Bound Volume Number
VI
Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-4-2015
Capstone Advisor
Dr. Leonard Newman
Honors Reader
Dr. Peter Vanable
Capstone Major
Psychology
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Keywords
mental illness, stigma
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to examine people’s readiness to form an association between those diagnosed with a mental health condition and negative behavior in the absence of objective evidence for that association. The research expands on a traditional illusory correlation paradigm to include social group information and two types of negative behavioral statements. The traditional paradigm exposes research participants to a series of statements describing the behaviors of members of two different social groups, including desirable and undesirable behaviors, and participants are then required to recall behavioral information and rank members of both groups on a series of character traits.
One hundred and nineteen undergraduate students enrolled in the Introduction to Psychology course, Psychology 205, at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY, served as participants for this research. The findings demonstrated that the illusory correlation effect was replicated across all conditions and was influenced slightly by negative behavior type. Participants were especially likely to demonstrate a bias toward the control group, perhaps because the negative behaviors of control group members were more unexpected or unusual to participants than negative behaviors of the mentally ill group.
Recommended Citation
Aberizk, Katrina, "Illusory Correlations in Mental Illness Stigma" (2015). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 860.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/860
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
