Mental health stigma; attitudes, help-seeking, identity & empathy, how they relate to mental health problems
Authors
Egan, Rebecca
Issue Date
2014
Degree
BA (Hons) in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
The aim of the current study was to investigate age and gender differences in attitudes towards mental illness and willingness to seek professional help, it will also look at empathy and identity and their link with attitudes towards mental illness and seeking professional help. This was a quantitative study that used both convenience and snowball sampling of 142 participants, 62 males and 80 females, all were in full-time education. Participants were administered Attitudes Towards Mental Illness ,Attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help, The Multi-Dimensional Emotional Empathy Scale and the About Me questionnaire. The results indicate that there was a significant difference between the ages in relation to attitudes towards mental illness (t(139) = -3.73, p = .000). Author keywords: Attitudes, mental illness, empathy, identity, seeking professional help