Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Psychology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Do Semantics Matter In Empathetic Person Perception Of Children Or Adults With Mental Illness?, Rylie Hansen, Caroline Polak, Emma Gries, Stevie Ostman, Gina A. Paganini, E. Paige Lloyd Feb 2023

Do Semantics Matter In Empathetic Person Perception Of Children Or Adults With Mental Illness?, Rylie Hansen, Caroline Polak, Emma Gries, Stevie Ostman, Gina A. Paganini, E. Paige Lloyd

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Experiences of stigma, discrimination, or aggression negatively affect the well-being of people experiencing symptoms of psychopathology. However, empathy is thought to undermine prejudice and discrimination and is linked with positive outcomes (e.g., greater well-being, more social support, etc.) among those with stigmatized mental illnesses. The current work investigates the influence of target age (adult or child) and language type (person-first or identity-first) on how much empathic concern perceivers report toward individuals with a hypothetical mental health condition. This research contributes to an ongoing debate about whether person-first or identity-first language carries stigmatizing or protective effects, while also considering a novel …


The Effect Of Language Type And Perceived Controllability On Stigma And Compassion, Maddie Leake, Christine Mcgrath, Trudy Mickel, Claire Shaver, Gina A. Paganini, E. Paige Lloyd Feb 2023

The Effect Of Language Type And Perceived Controllability On Stigma And Compassion, Maddie Leake, Christine Mcgrath, Trudy Mickel, Claire Shaver, Gina A. Paganini, E. Paige Lloyd

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Previous research suggests that mental health stigma creates significant barriers to treatment seeking and adherence, diminishes treatment outcomes, and motivates social rejection towards people experiencing mental illness; by contrast, compassion seems to offer protective effects, improving treatment outcomes and helping behavior. The current work extends the established literature by experimentally examining the independent and interactive effects of two factors theorized to influence stigma and compassion: controllability and language. Participants read vignettes about hypothetical mental illnesses explained with a genetic attribution (indicating low controllability) or a behavioral attribution (indicating high controllability) and completed measures of perceived controllability, stigma, and compassion. We …


Paternal Perinatal Psychopathology And Stigma Related To Nicu Admission, Hudson Holland Jones Jan 2023

Paternal Perinatal Psychopathology And Stigma Related To Nicu Admission, Hudson Holland Jones

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Stigma or the belief that mental health difficulties stem from a personal weakness, moral failing, or poor choices and will subject one to shame, embarrassment, scrutiny, victimization, oppression, and ostracization is a reason people choose to avoid, not to obtain or fully engage in mental health treatments despite their demonstrated effectiveness (Corrigan, 2004;Vogel et al., 2006). Gender differences have been found in experiences of stigma; for example, men were found to self-stigmatize to justify avoiding counseling to a greater degree than women (Judd et al., 2008). As such, stigma has been identified as a gender-salient variable that serves as a …