Geneticization of Deviant Behavior and Consequences for Stigma: The Case of Mental Illness

2005 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo C. Phelan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Attribution Theory ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Deviant Behavior ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Human Identity ◽  
Genetic Essentialism ◽  
Perceived Seriousness ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Vignette Experiment

One likely consequence of the genetics revolution is an increased tendency to understand human behavior in genetic terms. How might this “geneticization” affect stigma? Attribution theory predicts a reduction in stigma via reduced blame, anger, and punishment and increased sympathy and help. According to “genetic essentialist” thinking, genes are the basis of human identity and strongly deterministic of behavior. If such ideas are commonly accepted, geneticization should exacerbate stigma by increasing perceptions of differentness, persistence, seriousness, and transmissibility, which in turn should increase social distance and reproductive restrictiveness. I test these predictions using the case of mental illness and a vignette experiment embedded in a nationally representative survey. There was little support for attribution theory predictions. Consistent with genetic essentialism, genetic attributions increased the perceived seriousness and persistence of the mental illness and the belief that siblings and children would develop the same problem. Genetic attribution did not affect reproductive restrictiveness or social distance from the ill person but did increase social distance from the person's sibling, particularly regarding intimate forms of contact involving dating, marriage, and having children.

scholarly journals Durably Reducing Americans’ Dehumanization of Rival Partisans

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Landry ◽  
Jonathan Schooler ◽  
Robb Willer ◽  
Paul Seli
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
The Other ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Informational Intervention ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Democrats And Republicans

Dehumanization, the belief that other people are less than fully human, dampens empathy, increases animosity, and catalyzes conflict between groups. Research has revealed that a troubling number of American partisans blatantly dehumanize members of the other party. Nonetheless, this research has also found that partisans substantially overestimate the extent to which members of the rival party dehumanize them. Here, we predict that partisans’ perceptions of being dehumanized by rival partisans (or meta-dehumanization) leads them to respond with reciprocal dehumanization. By implication, partisans’ own dehumanization of rival partisans could be reduced by correcting their exaggerated meta-dehumanization. We test this hypothesis in a pre-registered, nationally-representative survey experiment of Democrats and Republicans (N = 2,127). We find that a brief, informational intervention correcting partisans’ exaggerated perceptions of how much rival partisans dehumanize them reduced levels of partisan dehumanization by 45%, and this effect persisted in a follow-up survey conducted approximately one week later. We also investigated the effects of our intervention on additional outcomes, finding that it reduced desire for social distance from, and negative affect toward, rival partisans, and that these effects also persisted a week later. Together, these results suggest that correcting inaccurate perceptions of the extent of partisan dehumanization can be a tool for durably mitigating partisan enmity.

Stigma in the Area of Intellectual Disabilities: Examining a Conceptual Model of Public Stigma

2015 ◽  
Vol 120 (5) ◽  
pp. 460-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirli Werner
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Public Stigma ◽  
Behavioral Reactions ◽  
Telephone Interviews ◽  
Unique Aspect ◽  
Nationally Representative

Abstract Studies in the area of intellectual disability (ID) stigma are few and atheoretical. This study examined the adequacy of the conceptual framework of stigma from the mental illness field regarding ID. Telephone interviews were conducted with a nationally representative sample of 304 adults in Israel. Participants were read a vignette describing a man with ID and answered items related to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions. Behavioral dimensions included: Withdrawal, Social distance, and Helping behaviors. The stigma process leading to Withdrawal was drawn through Negative affect, whereas the process to Social distance was drawn through Calm affect. One unique aspect of the stigma process in ID is the importance of Calm affect, which helped reduce Social distance.

scholarly journals Does electoral violence affect vote choice and willingness to vote? Conjoint analysis of a vignette experiment

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxana Gutiérrez-Romero ◽  
Adrienne LeBas
Keyword(s):  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Voting Behaviour ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Electoral Violence ◽  
Voting Turnout ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Vignette Experiment ◽  
Made In

Across many new democracies, voters routinely elect candidates associated with violence. Though electoral violence is common, there is little understanding of how it affects voting behaviour. This article examines how electoral violence affects turnout and vote choice. To this end, a vignette experiment is set in a nationally representative survey in Kenya, where electoral violence has been present since the 1990s. In the experiment, voters choose between two rival politicians. The experiment randomizes candidates’ attributes, their rumoured use of electoral violence and their record of reducing poverty. Conjoint analysis is used to isolate the effects of the candidates’ randomized attributes on turnout and vote choice. In contrast to the assumptions made in the literature on electoral violence, voters are less likely to vote for candidates rumoured to have used electoral violence, even when the candidate is a coethnic or a copartisan. This sanctioning effect, however, is not consistent across all voters. Victims of electoral violence and the poorest respondents are less likely to sanction candidates rumoured to have used violence, especially when these candidates have a good record of reducing poverty. The results show that voting turnout decreases when participants are asked to choose between candidates who are rumoured to have used electoral violence. These results are robust to including respondent and interviewer characteristics that might have affected participation in the experiment and how respondents voted. These findings explain why candidates using violence can win elections and why electoral violence has been difficult to eradicate in settings characterized by clientelism and instances of political discourse justifying the use of violence.

