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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Mentally ill--Social conditions; Stigma (Social psychology);

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a label per se on the acceptance of persons with mental illnesses. The design was a two (Sex of Subject) by two (Sex of Vignette Character) by two (Label of Mental Illness versus Label of No Mental Illness) factorial design. Sixty male and 72 female undergraduates participated. Each subject read one of four vignettes which provided a mildly positive description of an individual who was either male or female and who either had or did not have a label of mental illness. The vignettes were identical except for manipulation of the sex of the vignette character and the presence or absence of a label of mental illness. Subjects responded to a modified version of the Disability Social Distance Scale (Tringo, 1970), Link's (1987) Devaluation-Discrimination Measure (DDM), and a brief personal questionnaire (BPQ). On the DSDS subjects reported significantly more social distancing when the vignette character had a label of mental illness than when he or she did not have a label of mental illness, F, (1,131) = 28.84, p<.001. Also, subjects tended to be more accepting when the vignette character was of the opposite sex rather than the same sex F, (1, 131) = 6.16, p<.025. On the DDM, male subjects reported more social rejection of persons with a history of mental illness than female subjects, F, (1, 131) = 6.81, p<.025. On the BPQ, male subjects reported significantly more rejection of a person with a history of mental illness than female subjects, F, (1, 131) = 6.30, p<.025. Also, subjects who had read the no mental illness vignette reported significantly more rejection of a person with a history of mental illness than subjects who had read the mental illness vignette, F, (1, 131) = 4.40, p<.05. In summary, findings support the contention that a label of mental illness, per se, may be stigmatizing and elicit social distancing and rejection. Subjects were less accepting when the vignette character had a label of mental illness than when he or she did not. Findings indicated that the label of mental illness alone, that is, without signs of abnormal behavior, is sufficient to elicit stigmatization, social rejection, and decreased acceptance. In general, female subjects were significantly more accepting than male subjects. There was a tendency for subjects to be more accepting when vignette character was of the opposite sex rather than the same sex.

Year of Submission

1993

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Psychology

First Advisor

John W. Somervill

Second Advisor

Julia E. Wallace

Third Advisor

Albert R. Gilgen

Comments

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Date Original

1993

Object Description

1 PDF file (91 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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