The power to resist: the relationship between power, stigma, and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

Stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness can be a daily struggle for people with schizophrenia. While investigations into the impact of internalizing stigma on negative symptoms have yielded mixed results, resistance to stigmatizing beliefs has received little attention. In this study, we examined the linkage between internalized stigma, stigma resistance, negative symptoms, and social power, or perceived ability to influence others during social interactions among people with schizophrenia. Further, we sought to determine whether resistance to stigma would be bolstered by social power, with greater power in relationships with other possibly buffering against motivation/pleasure negative symptoms. Fifty-one people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder completed measures of social power, internalized stigma, and stigma resistance. Negative symptoms were assessed using the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms (CAINS). Greater social power was associated with less internalized stigma and negative symptoms as well as more stigma resistance. Further, the relationship between social power and negative symptoms was partially mediated by stigma resistance. These findings provide evidence for the role of stigma resistance as a viable target for psychosocial interventions aimed at improving motivation and social power in people with schizophrenia

Stigma, Social Comparison and Self-Esteem in Adults with an Intellectual Disability

Background: The paper examines the perception of stigma in 43 adults with an intellectual disability, the relationship this has with their psychological well-being and whether the process of social comparison has a moderating effect on this relationship. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based, within-participant design was used. Participants completed three self-report measures of perception of stigma, self-esteem and social comparison. Results: Perception of stigma was found to be significantly related to negative social comparisons, which in turn was significantly related to low self-esteem. No difference was found between social comparisons made with other service users and those made with people in the community. Social comparison was not found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between stigma and self-esteem. Conclusion: This study provides support for the influence of the perception of stigma and social comparison on the self-concept of individuals with an intellectual disability

Stigma in youth with Tourette's syndrome: a systematic review and synthesis

Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a childhood onset neurodevelopmental disorder, characterised by tics. To our knowledge, no systematic reviews exist which focus on examining the body of literature on stigma in association with children and adolescents with TS. The aim of the article is to provide a review of the existing research on (1) social stigma in relation to children and adolescents with TS, (2) self-stigma and (3) courtesy stigma in family members of youth with TS. Three electronic databases were searched: PsycINFO, PubMed and Web of Science. Seventeen empirical studies met the inclusion criteria. In relation to social stigma in rating their own beliefs and behavioural intentions, youth who did not have TS showed an unfavourable attitude towards individuals with TS in comparison to typically developing peers. Meanwhile, in their own narratives about their lives, young people with TS themselves described some form of devaluation from others as a response to their disorder. Self-degrading comments were denoted in a number of studies in which the children pointed out stereotypical views that they had adopted about themselves. Finally, as regards courtesy stigma, parents expressed guilt in relation to their children's condition and social alienation as a result of the disorder. Surprisingly, however, there is not one study that focuses primarily on stigma in relation to TS and further studies that examine the subject from the perspective of both the 'stigmatiser' and the recipient of stigma are warranted

Social Jealousy and Stigma: Negative Externalities of Social Assistance Payments in Germany

This paper examines the role of social assistance payments (SAP or Sozialhilfe) in determining levels of life satisfaction in Germany using the SOEP 1995–2004. We find strong evidence that individuals in Germany are negatively influenced by increased SAP payments controlling for income, whether or not they actually receive such payments (stigma and social jealousy). While there are obvious benefits to making SAP to those needy, there are substantial negative externalities experienced by those who neither receive SAP nor qualify (counterfactual SAP). Furthermore, these negative effects are even stronger for those who do receive benefits (stigma) suggesting that social jealousy and stigma are a force to be reckoned with when evaluating social policy.We show that the added benefits of increasing SAP are reduced by 50 to 100% because of social jealousy and stigma costs, whereas child benefits (Kindergeld) are seen to enhance life satisfaction over and above a simple income effect. Further, own-earned income, over and above the SAP subsistence level is valued much higher than transfer payments at the SAP subsistence level, suggesting a policy focus on increasing employment integration efforts for SAP recipients as opposed merely to providing SAP transfers.Well being, life satisfaction, social assistance, stigma, social jealousy

Unpacking the dynamics of double stigma : how the HIV-TB co-epidemic alters TB stigma and its management among healthcare workers

Background HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are intricably interlinked in South Africa. The social aspects of this co-epidemic remain relatively unexplored. More specifically, no research has quantitatively explored the double stigma associated with HIV and TB in this context, and more specifically the impact of the co-epidemic on [1] the stigmatisation of TB and [2] the TB stigma mangement strategy of covering (i.e. the use of TB as a cover for having HIV). The current study aims to address this research gap by disentangling the complex mechanisms related to HIV-TB stigma. Methods Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), data of 882 health care workers (HCWs) in the Free State province, South Africa, are analysed to investigate the link between the stigmatization of HIV and TB and the stigma management by those affected. The current study focuses on health care workers (HCWs), as both TB and HIV have a severe impact on this professional group. Results The results demonstrate that the perceived link between the epidemics is significantly associated with double HIV-TB stigmatization. Furthermore, the link between the illnesses and the double stigma are driving the stigmatization of TB. Finally, the link between HIV and TB as well as the stigmatization of both diseases by colleagues are associated with an increased use of covering as a stigma management strategy. Conclusions This is the first quantitative study disentagling the mediating role of double stigma in the context of the co-epidemic as well as the impact of the co-epidemic on the social connotations of TB. The results stress the need for an integrated approach in the fight against HIV and TB recognizing the intertwined nature of the co-epidemic, not only in medical-clinical terms, but also in its social consequences

