Examining Cues that Signal Mental Illness Stigma

Abstract

Erving Goffman (1963) distinguished between stigmas that are readily perceived (like ethnic group and gender) versus those that might be hidden (like sexual orientation or religious affiliation). Mental illness stigma falls into this latter group; it is not readily obvious but instead inferred from a variety of social cues. The impact of three cues—bizarre behavior, poor social skills, and low physical attractiveness—on stigma is examined in this study. One hundred seventeen research participants read four vignettes about meeting a person in public who varied in symptoms (positive versus negative symptoms) and appearance (clean versus unkempt). After completing each vignette, they answered questions about three types of stigmatizing attitudes: dangerousness, threat, and social avoidance. Results suggest research participants rated the person in the vignette as more dangerous, threatening, and worthy of avoidance when he manifested positive symptoms compared to negative symptoms. Physical appearance interacted with symptoms; persons in the vignette who were unkempt were more stigmatized when they manifested negative, rather than positive symptoms. Stigma related to physical appearance interacted with the perceiver's gender; women were more likely to stigmatize unkempt people in the vignettes. Implications of these findings for a model of mental illness stigma are discussed.