Abstract
This study examines how playing a video game featuring a player-character with mental illness can positively impact mental illness stigma. We hypothesized that interactive gameplay would positively predict transportation into the story world. Then, transportation would predict identification with the main character. This identification should then reduce stigma in two ways: by lowering stereotyping and limiting participants’ desire for social distance. A two-factor, yoked experiment was designed utilizing Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, a game praised for its accurate portrayal of psychosis. The main character, Senua, suffers from psychosis and must navigate her quest along with her own mental health. Players either played the first 45 min of the game or watched gameplay footage of other participants’ sessions. Transportation into the story world, identification with Senua, and the two aspects of stigma – stereotyping and social distance – were measured. Consistent with hypotheses, a structural equation model found an indirect path from gameplay to reduced social distance through first transportation and then identification. Players also reported higher levels of transportation than non-players, and that heightened transportation led to greater identification and then a lowered desire for social distance from the mentally ill. The indirect path to stereotyping was not significant. These results and implications are discussed in detail.
Highlights
Stigma is a significant problem faced by those with mental illness
A measurement model was calculated utilizing all variables of interest
The goal of this study was to examine how playing video games featuring characters suffering from mental illness may reduce stigma through transportation and identification
Summary
Stigma is a significant problem faced by those with mental illness. Being the target of mental health stigma can lead to negative impacts on the self, such as lowered self-esteem (Link et al, 2001) and life satisfaction. Stigma can threaten a patients’ livelihood through discrimination in the workplace and in the realm of healthcare (Schulze and Angermeyer, 2003). Those who experience stigma – or who fear being stigmatized – are less likely to seek professional or medical help for the issues they face (Clement et al, 2015). Due to negative and severe effects stigma can have on those with mental illness, researchers and advocates have attempted to create interventions to address the issue. Many of these interventions can unintentionally have a boomerang effect, increasing the stigma they are attempting to reduce, either because of reactance or through the general resiliency of stereotypes (Corrigan and Penn, 1999)
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