An attributional analysis of predicted social support towards women with lung cancer in comparison to women with breast cancer

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to determine if predictions of level of social support towards women with a cancer diagnosis would differ depending on cancer type. Specifically, would participants differ in rating the likelihood of providing social support to breast versus lung cancer victims?While operational definitions of social support differ, there is a consistent finding that interactions or the availability of interactions have a positive effect on treatment adherence, psychological adaptation to and recovery from cancer. Both breast and lung cancer account for a significant percentage of serious illness and death in women. However, only lung cancer is consistently associated with the voluntary act of smoking.Given the demonstrated power of social support in its various forms, the question of whether there is equal availability to social support for all those who might benefit is an important one. There is minimal literature regarding this question with most studies only peripherally addressing the question. Less funding and less media attention is currently devoted to lung cancer in women in comparison to breast cancer (Ries et al., 2006). This suggests that a stigma may exist affecting the provision of social support. From the perspective of attribution theory, such a prediction is supported as judgments of controllability of a stigmatized condition have been found to influence both emotional reactions and helping behavior. From both the stigma and attribution literatures, the perspective taken by an individual regarding complicity of the victim in creating negative outcomes may have an effect on future helping behavior towards an individual.Research question. The current study addresses the question: (1) does lung cancer, as opposed to breast cancer, carry a stigma associated with the individual's complicity in creating their disease, (2) do people have different responses to those with lung cancer as opposed to breast cancer, (3) what are the sources of any differences in response.Method. An experimental group comparison methodology was used with type of cancer (breast vs. lung) and type of information provided about patient health behavior related to the illness (controllability, no controllability, no information regarding controllability) as the independent variables. The dependent variables were (1) patient's responsibility for the illness, (2) pity for the patient, (3) anger towards the patient, (4) personal assistance offered, and (5) government responsibility. Participants for the study were 180 adults between the ages of 18 and 62. Each was randomly assigned to one of the six experimental groups. Each was presented with a clinical summary of a cancer patient and then completed the scale.Results. Overall, less responsibility was assigned to those women with breast cancer than those with lung cancer. There was more sympathy for those women with breast cancer than lung cancer when type of information provided was accounted for, except for when there was controllable information and there was increased sympathy for the woman with lung cancer. There was also more anger towards women with lung cancer than women with breast cancer and significantly more anger from the men in comparison to the women. Women were more likely to give higher ratings of personal assistance and government assistance in comparison to men across conditions. Higher ratings of government assistance were assigned to those women with breast cancer in comparison to those with lung cancer regardless of information about onset of cancer.Conclusion. Ratings for lung cancer without information about onset most closely resembled ratings for lung cancer with controllable information which indicates an assumption that those with lung cancer are assumed to have smoked and this decreases general support to lung cancer patients. The sample population does not accurately represent the United States population.The sample was skewed to represent a more privileged sample, coming from a higher socioeconomic group and a higher educational background. Additionally, the sample was predominantly Caucasian and the majority of the sample was female. Therefore these results cannot be generalized to the entire United States population.Overall, these findings indicate that women with lung cancer are viewed less favorably than women with breast cancer. Future research will exemplify differences when studying a representative sample of the United States and understanding more about the people participating in the research. This research can help elucidate the social context that women with cancer live in and the social support that is and is not available to them.