Alle gekheid in een hokje: sociale waardeoriëntatie en stigmatisering van mensen met een psychische aandoening

Abstract

Despite numerous interventions mental illness stigma still prevails with strong negative effects to its recipients. A hefty proportion of scientific research is dedicated to identifying factors that determine and predict mental illness stigma. Nevertheless, insights in personal traits from the perspective of the stigmatizer are scant. Stigma involves, among other things, inequality. A personal trait that refers to personal preferences in terms of equality is social value orientation. Hence, this study focused on the influence of social value orientation on mental illness stigma. A convenience sample (n=126) was drawn and subjected to a knowledge test of mental illness. Participants were also asked to complete the SVO-slider measure to assess their social value orientation. A regression analyses was completed and a significant positive correlation was found. Theoretical implications, especially in light of inequality and social embeddedness, are discussed as well as directions for future research in an effort to make a contribution in grasping the essence of a profound complex and multifaceted concept such as mental illness stigma.