Colorblindness as Identity: Key Determinants, Relations to Ideology, and Implications for Attitudes about Race and Policy

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 866-888 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Hartmann ◽  
Paul R. Croll ◽  
Ryan Larson ◽  
Joseph Gerteis ◽  
Alex Manning
Keyword(s):  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Racial Ideologies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Racial Lines ◽  
Empirical Implications

Colorblindness is often conceptualized as a set of deeply held but unrecognized ideological tenets. However, we believe that colorblindness has also now become an explicit cultural discourse involving self-conscious claims and specific convictions. To illustrate this point—which has both conceptual and empirical implications—we introduce the notion of colorblindness as identity. We define this concept as subjectively meaningful, self-asserted identification with colorblindness. We use data from a nationally representative survey to explore the social determinants of colorblind identification and assess its relationship to both colorblind ideologies and standard attitudinal measures. We find that a relatively large percentage of Americans across racial lines identify as colorblind. Furthermore, such identification is connected to racial ideologies but not all tenets of colorblind racism. For white Americans, colorblind identification is associated with decreased perceptions of social distance, but not support for policies designed to ameliorate the effects of racial discrimination. We conclude that colorblind identification is a unique social phenomenon, connected to views on race but not always in the ways that existing research would predict. We also suggest directions for further exploration of the depth of colorblindness as an identity form and implications for theorizing colorblind discourse more generally.

Workplace “Digital Culture” and the Uptake of Digital Solutions

2020 ◽  
pp. 368-402
Author(s):  
Simeon J. Yates ◽  
Eleanor Lockley
Keyword(s):  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Company Culture ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Uk

This chapter reviews prior work on technology acceptance and then reports on a nationally representative survey of UK employees exploring both employee’s personal experiences of digital technologies at home and work and their evaluations of the effectiveness of the technologies and the “digital culture” in their organization. Presenting the results of 3040 UK workers, it seeks to explore the factors that influence digital roll-outs by focusing on the experiences and perceptions of the UK workforce as a whole, with the expectation that introducing new technology alone isn’t enough. This research explores how “digitally ready” organizations are in the UK in terms of people, processes, and company culture. It concludes that a large proportion of the UK workforce are not seeing the benefits of digital technologies. Importantly, there is a need for organizations to understand that making digital solutions a success is a process of cultural change in their organization.

Corruption, Opportunity Networks, and Gender

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Wiesehomeier ◽  
Tània Verge
Keyword(s):  
Conjoint Analysis ◽  
Unethical Behavior ◽  
Gender Stereotype ◽  
Women In Politics ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
Female Politicians ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
And Gender

Abstract Given the gender stereotype that women are more ethical than men, people should assess female politicians as being less corruptible. Yet information about access to networks suggests that opportunities to engage in unethical behavior may counter this perception. Using a conjoint analysis in a nationally representative survey in Spain, a country shaken by corruption scandals, we asked respondents to identify the more corruptible politician between two hypothetical local councilors by imagining an investor willing to offer a bribe to advance business interests. Results indicate that female politicians do symbolically stand for honesty. However, this assessment is offset by embeddedness cues signaling a woman politician’s access to opportunity networks. We discuss our findings in light of instrumentalist arguments for an increase of women in politics as a means to combat corruption.

scholarly journals When Helping Hurts: Nonabusing Family, Friends, and Neighbors in the Lives of Elder Mistreatment Victims

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 628-628
Author(s):  
Risa Breckman ◽  
David Burnes ◽  
Sarah Ross ◽  
Philip Marshall ◽  
J Jill Suitor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Elder Abuse ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Elder Mistreatment ◽  
Professional Help ◽  
Nationally Representative

Abstract Research conducted by the NYC Elder Abuse Center (NYCEAC) at Weill Cornell Medicine and colleagues found that concerned persons experience significant distress knowing about elder abuse and trying to assist victims. Data will be presented from a nationally representative survey which included items on concerned persons in elder abuse. Thirty-one percent of all respondents reported that they had a relative or friend who experienced elder abuse; of these, 61% had attempted to help the victim and over 80% reported the experience is very or extremely stressful (2017). By both knowing about and becoming involved in elder abuse situations, concerned persons experience significant emotional and practical problems and often need professional help. NYCEAC’s Elder Abuse Helpline for Concerned Persons is the first of its kind in the country. The Helpline’s services and structure will be explained, and possibilities for replication in other locations will be explored.

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