Physicians Disclosing Religion in Online Biographies: Patient Perceptions and Decision-Making in the United States.

The inclusion of personal information about a healthcare provider is becoming more prevalent within online biographies as a means to help patients make more informed decisions about their future care. While many physicians indicate they are religious, and that spiritual well-being is an important part of one's overall health, what is unclear is what impact this sort of disclosure within an online biography might have on a prospective patient's perceptions of that provider. The current study took the form of a 2 (gender of provider: man; woman) × 2 (religion disclosure: yes; no) × 2 (activity: singing in choir; playing on softball team) between-subjects experiment.