Physician communication as a motivational tool for long‐term patient compliance: Reinforcement expectancy theory

Reinforcement Expectancy Theory (RET), based on the central premise that human behavior is driven by the need to gain rewarding stimuli and eliminate aversive ones, is presented to explain the most effective use of communication for physicians who have repeated exposure to patients having difficulty adhering to recommendations they understand but are not motivated to follow. It is argued that motivation to comply is based on a perceptual process in which the patient observes the physician's communication behavior, judges the appropriateness and reinforcement value of the communication, and stores the information in working memory as reinforcement expectations, which, in turn, motivate the patient to comply with the physician's request.