We apply the Communication Theory of Identity to investigate how patients display their ethnic identities during intercultural patient-provider interactions. Ethnic identity displays play a large part in reflecting patients' and providers' assumptions about the other, as well as their communicative needs. We collected paper-and-pencil responses from a convenience sample of providers and their patients, and conducted a constant comparative analysis of their open-ended reports of a recent intercultural medical interview. The results revealed how both parties viewed their roles in intercultural medical encounters and how they looked for accommodative behaviors from the other party. We draw implications for new applications and future developments of the Communication Theory of Identity and Communication Accommodation Theory.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.