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α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
While many studies have focused on the aggregate effect of social relationships on economic outcomes, this study identifies how social relationships are likely to motivate individual decision-making as it relates to health care choices. Focusing on surveys collected about colonoscopies, we show that a key determining factor in the decision to undergo the procedure is the relational nature of the patient's health. That is, patients who consider how their health influences other people in their lives are more likely to get a colonoscopy. These results suggest that encouraging patients to consider their social relationships is likely to increase the likelihood that they undergo beneficial procedures.