Stratification Economics and Identity Economics

Stratification economics represents an important new approach devoted to explaining economic inequality in terms of how social groups are separated or stratified along economic lines. This paper combines stratification economics with identity economics to address complications that the phenomenon of intersectionality – people having multiple social group identities – creates for stratification economics. It distinguishes two types of social identities recognized by social psychologists, categorical and relational social identities, and uses this distinction to explain how individuals’ personal identities, understood as ordered sets of social identities, can be seen to be both socially and self-constructed. Individuals order and rank their categorical social identities according to weights they assign to them in interactive social settings in which their role-based relational social identities combine different categorical social identities. Recent research in social psychology in the stigma identity threat literature is then reviewed to distinguish two different ways in which individuals respond to others’ stigmatization of their social groups in interactive settings. The paper argues that individuals respond to stigma by assigning weights to their categorical social group identities in ways that reflect both functional power relationships and stigmatization in a way that on balance tend to reinforce social stratification

Disentangling the stigma of HIV/AIDS from the stigmas of drugs use, commercial sex and commercial blood donation – A factorial survey of medical students in China

Background: HIV/AIDS related stigma interferes with the provision of appropriate care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. Currently, programs to address the stigma approach it as if it occurs in isolation, separate from the co-stigmas related to the various modes of disease transmission including injection drug use (IDU) and commercial sex (CS). In order to develop better programs to address HIV/AIDS related stigma, the inter-relationship (or 'layering') between HIV/AIDS stigma and the co-stigmas needs to be better understood. This paper describes an experimental study for disentangling the layering of HIV/AIDS related stigmas. Methods: The study used a factorial survey design. 352 medical students from Guangzhou were presented with four random vignettes each describing a hypothetical male. The vignettes were identical except for the presence of a disease diagnosis (AIDS, leukaemia, or no disease) and a cocharacteristic (IDU, CS, commercial blood donation (CBD), blood transfusion or no cocharacteristic). After reading each vignette, participants completed a measure of social distance that assessed the level of stigmatising attitudes. Results: Bivariate and multivariable analyses revealed statistically significant levels of stigma associated with AIDS, IDU, CS and CBD. The layering of stigma was explored using a recently developed technique. Strong interactions between the stigmas of AIDS and the co-characteristics were also found. AIDS was significantly less stigmatising than IDU or CS. Critically, the stigma of AIDS in combination with either the stigmas of IDU or CS was significantly less than the stigma of IDU alone or CS alone. Conclusion: The findings pose several surprising challenges to conventional beliefs about HIV/ AIDS related stigma and stigma interventions that have focused exclusively on the disease stigma. Contrary to the belief that having a co-stigma would add to the intensity of stigma attached to people with HIV/AIDS, the findings indicate the presence of an illness might have a moderating effect on the stigma of certain co-characteristics like IDU. The strong interdependence between the stigmas of HIV/AIDS and the co-stigmas of IDU and CS suggest that reducing the co-stigmas should be an integral part of HIV/AIDS stigma intervention within this context

Minority-specific Determinants of Mental Well-being Among Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Youth

This study discusses the impact of stress specific to being lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), measured by means of the concepts of stigma consciousness and internalized homonegativity, on the mental well-being of LGB youth. Also, the effects of positive and negative social support were considered within the model. The sample consisted of 743 LGBs less than 26 years old who were recruited during the online ZZZIP survey in Flanders, Belgium. Hierarchical regression shows that LGB-specific unsupportive social interactions have the greatest direct effect on mental well-being of LGB youth, followed respectively by stigma consciousness, internalized homonegativity, and confidant support

Do Welfare Programs Damage Interpersonal Trust? Experimental Evidence from Representative Samples for Four Latin American Cities

This paper argues that welfare programs are linked with the destruction of social capital, as measured by interpersonal trust in laboratory games. The paper employs experimental data for representative samples of individuals in four Latin American capital cities (Bogota, Lima, Montevideo, and San Jose), finding that participation in welfare programs damage trust. This result is robust to the inclusion of individual risk measures and a broad array of controls. The findings also support the notion that low take-up rates may be due to stigma linked with trust and social capital, rather than transaction costs.Experiments, Surveys, Social Programs, Trust, Stigma, Latin America