Gender, Self-Stigma, and Public Stigma in Predicting Attitudes toward Psychological Help-Seeking.

AbstractUsing a sample of university students (N = 362), the role of gender and both the self-stigma and public stigma associated with one's decision to seek psychological help in predicting attitudes toward psychological help- seeking were examined. Moreover, gender differences regarding both the self-stigma and the public stigma associated with psychological help-seeking were investigated. Participants completed a demographic data form, the Self-stigma of Seeking Help Scale, the Social Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help, and the Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that although both gender and the self-stigma associated with psychological help-seeking significantly predicted attitudes toward seeking psychological help, public stigma was not a significant predictor of attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Moreover, 24% of the variance in attitudes was accounted for by the variables of gender and self-stigma in the model. In addition, the results of the current study confirmed the findings of previous research which indicated that males are more likely to experience self-stigma and public stigma associated with psychological help-seeking when compared to females. Further results and implications were discussed.Key WordsAttitudes toward Psychological Help-seeking, Gender, Self-stigma, Public Stigma Associated with Psychological Help-seeking.Since in many situations, people consider seeking psychological help as their last resort after eliminating all other options (Hinson & Swanson, 1993), the majority of those who might benefit from psychological treatment do not, in the end, seek psychological therapy for a solution (Andrews, Issakidis, & Carter, 2001; Erol, Kilic, Ulusoy, Kececi, & Simsek, 1998; Kessler et al., 2001) Why so many people are reluctant to seek psychological help has been a topic of interest for researchers, with many studies having been conducted to determine the factors influencing one's reasons for seeking, or not seeking, psychological help (Bayer & Peay, 1997; Kelly & Achter, 1995; Vogel, Wester, Wei, & Boysen, 2005). The results of such studies indicate that one of the best predictors of seeking psychological treatment is one's attitude toward the notion of seeking psychological help itself (Carlton & Deane, 2000; Cepeda-Benito & Short, 1998; Codd & Cohen, 2003; Deane & Todd, 1996; Topkaya, 2011a; Vogel & Wester, 2003). The results of studies conducted in various countries reveal that as negative attitudes toward psychological help-seeking increase in a society, so does the use of psychological services for treatment decrease (Bicil, 2012; Cepeda-Benito & Short, 1998; Cramer, 1999; Deane & Todd, 1996; Kelly & Achter, 1995). An individual's attitude toward seeking psychological help reflects whether he sees the consequences of seeking psychological help as positive or negative (Fisher & Turner, 1970). Until now, in addition to studies depicting attitudes toward seeking psychological help as being the main factor behind an individual's decision as to whether to undergo psychological treatment, other studies have been conducted to identify which factors influence attitudes toward one's decision to seek psychological help. It has been understood that many factors influence attitudes toward psychological help- seeking, such as self-concealment (Kelly & Achter, 1995) social norms, social support, previous help- seeking experiences (Koydemir-Ozden, 2010; Vogel et al., 2005), attachment styles (Shaffer, Vogel, & Wei, 2006; Vogel & Wei, 2005), emotional openness, (Komiya, Good, & Sherrod, 2000; Vogel, Wade, & Hackler, 2008; Vogel & Wester, 2003), self-esteem level and locus of control (Barwick, de Man & McKelvie, 2009), and personality factors (Kakhnovets, 2011). The results of the above mentioned studies show that the link between one's attitudes toward psychological help-seeking and the societal, or individual, stigma associated with psychological help seeking is the most widely cited barrier behind one's choice to utilize psychological services. …