Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Religiosity and Ethical Ideology of Physicians: A Cross-Cultural Study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study of ethical ideology and religiosity, 1,255 physicians from Canada, China, Ireland, India, Japan and Thailand participated. Forsyth’s (1980) Ethical Position Questionnaire and Rohrbaugh and Jessor’s (J Pers 43:136–155, 1975) Religiosity Measure were used as the survey instruments. The results demonstrated that physicians from India, Thailand and China reported significantly higher rates of idealism than physicians from Canada and Japan. India, Thailand and China also scored significantly higher than Ireland. Physicians from Japan and India reported significantly higher rates of relativism than physicians from Canada, Ireland, Thailand and China. Physicians from China also reported higher rates of relativism than physicians from Canada, Ireland and Thailand. Overall, religiosity was positively associated with idealism and negatively associated with relativism. This study is the first to explore the differences between ethical ideology and religiosity among physicians in an international setting as well as the relationship between these two constructs. Both religiosity and ethical ideology are extremely generalized, and the extent to which they may impact the actual professional behaviour of physicians is unknown. This paper sets up a point of departure for future research that could investigate the extent to which physicians actually employ their religious and/or ethical orientation to solve ambiguous medical decisions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Thai state’s support of Buddhism and Buddhism’s strong ties to cultural/political identity are supporting factors for its widespread acceptance in Thai society.

References

  • Bachman, J. G., Alcser, K. H., Doukas, D. J., et al. (1996). Attitudes of Michigan physicians and the public toward legalizing physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia. New England Journal of Medicine, 334, 303–309.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, T., Bass, K., & Brown, G. (1996). Religiosity, ethical ideology, and intentions to report a peer’s wrongdoing. Journal of Business Ethics, 15, 1161–1174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boivin, M. J. (1999). Religious index of maturing survey (Marthai, 1980). In P. C. Hill Jr & R. Hood (Eds.), Measures of religiosity (pp. 174–177). Birmingham, Alabama: Religious Education Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, K. W., & Singer, P. A. (2001). Chinese seniors’ perspectives in end-of-life decisions. Social Science and Medicine, 53(4), 455–464.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, S.-Y., & Liu, C.-C. (2009). Relationship between personal religious orientation and ethical ideologies. Social Behavior and Personality, 37(3), 313–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. W., & Dawson, L. E. (1996). Personal religiousness and ethical judgment: An empirical analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 15, 359–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, W., & Schellenberg, G. (2006). Who’s religious? Canadian Social Trends, 81, 2–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curlin, F. A., Lantos, J. D., Roach, C. J., Sellergren, S. A., & Chin, M. H. (2005). Religious characteristics of US physicians: a national survey. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 20, 629–634.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Curlin, F. A., Lawrence, R. E., Odell, S., Chin, M. H., Lantos, J. D., Koenig, H. G., et al. (2007). Religion, spirituality, and medicine: Psychiatrists’ and other physicians’ differing observations, interpretations, and clinical approaches. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 1825–1831.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. A., Anderson, M. G., & Curtis, M. B. (2001). Measuring ethical ideology in business ethics: A critical analysis of the ethics position questionnaire. Journal of Business Ethics, 32, 35–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demerath, N. J. (2001). Crossing the Gods: World religions and worldly politics. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eastman, J. K., Eastman, K. L., & Tolson, M. A. (2001). The relationship between ethical ideology and ethical behavior intentions: An exploratory look at physicians’ responses to managed care dilemmas. Journal of Business Ethics, 31, 209–224.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth, D. R. (1980). A taxonomy of ethical ideologies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 175–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth, D. R., Nye, J. L., & Kelley, K. N. (1988). Idealism, relativism, and the ethic of caring. Journal of Psychology, 122, 243–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth, D. R., O’Boyle, E. H., & McDaniel, M. A. (2008). East meets West: A meta-analytic investigation of cultural variations in idealism and relativism. Journal of Business Ethics, 83, 813–833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth, D. L., & Pope, W. K. (1984). Ethical ideology and judgments of social psychological research: Multidimensional analysis. Journal of Personality Social psychology, 6(6), 1365–1375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeland, R. (1997). Euthanasia and Islamic law. Medicolegal Journal, 65, 196–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallup, G., & Lindsay, M. (1999). Surveying the religious landscape. Harrisburg, Pa: Morehouse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glock, C. Y. (1959). The religious revival in America. In J. Zahn (Ed.), Religion and the face of America (pp. 25–42). Berkley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Census Data. (2011). Internet retrieval January 4, 2011: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/India_at_glance/religion.aspx.

