Stories against stigma: Comparing efficacy of a perspective-taking intervention to reduce prejudice toward persons with mental illness versus persons with HIV.

Abstract

The most effective way to reduce mental illness stigma is through contact (Corrigan et al., 2012); however, such programs are difficult to implement. Researchers have turned to indirect contact with some success (Mann & Himelein, 2008), yet the exact mechanism behind narrative-based programs remains unknown. The present study seeks to isolate one possible mechanism—perspective-taking. Perspective-taking enjoys wide support in prejudice research (Batson, Early et al., 1997) but is relatively untested with mental illness stigma. One hundred eighty-one college students heard a narrative of a student with bipolar (I) disorder or HIV and were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (perspective-taking, objective-stance, or “no-instruction”). Participants then completed outcome measures tapping stigma toward the individual and group (social distance, global affect, discrimination). Participants reported greater social distance toward the person with bipolar versus HIV, but discrimination and global affect scores did not differ by stigma target. The perspective-taking intervention was successful in reducing stigma across multiple variables for both bipolar and HIV conditions. The intervention failed to change global affect toward persons with mental illness but did improve feelings toward those with HIV. Results are discussed in the broader context of the power of stories, and the differences between reducing mental illness stigma versus other prejudices.

Perspective taking to reduce prejudice: The Venezuela–Colombia migrant crisis.

“…and behavioral intentions toward the Venezuelan immigrants. Whereas previous research in psychological laboratories has generally found support for the positive effects of perspective taking on attitudes toward outgroups (e.g., M. E. Levin et al, 2016;Mann et al, 2023;Simonovits et al, 2018;Todd & Galinsky, 2014;Vezzali et al, 2015, but see Lai et al, 2014, for an exception), our findings seem to mirror previous results where perspective taking was examined in real-life conflict situations (such as between Israel and Palestine; Bruneau & Saxe, 2012). While participants were explicitly instructed to take the perspective of refugees, such instructions apparently cannot be employed as a "quick fix" to promote more positive outgroup attitudes, not even to temporarily reduce prejudiced responses.…”

“…Indeed, perspective taking has been shown to improve explicit and implicit evaluations as well as behavioral intentions toward outgroup members (e.g., M. E. Levin et al, 2016;Vezzali et al, 2015; for a review, see Todd & Galinsky, 2014; for an exception, see Lai et al, 2014). For instance, Mann et al (2023) found that, compared to being instructed to stay objective or given no instructions, being instructed to focus on the speaker's perspective while listening to a student with bipolar disorder or HIV speaking about the difficulties of living with their illness reduced prejudice and stigma toward the target person and group. Moreover, Simonovits et al (2018) demonstrated that compared to playing an unrelated online game, playing a roleplaying game from the perspective of an adolescent Roma who tries to start a new life in Budapest reduced anti-Roma sentiment and antipathy toward refugees.…”

“…Furthermore, we used this opportunity to simultaneously investigate whether three potential mediators (empathy, trust, and anxiety) may explain this effect. Building on prior perspective-taking studies (e.g., M. E. Levin et al, 2016;Mann et al, 2023;Simonovits et al, 2018), we hypothesized that experimentally inducing perspective taking would lead to more positive evaluations of and behavioral intentions (to donate) toward the Venezuelan migrants by Colombian participants. Additionally, we included a secondary hypothesis that individual differences in self-reported perspective taking will be associated with more positive evaluations of and behavioral intentions toward Venezuelan migrants (by Colombians).…”

“…Such a campaign supposedly should lead to more positive views of Venezuelan migrants and reduced prejudice and is based on a technique with a growing scientific foundation, perspective taking (e.g., M. E. Levin et al, 2016; Mann et al, 2023; Simonovits et al, 2018). Perspective taking can be defined as actively considering other people’s mental states, in this case, the mental states of outgroup members (Todd & Galinsky, 2014).…”

Good reasons for bad behavior: a randomized controlled experiment on the impact of narrative reading and writing on empathic concern, perspective-taking, and attitude

“…Empathic concern is an otheroriented emotion that includes a positive worry over another person, whereas perspective-taking comprises the adoption of other people's point of view and seeing things from their perspectives (11). Empathic concern and perspective-taking could mitigate stigmatization because they foster understanding, combat stereotypes, promote social inclusion, reduce discrimination, and build empathic communities (12)(13)(14) [even though empathy has also a downside (15) and has been connected to selfishness (16) and the manipulation and deception of others (17)]. By empathizing with individuals who face stigmatization, people can challenge prejudice, advocate for equality, and create environments where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.…”