Soc Sci Med. 1994 Sep; 39(5): 715-25.

Explaining health and illness: lay perceptions on current and future health, the causes of illness, and the nature of recovery.

Furnham A.

Department of Psychology, University College London, U.K.

Nearly 350 British respondents completed four questionnaires derived from Stainton Rogers [1], on the perceptions on health and recovery from illness. They were also asked to provide a number of demographic details (sex, age, education, voting pattern) and their experience of alternative medicine. Each of the questionnaires was factor analysed to show the underlying structure. The demographic, psychographic and individual difference belief variables were then regressed on to each factor derived from each questionnaire. Religious and political beliefs, as well as attitudes to alternative medicine, were the most consistent and powerful predictors of the health-related beliefs. These results are discussed in terms of the emerging literature on health beliefs.