Date of Award

Summer 8-2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Randolph Arnau

Committee Chair Department

Psychology

Committee Member 2

Joye Anestis

Committee Member 2 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 3

Michael Anestis

Committee Member 3 Department

Psychology

Committee Member 4

Bradley Green

Committee Member 4 Department

Psychology

Abstract

Mental health concern is a public health concern that continues to be stigmatized. While the dual process model has been applied to other areas of social cognition (e.g., racism), this framework has not previously been frequently used to examine the stigmatization of mental illness. The current study sought to examine the stigmatization of mental illness within a dual process model to determine the relationship between explicit and implicit stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors. A total of 104 undergraduate students from the University of Southern Mississippi participated in this study. Participants completed multiple implicit and explicit measures of stigmatizing attitudes and behavioral intentions. First, a psychometric analysis of implicit measures found the Single-Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT) and the Approach/Avoidance Test (AAT) had acceptable split-half reliability while the Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT) did not. Furthermore, the SC-IAT and GNAT had poor convergent validity. The SC-IAT was found to have poor predictive validity of the AAT. Next, the relationship between implicit and explicit measures were evaluated and found to be weak suggesting the presence of two distinct processes – one implicit, automatic process and one explicit, deliberate process. Gender and race showed some small moderating effects. Limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed.

ORCID ID

0000-0001-9691-5405

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