PSYC 461: The Effects of Mental Health Labels on Stigma

The effects of the mental health labels were examined to further understand mental health stigma. Participants viewed the social media profiles of males or females that were either labeled with having depression or not. Gender of the individual in the profile was also a variable that we predicted would impact the levels of stigma. Stigma toward the people in the profiles were measured using a modified AQ-27 questionnaire that measures mental health stigma. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we received a fictitious data set. The data showed that profiles labeled with depression, and that females were significantly more stigmatized than profiles without mention of depression and male profiles. If the data were authentic, they would teach us significant findings of how mental health labels and gender impact stigma.