Reexamining the sick-role concept: An empirical assessment

Despite the existence of a vast literature on sick-role adoption, there are only a few critical studies of the normative model of behavioral expectations that is the core of Parsons' formulation. This report presents evidence from a survey of 490 recently discharged patients that normative consensus on these expectations is considerably higher than one might expect from the results of illness-behavior studies. (March 1979)