College Students' Attitudes Toward Mental Illness: An Examination of the Stigma Process¹

Abstract

Undergraduate students (96 female, 72 male) read 3 scenarios depicting either male or female characters with symptoms of depression, alcohol abuse, and common stress. Participants then completed measures assessing their attitudes about the character in the scenarios, as well as their level of social dominance orientation, empathy, adherence to traditional gender roles, and familiarity with mental illness. As predicted, participants who labeled the target mentally ill were more likely to view the target as dangerous. This, in turn, led to an increased desire for social distance. In contrast, empathy, although associated with increased likelihood of labeling, was associated with decreased desire for social distance. Implications of the results for reducing the social stigma of mental illness are discussed.

The experiences of university students with a mood disorder

“…The first describes the individual's awareness that she/he is different and that this is evident to others, and the second describes the individual who is aware of a difference in themselves but that difference is not visible and therefore can be disguised. A proposed reason for the reluctance to be labelled mentally ill is the stigma attached (Phelan and Basow 2007). Parker et al (1995) suggest that the attachment of labels to define mental illnesses, such as depression or schizophrenia, is a response by society to 'position' individuals within a social structure and thereby attribute them with particular behaviours and experiences -such labelling frequently leads to stigma.…”

Entry-level student affairs administrators' attitudes toward mental illness in college students.

“…Further findings indicate that faculty desire additional information about mental illness (Brockelman et al), as they are not consistently able to recognize mental illness and refer students for help (Becker et al). In addition to faculty, students possess stigma towards peers with mental illness (Phelan & Basow, 2007).…”

“…Research on peer attitudes also demonstrates the presence of stigma. After reading scenarios depicting depression, alcohol abuse, and stress, 168 college students who labeled the presence of mental illness were more likely to view that person as dangerous and to desire social distance (Phelan & Basow, 2007). Those students who possessed more familiarity with mental illness showed fewer negative stereotypes, though, and a greater degree of empathy was associated with decreased social distance.…”

“…Additionally, the need for education surrounding bipolar disorder was emphasized, as this was seen as disproportionately related to campus crises. Of course, only a small number of students will be involved in violent acts towards others and most people with mental illness are no more violent than the general population (Phelan & Basow, 2007;Wahl, 1999). Gecker (2007) clarifies that only in extreme and rare cases does mental illness lead to violence.…”

Stigma of mental illness and multicultural counseling self-efficacy : investigating the implications of the multicultural training environment, mental health literacy, and empathy.

“…(Decety & Lamm, 2006, p. 1146. The role of empathy has been studied in the research contexts of general stigma (Tarrant & Hadert, 2010), mental illness stigma (Howell, Ulan, & Powell, 2014;Phelan & Basow, 2007), multicultural counseling (Wang et al, 2003) and counseling self-efficacy (Greason & Cashwell, 2009). …”