scispace - formally typeset
Journal ArticleDOI

The Social Rejection of Former Mental Patients: Understanding Why Labels Matter'

TLDR
In this paper, a vignette experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of labelings on the rejection of former mental patients. But, the results showed that a simple assessment of labeling shows little effect on a social distance scale.
Abstract
Recent research shows that the crucial factor determining the rejection of former mental patients is their behavior rather than their stigmantized status. The study reported here, based on a vignette experiment (with a design that varies patient status with the nature of behavior), challenges this conclusion. Like previous research, it indicates that a simple assessment of labelings shows little effect on a social distance scale. However, when a measure of perceived dangerousness of mental patients is introduced, strong labeling effects emerge. Specifically, the data reveal that the lable of "previous hospitalization" fosters high social distance among those who perceive mental patients to be dangerous and low social distance among those who do not see patients as a threat. It appears that past investigators have missed these effects because they have averaged excessively lenient responses with excessively rejecting ones. This suggests that labels play an important role in how former mental patients are p...

read more

Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Minority stress and mental health in gay men

TL;DR: The results supported minority stress hypotheses: each of the stressors had a significant independent association with a variety of mental health measures and odds ratios suggested that men who had high levels of minority stress were twice to three times as likely to suffer also from high level of distress.
Journal ArticleDOI

How stigma interferes with mental health care.

TL;DR: Recommendations are reviewed for ongoing research that will more comprehensively expand understanding of the stigma-care seeking link and implications for the development of antistigma programs that might promote care seeking and participation are reviewed.
Journal ArticleDOI

Public conceptions of mental illness: labels, causes, dangerousness, and social distance.

TL;DR: While there is reason for optimism in the public's recognition of mental illness and causal attributions, a strong stereotype of dangerousness and desire for social distance persist and are likely to negatively affect people with mental illness.
Journal ArticleDOI

A modified labeling theory approach to mental disorders : an empirical assessment

TL;DR: In this paper, a modified labeling perspective is proposed, which claims that even if labeling does not directly produce mental disorder, it can lead to negative outcomes, such as negative consequences for social support networks, jobs, and self-esteem.
Journal ArticleDOI

Understanding labeling effects in the area of mental disorders : An assessment of the effects of expectations of rejection

TL;DR: In this article, the authors hypothesize that official labeling gives personal relevance to an individual's beliefs about how others respond to mental patients and that such reactions may have negative effects on both psychological and socialfunctioning.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI

Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity.

Melvin L. DeFleur, +1 more
- 01 Oct 1964 - 
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the relationship between information control and personal identity, including the Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering.
Book

Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity

TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the relationship between information control and personal identity, including the Discredited and the Discreditable Social Information Visibility Personal Identity Biography Biographical Others Passing Techniques of Information Control Covering.
Journal ArticleDOI

Construct validity in psychological tests.

TL;DR: The present interpretation of construct validity is not "official" and deals with some areas where the Committee would probably not be unanimous, but the present writers are solely responsible for this attempt to explain the concept and elaborate its implications.
Journal ArticleDOI

On the social psychology of the psychological experiment: With particular reference to demand characteristics and their implications.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on some of the qualities peculiar to psychological experiments and point out that the demand characteristics perceived in any particular experiment will vary with the sophistication, intelligence, and previous experience of each experimental subject.
Related Papers (5)