University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, University of Basel, Wilhelm Klein-Str. 27, 4012, Basel, Switzerland.
Division of Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstr. 60/62, 4055, Basel, Switzerland.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 20;12(1):10347. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14017-z.
There has been little research exploring the relationship between personality traits, self-esteem, and stigmatizing attitudes toward those with mental disorders. Furthermore, the mechanisms through which the beholder's personality influence mental illness stigma have not been tested. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, familiarity, being a healthcare professional, and stigmatization. Moreover, this study aims to explore the mediating effect of perceived dangerousness on the relationship between personality traits and desire for social distance. We conducted a vignette-based representative population survey (N = 2207) in the canton of Basel-Stadt, Switzerland. Multiple regression analyses were employed to examine the associations between personality traits, self-esteem, familiarity, and being a healthcare professional with the desire for social distance and perceived dangerousness. The mediation analyses were performed using the PROCESS macro by Hayes. Analyses showed associations between personality traits and stigmatization towards mental illness. Those who scored higher on openness to experience (β = - 0.13, p < 0.001), (β = - 0.14, p < 0.001), and those who scored higher on agreeableness (β = - 0.15, p < 0.001), (β = - 0.12, p < 0.001) showed a lower desire for social distance and lower perceived dangerousness, respectively. Neuroticism (β = - 0.06, p = 0.012) was inversely associated with perceived dangerousness. Additionally, high self-esteem was associated with increased stigmatization. Personal contact or familiarity with people having mental disorders was associated with decreased stigmatization. Contrarily, healthcare professionals showed higher perceived dangerousness (β = 0.04, p = 0.040). Finally, perceived dangerousness partially mediated the association between openness to experience (indirect effect = - .57, 95% CI [- .71, - 0.43]) as well as agreeableness (indirect effect = - 0.57, 95% CI [- 0.74, - 0.39]) and desire for social distance. Although the explained variance in all analyses is < 10%, the current findings highlight the role of personality traits and self-esteem in areas of stigma. Therefore, future stigma research and anti-stigma campaigns should take individual differences into consideration. Moreover, the current study suggests that perceived dangerousness mediates the relationship between personality traits and desire for social distance. Further studies are needed to explore the underlying mechanisms of such relationship. Finally, our results once more underline the necessity of increasing familiarity with mentally ill people and of improving the attitude of healthcare professionals towards persons with mental disorders.
这项研究的目的是检验大五人格特质、自尊、熟悉度、是否为医疗保健专业人员与污名化之间的关系。此外，本研究旨在探讨知觉到的危险性在人格特质与对社会距离的渴望之间的关系中的中介作用。我们在瑞士巴塞尔城市州进行了基于案例的代表性人群调查（N=2207）。采用多元回归分析检验人格特质、自尊、熟悉度和是否为医疗保健专业人员与对社会距离和知觉到的危险性的渴望之间的关系。使用 Hayes 的 PROCESS 宏进行中介分析。分析显示人格特质与对精神疾病的污名化之间存在关联。开放性得分较高的人（β=-0.13，p<0.001），（β=-0.14，p<0.001），以及随和性得分较高的人（β=-0.15，p<0.001），（β=-0.12，p<0.001）对社会距离的渴望较低，知觉到的危险性较低。神经质（β=-0.06，p=0.012）与知觉到的危险性呈负相关。此外，高自尊与增加污名化有关。与患有精神障碍的人有个人接触或熟悉度与减少污名化有关。相反，医疗保健专业人员表现出更高的知觉危险性（β=0.04，p=0.040）。最后，知觉到的危险性部分中介了开放性（间接效应=-0.57，95%CI[-0.71，-0.43]）和随和性（间接效应=-0.57，95%CI[-0.74，-0.39]）与对社会距离的渴望之间的关系。尽管所有分析中的解释方差都<10%，但目前的研究结果强调了人格特质和自尊在污名化领域的作用。因此，未来的污名化研究和反污名化运动应考虑个体差异。此外，本研究表明知觉到的危险性中介了人格特质与对社会距离的渴望之间的关系。需要进一步的研究来探索这种关系的潜在机制。最后，我们的研究结果再次强调了增加对精神病患者的熟悉度和改善医疗保健专业人员对精神障碍患者态度的必要性。
