Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2025
12:29
Population and Single-Cell Analysis of Antibiotic Persistence in Escherichia coli
Published on: March 24, 2023
2.0K
Prosocial Behaviour and Antibiotic Resistance: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment
Mirko Ancillotti1, Samare P I Huls2,3, Eva M Krockow4
1Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Centre for Research Ethics and Bioethics, Uppsala University, Husargatan 3, BMC, SE 751 22, Uppsala, Sweden. mirko.ancillotti@crb.uu.se.
The Patient
|December 20, 2023
Summary
Altruism influences antibiotic choices, with more altruistic individuals preferring treatments that reduce antibiotic resistance and treatment failure. Prosocial messaging can lower demand for antibiotics.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Behavioral Science
- Infectious Disease Control
Background:
- Individual health behaviors significantly impact community health, especially for infectious diseases.
- Prosocial behavior is a critical resource for effective disease control and public health programs.
- Understanding prosociality is vital for optimizing health strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of altruism in public decision-making regarding antibiotic treatments.
- To extend the understanding of prosociality in the context of antibiotic use.
Main Methods:
- A discrete choice experiment surveyed 378 individuals in Sweden.
- Latent class analysis modeled public preferences for antibiotic treatment characteristics.
- Preference heterogeneity was analyzed to understand the impact of altruism.
Main Results:
- Higher levels of altruism correlated with preferences for treatments minimizing antibiotic resistance.
- Altruistic individuals showed a lower likelihood of preferring treatments with a higher risk of failure.
- Altruism was significantly associated with demographic factors including sex, education, and health literacy.
Conclusions:
- Judicious antibiotic use is supported by antibiotic awareness, trust in healthcare, and equitable priority setting.
- Prosocial messaging may effectively reduce the demand for unnecessary antibiotic treatments.
- Altruism is a key factor influencing public choices in antibiotic selection.
Related Concept Videos
00:57Antibiotic Selection
53.9K
Overview
53.9K
01:08Obedience
32.9K
According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation,...
32.9K
00:52Social Proof
27.7K
Social proof is a form of persuasion based on comparison and conformity. People compare their behavior and actions to what others are doing and will change to conform to do what their peers do.
27.7K
02:20Milgram's Obedience to Authority
6.4K
Obedience to authority is classically demonstrated in a more famous series of social psychology experiments performed by Stanley Milgram. He was a social psychology professor at Yale who was influenced by the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi war criminal. Eichmann’s defense for the atrocities he committed was that he was “just following orders.”
6.4K
01:20Conformity
45.2K
Conformity is the change in a person’s behavior to go along with the group, even if that person does not agree with the group.
45.2K
02:30Naturalistic Observations
15.4K
If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
15.4K