Use of Attribution Vignettes and Public Service Announcements to Influence Perceived Stability of Depression: The Impact on Affect, Outcome Expectations, and Helping Judgments

摘要

Guided by attribution theory, the current research examined whether emphasizing the temporary nature of a depressive state could reduce stigmatization. Two preregistered studies, one using a common attribution methodology (i.e., vignettes) and another utilizing video public service announcements (PSAs), were conducted to test an expanded version of the attribution-emotion-action helping behavior model that included expectations as an additional mediator. Structural equation modeling assessed whether altering the perceived stability of a depressive episode would influence willingness to provide social (WPSS) and general support (WPGS) through sympathy, anger, and social support outcome expectations (SSOEs). Associations among sympathy, anger, and SSOEs were also hypothesized. Study 1 indicated that describing a bout of depression as temporary (vs. permanent) had an indirect effect on WPSS/WPGS through anger and SSOEs. A negative bidirectional relationship between anger and SSOEs was also indicated. Study 2 tested how informing participants, via PSAs, that an episode of depression can be temporary influenced stigma. This study was a more conservative test that did not include "permanent" as a foil condition, but rather compared 2 antistigma PSAs that were identical apart from information on temporality. Results indicated that the "temporary" (vs. control) PSA indirectly influenced WPSS/WPGS through SSOEs. Moreover, although the temporary PSA did not influence anger, higher SSOEs were associated with lower levels of anger, which were associated with greater WPSS/ WPGS. These results demonstrate the benefit of including SSOEs in attribution studies of helping behavior and highlight the potential utility of adding temporality information to antistigma PSAs.