Patient empowerment is an important concept in the study of physician–patient communication and is becoming increasingly popular in medical practices. However, previous studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding its effects. To reconcile these findings and establish a robust connection between empowerment and patient adherence, our study blends dyadic power theory with patient empowerment research. Using mixed methods, including both empirical modeling and controlled experiments, we found that patients who are equally empowered, as compared to those who are under- or over-empowered, exhibit a stronger dominance intention, which subsequently positively affects their adherence and satisfaction. Underlying this nonlinear influence of empowerment on adherence are two independent pathways: one channeling the effect through dominance intention and the other through perceived physician incompetence. Perceived physician’s argument quality represents a boundary condition. This research offers meaningful theoretical and practical implications to the literatures on patient empowerment and adherence by revealing the curvilinear relationship.

中文翻译：

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给予患者更多的授权总是更好吗？检查感知医生的论点质量的调节作用

患者赋权是医患沟通研究中的一个重要概念，并且在医疗实践中变得越来越流行。然而，之前的研究对其影响得出了不一致的结果。为了协调这些发现并在授权和患者依从性之间建立牢固的联系，我们的研究将二元权力理论与患者授权研究相结合。使用包括经验模型和对照实验在内的混合方法，我们发现，与那些权力不足或过度的患者相比，同等权力的患者表现出更强的支配意图，这随后对他们的依从性和满意度产生积极影响。授权对依从性的这种非线性影响背后有两条独立的途径：一条通过支配意图来引导效果，另一条通过感知到的医生无能来引导效果。感知到的医生的论点质量代表了一个边界条件。这项研究通过揭示曲线关系，为有关患者赋权和依从性的文献提供了有意义的理论和实践意义。