  • Hadjistavropoulos, T., Malloy, D. C., Sharpe, D., & Fuchs-Lacelle, S. (2003). The ethical ideologies of psychologists and physicians: A preliminary comparison. Ethics and Behavior, 13, 97–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede, G. (1997). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krause, N., Ingersoll-Dayton, B., Liang, J., & Sugisawa, H. (1999). Religion, social support, and health among the Japanese elderly. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 40, 405–421.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • MacNab, Y. C., Malloy, D. C., Hadjistavropoulos, T., Sevigny, P. R., Fahey McCarthy, E., Murakami, M., Paholpak, S., Shalani, N., & Liu, P. L. (2010). Idealism and relativism across cultures: A cross cultural examination of physicians’ responses on the ethics position questionnaire (EPQ). Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. doi:10.1177/0022022110383313.

  • Malloy, D. C., Sevigny, P., Hadjistavropoulos, T., Jeyaraj, M., Fahey McCarthy, E., Murakami, M., et al. (2009). Perceptions of medical codes of ethics: An international study of physicians. Journal of Medicine, Health Care, & Philosophy, 12, 373–383.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, G. (2000). Cross-cultural methodological issues in ethical research. Journal of Business Ethics, 27, 89–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monroe, M. H., Bynum, D., Susi, B., Phifer, N., Schultz, L., Franco, M., et al. (2003). Primary care physician preferences regarding spiritual behavior in medical practice. Archives of Internal Medicine, 163, 2751–2756.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, J., & Palmer, M. (1993). The state of religion Atlas. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Fallon, M. J., & Butterfield, K. D. (2005). A review of the empirical ethical decision making literature: 1996–2003. Journal of Business Ethics, 59, 375–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orr, R. D., & Issac, G. (1992). Religious variables are infrequently reported in clinical research. Family Medicine, 24, 602–606.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Overymyer, D. L. (Ed.). (2003). Religion in China today. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyama, O., & Koenig, H. G. (1998). Religious beliefs and practices in family medicine. Archives of Family Medicine, 7, 431–435.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rashid, Z., & Ibrahim, S. (2007). The effect of culture and religiosity on business ethics: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Business Ethics, 82, 907–917.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reader, I. (1991). Religion in contemporary Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rohrbaugh, J., & Jessor, R. (1975). Religiosity in youth: A personal control against deviant behavior. Journal of Personality, 43, 136–155.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Savulescu, J. (2006). Conscientious objection in medicine. British Medical Journal, 332, 294–297.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sekaran, U. (1983). Methodological and theoretical issues and advancements in cross-cultural research. Journal of International Business Studies, 14, 61–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sood, J., & Nasu, Y. (1995). Religiosity and nationality: an exploratory study of their effect on consumer behavior in Japan and United States. Journal of Business Research, 34, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swyngedouw, J. (1993). Religion in contemporary Japanese society. In M. R. Mullins, S. Susumu, & P. L. Swanson (Eds.), Religion and society in modern Japan (pp. 49–72). Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarn, D. M., Meredith, L. S., Kagawa-Singer, M., Matsumura, S., Bito, S., Oye, R. K., et al. (2005). Trust in one’s physician: The role of ethnic match, autonomy, acculturation, and religiosity among Japanese and Japanese Americans. Annals of Family Medicine, 3, 339–347.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, B. J., & Tate, P. A. (1994). Attitudes among NHS doctors to request for euthanasia. British Medical Journal, 308, 1332–1334.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, N. S., & Carmel, S. (2004). Physicians’ religiosity and end-of-life care attitudes and behaviors. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine, 71(5), 335–343.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, P. (2007). Atheism: Contemporary numbers and patterns. In M. Martin (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to atheism (pp. 47–65). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant to David Cruise Malloy and Thomas Hadjistavropoulos.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada

    D. C. Malloy

  2. Centre on Aging and Health, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada

    D. C. Malloy & T. Hadjistavropoulos

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada

    P. R. Sevigny & T. Hadjistavropoulos

  4. Department of Religious Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada

    K. Bond

  5. Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

    E. Fahey McCarthy

  6. Department of Sociology, Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan

    M. Murakami

  7. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

    S. Paholpak

  8. Psychiatric Services and Research Foundation, Chennai, India

    N. Shalini

  9. Department of Orthopaedics, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China

    P. L. Liu & H. Peng

  10. International Bioethics Research Institute, Yucheng, Shandong Province, China

    P. L. Liu

  11. Faculty of Marxism, Hunan University, Changsha, China

    D. C. Malloy & H. Peng

  12. Research Institute for Multiculturalism and Applied Philosophy, Hunan University, Changsha, China

    D. C. Malloy & H. Peng

Authors
  1. D. C. Malloy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. P. R. Sevigny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. T. Hadjistavropoulos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. K. Bond
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. E. Fahey McCarthy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. Murakami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. S. Paholpak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. N. Shalini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. P. L. Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. H. Peng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. C. Malloy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Malloy, D.C., Sevigny, P.R., Hadjistavropoulos, T. et al. Religiosity and Ethical Ideology of Physicians: A Cross-Cultural Study. J Relig Health 53, 244–254 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-012-9624-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-012-9624-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation