Abstract
Many famous people have disclosed their mental illness to erase the harmful effects of stigma. This study examines the relative impact of disclosure stories from people who are or are not celebrities. We expected noncelebrities would be viewed as more similar and likeable and therefore have greater effects on stigma change. Research participants from an MTurk panel viewed self-disclosure stories from celebrity, Mariah Carey, or noncelebrity, Malia Fontecchio. Participants completed the Difference and Disdain Scale prior to reviewing the vignettes and immediately after each one. Participants also completed scales representing perceptions of fame, dissimilarity, and likeability of the person in each story. Results supported hypotheses: Mariah Carey was perceived as more famous, more dissimilar, and less likeable than Malia Fontecchio. Reading the Malia Fontecchio story led to greater improvement in disdain stigma than the Mariah Carey story. Implications for the varied role of celebrity status in stigma change are discussed.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by all authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Patrick W. Corrigan and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Malia Fontecchio is a social worker and the Stigma Discrimination Reduction Coordinator at a peer support organization. She lives in California, and is married with two cats. She struggled during college with depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia. She was hospitalized a few times in her college career, yet graduated a year before her peers with her social work degree.
Mariah Carey is a singer and songwriter who has had 18 number 1 hits and sold more than 200 million records. She has two children, twins named Monroe and Moroccan. In 2018, Mariah publicly announced that she has been living with bipolar disorder, was diagnosed in 2001, and manages her mental health with therapy and medication.
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Corrigan, P.W., Kundert, C. & Laique, A. The Impact of Contact and Fame on Changing the Public Stigma of Mental Illness. Community Ment Health J 58, 673–678 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-021-00870-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-021-00870-1