Effects of Illness Type and Empathy Induction On Illness-Related Stigma in Undergraduate Students

The current study investigated if increasing empathy would decrease stigma toward populations with illness. One hundred and seventy-nine participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: 1) sexually transmitted infections (STIs), 2) mental illness, or 3) cancer. Participants were primed with either a high-empathy prompt or low-empathy prompt. After reading the prompt, participants read a vignette detailing the experience of being diagnosed with the illness in their condition. Participants then responded to three stigma measures to assess their stigmatizing attitudes toward the person in the vignette with the illness. To test the experimental hypothesis, a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was conducted using the empathy prime (high-empathy versus low-empathy) and the type of illness presented in the vignette (mental illness, STI, cancer) as independent variables. Self-reported empathy score was a significant covariate on the combined stigmatization measures. The empathy prime did not have a significant effect on either self-reported empathy or stigmatization. Type of illness did have an effect on the stigma measures, with cancer having the lowest stigmatization scores. These findings indicate that mental illness and STIs are stigmatized more than cancer and that empathy impacts stigmatization of those with such illnesses.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Experimental Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2020

Author dc:creator

• Hill, Karlie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kara Gabriel
• Sara Bender
• Mary Radeke

• social stigma
• sexually transmitted infections
• mental health stigma
• mental illness
• cancer
• cancer stigma
• discrimination
• stereotyping
• Health Psychology
• Social Psychology

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1342

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-2368