Lay evaluation of medical treatment and competence development of a model of the function of the physician's affective behavior

Conclusions of earlier studies regarding the significance of the physician's affective behavior in patients' satisfaction with the medical treatment gained additional empirical support and further application. A study among a representative sample of Israeli adults ascertained that the inclination to judge medical treatment on the basis of the G.P.'s affective behavior increases with the increase in the salience of the medical problem. It also revealed that the satisfaction with a physician's affective behavior determines to a great extent the evaluation of professional competence, the choice of alternative treatment agents and the evaluation of that alternative agent's professional competence.