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The Subtle Side of Stigma: Understanding and Reducing Mental Illness Stigma from a Contemporary Prejudice Perspective
Author(s) -
Young Rebecca E.,
Goldberg Joel O.,
Struthers C. Ward,
McCann Doug,
Phills Curtis E.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/josi.12343
Subject(s) - stigma (botany) , prejudice (legal term) , mental illness , ableism , psychology , perspective (graphical) , social psychology , social stigma , social distance , expression (computer science) , mental health , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , sociology , covid-19 , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , disease , family medicine , pathology , artificial intelligence , anthropology , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , programming language
Ableism, as it relates to mental illness, is a serious social issue that exists across nations and cultures. Implicit stigma caused by ableism can be especially problematic given that it is typically expressed subtly and automatically causing it to remain unnoticed and thus unchanged. This research illustrated across two studies that individuals have automatic ableist attitudes toward mental illness, yet the expression of stigma depends on the combination of their implicit and explicit attitudes. Furthermore, Study 2 was the first to demonstrate an effective intervention designed to specifically target implicit stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness. The findings have implications for implementing social policies that serve to raise awareness of and reduce implicit stigma to ultimately improve the lives for those affected by mental illness.