Objective: This paper aims to systematically review the use and performance of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief IPQ). Design: Electronic databases were searched for papers administering the Brief IPQ published in peer-reviewed journals. Data were extracted from the results for meta-analysis. Main outcome measures: Use by illness population, country, language and study design. The questionnaire’s concurrent validity, predictive validity, sensitivity to change, discriminant validity and mean scores for different populations were summarised. Results: The review included 188 papers. The Brief IPQ has been administered to patients from age 8 to over 80, with a wide range of illnesses, in 26 languages from 36 countries. Pooled correlations between illness perceptions and depression, anxiety, blood glucose levels and quality of life were consistent with previous research and theory (range .25–.49 for consequences, identity and emotional representations; −.12 to −.27 for personal control). All items were able to predict some outcomes up to one-year follow-up. Each subscale demonstrated sensitivity to change after intervention in randomised controlled trials with the personal control and causal items showing most frequent change. Conclusions: The Brief IPQ is widely used and has good psychometric properties. More studies should include and analyse the causal item.

In movies, robots are often extremely humanlike. Although these robots are not yet reality, robots are currently being used in healthcare, education, and business. Robots provide benefits such as relieving loneliness and enabling communication. Engineers are trying to build robots that look and behave like humans and thus need comprehensive knowledge not only of technology but also of human cognition, emotion, and behavior. This need is driving engineers to study human behavior toward other humans and toward robots, leading to greater understanding of how humans think, feel, and behave in these contexts, including our tendencies for mindless social behaviors, anthropomorphism, uncanny feelings toward robots, and the formation of emotional attachments. However, in considering the increased use of robots, many people have concerns about deception, privacy, job loss, safety, and the loss of human relationships. Human–robot interaction is a fascinating field and one in which psychologists have much to contribute, both to the development of robots and to the study of human behavior.