Identification with similar others sharing their experience of coping with depression and its effects on stigmatization and prosocial intentions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13056955 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Freya Sukalla (0000-0002-4611-3647, Leipzig University, corresponding author), Ina Krack (Leipzig University), Daniel B Seibert (Leipzig University), Ludwig Paeth (Leipzig University), Olga Frank (Leipzig University), Ronja Preißler (Leipzig University), Philip Matias Block (Leipzig University) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 169-185 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Communication and Media (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2192-4007 • E-ISSN: 2192-4007 |
| Publisher | Nomos (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.5771/2192-4007-2022-1-169 |
| OpenAlex | W4285170287 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 17 |
Addressing the high prevalence of depression among university students and the need to motivate professional help seeking, we examine whether recovery stories featuring a similar - compared to a dissimilar - person sharing their personal experience of coping with depression will reduce stigmatization (attitudes, social distance, prosocial intentions) and the self-stigma of help seeking as mediated by perceived similarity and identification. We conducted a one-factorial between-subject experiment to test the effects of lifestyle similarity on stigmatization and self-stigma of help seeking. 169 students (74.6% female; Mage = 23.5, SD = 3.5) were randomly assigned to read either a recovery story about a similar or dissimilar author’s reflections on their experience of coping with depression or a control story. Contrary to expectations, recovery stories did not reduce stigmatization nor the self-stigma of help seeking, irrespective of whether they were told by a similar or dissimilar person. However, a significant indirect effect on prosocial intentions through perceived similarity and identification as well as several interesting exploratory results point to potential beneficial and detrimental effects of recovery stories and similarity that should be explored in future research
Coping (psychology · Prosocial behavior · Clinical Psychology · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Humor Studies and Applications · Media Influence and Health · Psychology · Social Psychology
Identification as a Mechanism of Narrative Persuasion
Mental Disorders Stigma in the Media
Does Character Similarity Increase Identification and Persuasion?
Barriers of mental health treatment utilization among first‐year college students
Effect of web-based depression literacy and cognitive–behavioural therapy interventions on stigmatising attitudes to depression
The Effects of a Serious Game on Role-Taking and Willingness to Help
Conceptualizing and measuring mental illness stigma
Experimental Manipulation of Psychological Involvement with Media
Entertainment?Education and Elaboration Likelihood
Toward a Theory of Entertainment Persuasion
Meta-analytic evidence for the persuasive effect of narratives on beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors
Defining Identification
WHO World Mental Health Surveys International College Student Project
The Social Psychology of Stigma
Understanding audience involvement
Story Perspective and Character Similarity as Drivers of Identification and Narrative Persuasion
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |