Abstract

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Title:: Why “Medical Rage”? The Influence of Responsibility Attribution of NegativeMedical Events on Patients’ Violent Behaviors

Keywords:: medical rage; attribution; responsibility inference; doctor-patient trust; doctor-patient relationship

Abstract:: Based on Weiner’s interpersonal attribution and responsibility inference model, this study set up situational stories to control three independent variables:event size, event outcome controllability and involvement level. The results of this three-factor experiment between subjects showed that the variables of event size and event outcome controllability had effects on responsibility, anger, criticism, verbal attack and physical attack variables, but had no effect on the expert trust variable. The variable of involvement level had significant effects on the variables of criticism, verbal and physical aggressions, but had no effect on responsibility, anger, and expert trust. This study supports the application of Weiner’s interpersonal attribution and responsibility inference model in the investigation into doctor-patient disputes. It also provides a new way to interpret the medical rage in China and thus to relieve the tension between doctors and patients from the perspective of responsibility attribution.