When gains associated with illness outweigh the costs, may result. a. somatoform disorders b. psychosomatic illnesses c. malingering d. placebo effects?

The correct answer is "letter c. malingering."

Malingering is described as falsifying symptoms of mental or physical well-being of a person to achieve a certain goal, an example is that malingering a certain mental illness or physical illness may be used as a mitigating factor to reduce the sentence of a criminal or to receive special treatment in prison. It may also be used to skip school or work in the military.