Emotions, Delay, and Avoidance in Cancer Screening

Delay and avoidance are massive problems in cancer screening. While work continues to examine demographic and cognitive factors, emotions are central and likely causally implicated. In this chapter, a discrete emotions view of the origins of cancer screening is presented. After characterizing emotions, focus rests on evaluating the evidence regarding how and why three avoidance-promoting emotions (fear, embarrassment, and disgust) are implicated. The chapter describes the symptoms and medical examinations that elicit these emotions and suggests that people fail to screen for breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers because screenings elicit (or are anticipated to elicit) these feelings. It concludes by assessing some of the measurement, design, and interpretative challenges in the area, considers the sexual nature of many screens, and discusses the fact that screenings may elicit multiple emotional responses.