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“She’ll be fine”: the pregnancy mortality gap and the influence of beliefs and empathy on pregnancy treatment
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Hatton, Vanessa. “She’ll be fine”: the pregnancy mortality gap and the influence of beliefs and empathy on pregnancy treatment. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-qxek-wm76

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Title“She’ll be fine”: the pregnancy mortality gap and the influence of beliefs and empathy on pregnancy treatment
NameHatton, Vanessa (author); Hoggard, Lori (chair); Cole, Shana (member); Sanchez, Diana (member); Rutgers University; School of Graduate Studies
Date Created2022
Other Date2022-01 (degree)
SubjectPsychology, Gender bias, Health care disparities, Intersectionality, Pregnancy, Racial bias
Extent65 pages : illustrations
DescriptionBlack women are three to four times more likely to die due to pregnancy-related causes than White women, and experience greater maternal health complications, including increased infant mortality rates. While research documents the role of doctors’ racial and gender biases in the treatment of pain, cancer, and other health complications, limited research examines these biases in the context of pregnancy treatment. Further, these studies neglect the interaction between gender and race to form unique biases specific to a particular group, or individuals with “intersecting” identities. The present study examined the influence that the gendered and racialized stereotypes specific to Black women have on the medical treatment of pregnant women among White laypersons (N = 278) instructed to imagine that they are a physician. Further, this study examined the additional role that empathy biases play in the treatment of pregnant women. I predicted that participants randomly assigned to treat a Black pregnant target (versus a White pregnant target) would view the target in ways consistent with stereotypes about Black women, which would in turn decrease their empathy for this target, and therefore lead participants to view the Black pregnant target’s symptoms as less severe than the White pregnant target. Results of the present experiment revealed a nonsignificant overall relationship between target patient race and symptom severity ratings via an internalized model, but a significant indirect relationship between target patient race and symptom severity ratings as mediated through externalized archetype endorsement (M1) and externalized empathy (M2) via an externalized (projective) model. I suggest that these findings demonstrate that 1) racialized and gendered stereotypes can influence levels of empathy for an individual, and 2) empathy influenced via participant biases and/or perceptions of their patient can influence treatment outcomes for their target patient. Future studies should further elucidate the racialized and gendered stereotypes that influence perceptions of Black women, and the ways that these perceptions influence the medical treatment of Black women (outside of the realm of pain) using methodology that includes in-person studies.
NoteM.S.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-qxek-wm76
LanguageEnglish
CollectionSchool of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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