Abstract
Background: Stigma poses an additional burden for people suffering from mental illness, one that often impairs their social participation and can prevent them from seeking adequate help. It is therefore crucial to understand how stigma develops in order to counteract it by setting up effective evidence-based anti-stigma interventions. The present study examines the effect of causal beliefs on stigmatizing behavioral intentions, namely people's desire to distance themselves from persons with mental illness. In addition, we draw cross-cultural comparisons between native Germans and Turkish immigrants to investigate the influence of culture on stigma and causal beliefs and to broaden knowledge on the biggest immigrant group in Germany and on immigrants in Western countries in general.Methods: n = 302 native Germans and n = 173 Turkish immigrants were presented either a depression or a schizophrenia vignette. Then, causal beliefs, emotional reaction and desire for social distance were assessed with questionnaires. Path analyses were carried out to investigate the influence of causal beliefs on the desire for social distance and their mediation by emotional reactions for Germans and Turkish immigrants, respectively.Results: We found an influence of causal beliefs on the desire for social distance. Emotional reactions partly mediated this relationship. Causal attribution patterns as well as the relationship between causal attributions and stigma varied across both subsamples and mental illnesses. In the German subsample, the ascription of unfavorable personal traits resulted in more stigma. In the Turkish immigrant subsample, supernatural causal beliefs increased stigma while attribution to current stress reduced stigma.Conclusion: Our study has implications for future anti-stigma interventions that intend to reduce stigmatization of mentally ill people. Targeting the ascription of unfavorable personal traits and supernatural causal attributions as well as promoting current stress as the cause for mental illness appears to be of particular importance. Also, the mediating influence of emotional responses to causal beliefs needs to be addressed. Furthermore, differential interventions across cultural groups and specific mental illnesses may be appropriate.
Highlights
People with mental disorders often are subject to stigmatization: they are feared, avoided, patronized or, more subtle, incapacitated by exaggerated benevolence [1, 2]
While biogenetic causes and childhood adversities are frequently endorsed in the German sample [t(301) = 1.35, p = 0.179], in the Turkish immigrant subsample biogenetic causes are less frequently assumed to be causal for mental illness than childhood adversities [t(172) = −7.32, p < 0.001]
Biogenetic causal beliefs could not be shown to be positively associated with desire for social distance, they were not associated with less stigmatization, as has been theorized for a long time [25, 80]
Summary
People with mental disorders often are subject to stigmatization: they are feared, avoided, patronized or, more subtle, incapacitated by exaggerated benevolence [1, 2]. Perhaps even more bleak, stigma prevents people from seeking help of mental health services [7], leading to further preservation of impaired health and social disadvantage This is further aggravated by the fact that, opposed to public perception [8], fear and stigma of the mentally ill seems to have remained unchanged or even increased over the past decades [9, 10]. It is, of vital importance and apparent urgency to seek a better understanding of the pathways leading to the stigma associated with mental illness to effectively counteract its damaging consequences. We draw cross-cultural comparisons between native Germans and Turkish immigrants to investigate the influence of culture on stigma and causal beliefs and to broaden knowledge on the biggest immigrant group in Germany and on immigrants in Western countries in general
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
