Gender differences in perceptions of cancer

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to consider gender differences in laypeople's beliefs about and explanations of cancer. Over 700 adults answered a questionnaire about their perceptions and explanations of the disease. The majority of respondents identified cancer as the most fearful disease. Women were more frightened of cancer than were men, whereas men were more frightened of heart disease than were women. The greatest fear of cancer was its perceived incurability and the associated suffering, whereas the greatest fear of heart disease was perceived susceptibility. Men were more likely than women to hold a more negative attitude toward cancer information. Factor analysis of the perceived causes of cancer identified four causal factors, which were labelled Stress, Environmental, Health-related, and Behavioural. Men were more likely to identify behavioural items as important whereas women were more likely to rate heredity as important. Fear of cancer was highly correlated with the health beliefs but not with the perceived causes of cancer. However, a regression analysis found that these health beliefs explained only a small proportion of the variance in cancer fear. The findings are discussed with reference to cancer education.