Patients trust doctors who show emotion more

A doctor who expresses emotion or shares a personal experience strengthens the patient's trust without losing professional credibility. That is the conclusion of a Swiss study of more than fifteen hundred people.

The research was led by the University of Bern, in collaboration with the University of Bielefeld in Germany and Stanford University in California. Funding came from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

The results were published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

How the study was run

The study involved 1,572 people from every language region of Switzerland. In all, 7,250 scenarios were assessed.

Participants were asked to imagine themselves as patients with advanced-stage lung cancer, at the moment the doctor conveys a limited life expectancy. The situations presented varied in how the doctor behaved.

When the doctor mentioned having had a loved one affected by the same illness, or openly expressed sadness, participants reported higher levels of trust and empathy. Perceived professionalism also rose significantly.

According to the study, emotional expression "never worsens participants' judgement". The finding held regardless of any pre-existing relationship with the doctor, the doctor's level of experience, and the length of the consultation.

The authors also set out the limits of the work. The scenarios were hypothetical and did not concern real consultations. Participants were predominantly Swiss citizens, which reduces the cultural diversity of the sample.

That second limitation weighs on how the results should be read. The way professionalism is expressed varies between cultures, so the conclusions do not transfer automatically to other settings.

The researchers recommend building emotional competencies into medical training, alongside the technical and communication skills already provided for in the curriculum. The study does not say whether the findings hold for conversations other than the delivery of a serious prognosis.