The Role of Cultural, Social, and Psychological Factors in Disease and Illness
Title
The Role of Cultural, Social, and Psychological Factors in Disease and Illness
Author
Scott, Robert A.
Research Area
The Individual and Society
Topic
Health and Illness
Abstract
Understanding the effects of social, psychological, and cultural processes on the body raises age‐old questions that remain perplexing puzzles still today. Research by biomedical, social, and behavioral scientists on the role played by these factors in causing disease and people's subjective experience of it promises to advance understanding of issues about the connections between mind and body. This essay summarizes findings from relevant areas of research, identifies the most promising lines of inquiry to date, poses questions that remain to be investigated going forward, and concludes with speculation about possible applications of existing and prospective new knowledge in health‐related and other arenas of social practice.