Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA.
Department of Psychology, Saint Michael's College, Colchester, Vermont, USA.
Psychol Health. 2022 May;37(5):615-632. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2020.1869738. Epub 2021 Jan 6.
This study examined the influence of three potential predictors of stigmatising cancer perceptions: the controllability of the cancer cause, metaphors used to describe the cancer experience, and the target's gender. 306 undergraduates (age = 20) were recruited via subject pool, balancing males and females. Participants read a fictitious post by a patient/blogger with skin cancer that described different potential causes for their cancer varying with respect to its controllability, used varying types of commonly invoked cancer metaphors, and indicated their gender with names. Potential stigmatisation of the blogger in the form of negative affective responses, perceptions of flawed character, desired social distance and expectations for post-traumatic growth were assessed using mixed methods. The perceived age of the blogger and expectations for their survival were also explored. More blame, less sympathy, and less favourable perceptions of character were ascribed to the hypothetical blogger when their cancer was described as due to their lifestyle rather than genetics and thus potentially construed as more controllable. Females using a war metaphor resulted in more positive responses compared to a female using no metaphorical language. Stigmatisation of individuals with skin cancer may depend on the potential cause of cancer, and to some extent, metaphors and gender.
癌症病因的可控性、用于描述癌症经历的隐喻，以及目标的性别。306 名本科生（年龄=20 岁）通过被试库招募，平衡了男性和女性的比例。参与者阅读了一位患有皮肤癌的患者/博主的虚构帖子，该帖子描述了不同的潜在癌症病因，这些病因在可控性方面存在差异，使用了不同类型的常见癌症隐喻，并以名字表示其性别。使用混合方法评估了博主在负面情感反应、性格缺陷感知、期望社会距离和创伤后成长期望方面受到的潜在污名化。还探讨了博主的感知年龄和对其生存的期望。当癌症被描述为由于生活方式而不是遗传因素导致时，即更具可控性，患者被赋予更多的责备、更少的同情和更不利的性格特征。与不使用隐喻语言的女性相比，使用战争隐喻的女性会产生更积极的反应。对患有皮肤癌的个体的污名化可能取决于癌症的潜在病因，在一定程度上还取决于隐喻和性别。
