A Grounded Theory of Credibility Work and Illness: Explication and Application to the Case of Women on Trial in Health Care

Abstract

We make the communicative labor of illness credibility explicit by moving the concept of work into critical interpersonal theory to develop a grounded theory of credibility work. Synthesizing multi-disciplinary literature and drawing on interviews with 36 women in the United States whose health issues have been dismissed by health care providers, friends, and family, we forward a definition of credibility work, six postulates about its nature, and a broad typology of credibility work strategies. We then apply our theory to the data, contextualizing the strategies women engaged with their health care providers using the metaphor of a trial—building a case and presenting the case—and including the communicative double binds that accompanied their efforts. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this research, namely attention to the cultural, material, and embodied significance of communication labor endured to be believed, understood, and taken seriously for health issues.