The Role of Exemplar Typicality in Contact Interventions to Reduce Public and Self-Stigma towards People with Mental Illness
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: For decades, researchers have championed intergroup contact with typical group members for bias reduction and suggested that encounters with atypical group members are less likely to impact perceptions of the entire group. Although some research supports this notion, it contradicts findings within the impression formation literature where exposure to moderately atypical exemplars is ideal. This thesis strove to determine i) whether contact with typical, moderately atypical, or extremely atypical people with mental illness (PWMI) is more effective for reducing public stigma against PWMI, ii) whether this depends on the mental illness, and iii) whether self-stigma in PWMI decreases with peer contact. Typicality was manipulated within written descriptions of a person with depression or schizophrenia in Study 1 (n = 262 students), within an E-contact intervention in Study 2 (n = 248 students), and within an imagined contact intervention in Study 3 (n = 506 community members). Finally, in Study 4, I explored the relationship between peer contact with PWMI, peer typicality, self-stigma, and its correlates, in 1,037 community members with a history of mental illness. Overall, the results suggested exposure to typical PWMI to be counter-effective for the reduction of public stigma, consistent with impression formation research. In contrast, peer contact between PWMI was found to be negatively related to harm to self-respect and positively related to self-esteem, self-efficacy, and intentions to seek help, with these relationships serially mediated by self-stigma and not significantly moderated by peer typicality. Together, these findings have substantial implications for intergroup contact theory, suggesting that i) contact interventions be implemented with atypical rather than typical group members, contrary to the assertions of prominent theorists in this area, and that ii) the beneficial effects of contact on bias may extend to self-stigma in stigmatised group members.
Author: Rachel Maunder
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3112657159