Transcript Reducing Stigma: - Hanover College Psychology Department

Reducing Stigma toward
the Mentally Ill:
The Impact of Exposure versus Information
Stephanie Turner
Hanover College
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Stigma
 Goffman
defines stigma as an attribute
of an individual that “makes him different from
others…and of a less desirable kind-in the
extreme, a person who is quite thoroughly
bad, or dangerous, or weak”.
(1963)
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Definitions
 Stigma: more specific, negative form of
attitudes; directed toward specific group
 Exposure: any association or connection with
mentally ill which involves seeing them as full
human beings, capable of humor, warmth,
intelligence, etc. and deserving of empathy
 Empathy: “vicarious emotional experience of
others” (Mehrabian, 1972)
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Tested Interventions to Reduce Stigma
 Angermeyer
and Dietrich (2006)
discuss how close contact with the
mentally ill impacts and shapes attitudes
(1996)
 Addison and Thorpe (2004)
 Found that factual knowledge alone did not
positively alter attitudes
 Used Community Attitudes Toward the
Mentally Ill Scale (CAMI)
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Pre- / Post-Intervention Design
 Demographics
 2 surveys pre-intervention
 Empathy scale, CAMI
 Participant sees one of two videos
 Information: “Professional Lecture”
 Exposure: “Robert Documentary”
 Post-intervention surveys
 Empathy scale, CAMI
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Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1: Participants in the Exposure
Condition (“Robert Documentary”) will show a
decrease in stigmatizing attitudes compared
to participants in the Information Condition
(“Professional Lecture”).
Hypothesis 2: Participants in the Exposure
Condition will show an increase in empathy
as compared to the participants in the
Information Condition.
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Participants
 Students (N = 25)
n = 22 female; n = 3 male
 Wide range of previous experience with
mental illness, including acquaintance,
friend, family member, and self
 Majority (76%) reported some previous
experience or contact with mentally ill
persons
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Materials: CAMI
 Community Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI)
(Taylor & Dear, 1981)

Four dimensions of attitudes: 5 point Likert Scale
 Benevolence
 “We need to adopt a far more tolerant attitude toward the
mentally ill in our society”

Authoritarianism
 “The best way to handle the mentally ill is to keep them
behind locked doors”

Social Restrictiveness
 “The mentally ill should not be given any responsibility”

Community Mental Health Ideology
 “The best therapy for many mental patients is to be a part
of a normal community”
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Materials: Revised Empathy Scale
 Based on the Emotional Empathetic
Tendency Scale (EET) (Mehrabian, 1971)
 Specified empathy toward mentally ill people
 16 items total

5 point Likert Scale

8 concepts- 2 question each
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Empathy Scale Sample Questions
 Concept: Sympathy for the mentally ill

Negative: “People make too much of the
feelings and sensitivity of the mentally ill.”

Positive: “The mentally ill deserve our
sympathy.”
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Materials: Professional Lecture
 Video created for this study
 Licensed Clinical Psychologist and director
of a college counseling center
 Discusses three mental disorders:
Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, and
Schizoaffective disorder
 Formal lecture style, no empathic or
humanizing information present
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Materials: Robert Documentary
 Imagining Robert: My Brother, Madness,
and Survival (Hott, 2004)

Film by two brothers




Robert, who has suffered with mental illness
Jay, primary caretaker over the last 38 years
Shows how family copes with mental illness
Realistic, humanizing portrayal of Robert
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Results: CAMI
 Mixed Model ANOVA
 CAMI- significant interaction (p = 0.005)
 Follow up analysis for simple main effects of
time also significant (p < 0.05)
 Benevolence subscale- significant interaction
(p < 0.05)

Follow up analysis for simple main effects of
time also significant (p < 0.05)
 Other subscales showed no significant
differences
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Pre-/Post- CAMI Changes
200
180
160
140
CAMI 120
Score
100
80
60
40
20
0
150.9 155.3
149.8 146.8
Robert
Lecture
Pre
Post
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Pre-/Post- Benevolence Changes
50
45
40
38.8 40.3
39.4 38.9
Pre
Post
35
30
25
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Benevolence
Score
Significant
interaction
(p < 0.05)
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10
5
0
Robert
Lecture
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Discussion of CAMI
 Hypothesis 1 confirmed: Participants
showed more benevolent, and thus less
stigmatizing attitudes after Exposure
intervention
 CAMI and Benevolence differences might
be even greater with a neutral or more
stigmatizing sample.
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Results: Empathy Scale
 Reliability was achieved: Empathy Scale
revised to specify the Mentally Ill was
found to be reliable (α = 0.71)
 Hypothesis 2 not supported: No
significant main effects or interaction found
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Previous Contact of Participants
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Empathy Discussion
 Participants displayed high levels of
empathy pre-intervention.
Mean: 61.4
 Range: 49-70

 High empathy levels may have restricted
the amount of change that could be
evoked by intervention.
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Implications and Future Research
 Target sample low in empathy and high in
stigmatizing attitudes toward mentally ill
 Further research is needed to
 Test intervention with more participants
 Explore the role benevolence plays in
reducing stigmatizing attitudes and how it is
related to empathy
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Pre-/Post- Empathy Changes
80
70
61.4
60.4
60
Empathy 50
Score 40
Pre
Post
No significant
Interaction
p = 0.737
30
20
10
0
Empathy Scale
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