Psychosocial predictors and justification patterns of traditional and alternative medicine in Peru

Abstract

This mixed-methods study investigates the prevalence, attitudes, psychological predictors, and usage reasons of traditional and alternative medicine in Peru. A representative national sample (N = 805) reported their experiences with 16 unconventional medical techniques, alongside psychometric measures of pseudoscientific beliefs, ideological traditionalism, and trust in the medical profession. Traditional medicine was more widely used, while alternative medicine elicited more favorable attitudinal responses. Pseudoscientific beliefs predicted greater endorsement of both modalities, with traditionalism specifically linked to traditional medicine. To enrich the psychometric findings, we applied natural language processing techniques to 2716 usage reasons extracted from spontaneous open-ended responses, revealing distinct rhetorical patterns: alternative medicine was more often justified through pseudoscientific and biomedical-sounding arguments, whereas traditional medicine drew on cultural, spiritual, and experiential narratives. Network and co-occurrence analyses confirmed that both modalities follow distinctive general combinatory logics of justification. However, subgroups mixing traditional and alternative medicine also emerged, such as spiritually oriented practices and techniques pivoting traditionalist conceptions. These findings reflect the interplay between global health discourses and local belief systems. Overall, this study highlights the value of integrating cultural and linguistic analyses to understand public engagement with unconventional health practices.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{fasce2026psychosocial,
  title = {{Psychosocial predictors and justification patterns of traditional and alternative medicine in Peru}},
  author = {Angelo Fasce and José Eduardo Rosales Trabuco and Javier Rodríguez-Ferreiro and Itxaso Barberia and Elvis Pinedo-Yzaguirre and Juan Manuel Espinoza Nuñez and Wilson Marcos Ortiz-Treviños and Christian David Pizarro Moncada and Mario Reyes-Bossio and Carlos Carbajal-León},
  howpublished = {OSF Preprints},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.31219/osf.io/7kg3v_v6},
  url = {https://osf.io/7kg3v_v6/},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Psychosocial predictors and justification patterns of traditional and alternative medicine in Peru
AU  - Angelo Fasce
AU  - José Eduardo Rosales Trabuco
AU  - Javier Rodríguez-Ferreiro
AU  - Itxaso Barberia
AU  - Elvis Pinedo-Yzaguirre
AU  - Juan Manuel Espinoza Nuñez
AU  - Wilson Marcos Ortiz-Treviños
AU  - Christian David Pizarro Moncada
AU  - Mario Reyes-Bossio
AU  - Carlos Carbajal-León
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/08
PB  - OSF Preprints
DO  - 10.31219/osf.io/7kg3v_v6
UR  - https://osf.io/7kg3v_v6/
AB  - This mixed-methods study investigates the prevalence, attitudes, psychological predictors, and usage reasons of traditional and alternative medicine in Peru. A representative national sample (N = 805) reported their experiences with 16 unconventional medical techniques, alongside psychometric measures of pseudoscientific beliefs, ideological traditionalism, and trust in the medical profession. Traditional medicine was more widely used, while alternative medicine elicited more favorable attitudinal responses. Pseudoscientific beliefs predicted greater endorsement of both modalities, with traditionalism specifically linked to traditional medicine. To enrich the psychometric findings, we applied natural language processing techniques to 2716 usage reasons extracted from spontaneous open-ended responses, revealing distinct rhetorical patterns: alternative medicine was more often justified through pseudoscientific and biomedical-sounding arguments, whereas traditional medicine drew on cultural, spiritual, and experiential narratives. Network and co-occurrence analyses confirmed that both modalities follow distinctive general combinatory logics of justification. However, subgroups mixing traditional and alternative medicine also emerged, such as spiritually oriented practices and techniques pivoting traditionalist conceptions. These findings reflect the interplay between global health discourses and local belief systems. Overall, this study highlights the value of integrating cultural and linguistic analyses to understand public engagement with unconventional health practices.
ER  -

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