.
