(provided by candidate): Stigma is increasingly recognized as a severe problem faced by people with mental illnesses. It is imperative to develop interventions to reduce stigma, but interventions not well grounded in empirical research may produce disappointing results. My long-term career objectives are to deepen our understanding of the stigma process, with the goal of developing well-grounded interventions. In the period of this award, I will pursue three aims: 1) Investigate the role of """"""""incomprehensibility"""""""" in the stigma of mental illness, focusing on Star's (1957) argument that public fears of mental illness flow from the inability to comprehend what a person with mental illness thinks and feels. 2) Continue assessing, tracking and attempting to positively influence the impact of the biological and genetics revolution on the stigma of mental illness. 3) Translate powerful basic social science research on """"""""expectation states"""""""" to the stigma of mental illness to understand how negative expectations lead to discrimination and negative treatment through covert but powerful social interactional processes. I use a multi-method approach relying primarily on the powerful experimental method, combining telephone-administered vignette experiments that allow findings to be generalized to the national population and live experiments conducted in the laboratory that allow the measurement of actual as opposed to hypothetical behavior. I also make strategic use of semi-structured interviews and qualitative analytic methods. To achieve the goals outlined, I will expand my conceptual and methodological expertise by undertaking training in genetics, expectation states theory and laboratory experimental methods in social psychology. The work will take place at Columbia University, which provides an extremely supportive intellectual environment in the core areas of stigma, genetics and psychiatry. These resources will be supplemented with training visits to Stanford University and the University of Akron to consult and collaborate with leading experts in expectation states research.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research (K02)
Project #
1K02MH065330-01
Application #
6460186
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-RPHB-4 (01))
Program Officer
Otey, Emeline M
Project Start
2002-07-01
Project End
2007-06-30
Budget Start
2002-07-01
Budget End
2003-06-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$122,472
Indirect Cost
Name
Columbia University (N.Y.)
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
167204994
City
New York
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10032
Lucas, Jeffrey W; Phelan, Jo C (2012) Stigma and Status: The Interrelation of Two Theoretical Perspectives. Soc Psychol Q 75:310-333
Shostak, Sara; Freese, Jeremy; Link, Bruce G et al. (2009) The Politics of the Gene: Social Status and Beliefs about Genetics for Individual Outcomes. Soc Psychol Q 72:77-93
Anglin, Deidre M; Link, Bruce G; Phelan, Jo C (2006) Racial differences in stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental illness. Psychiatr Serv 57:857-62
Miech, Richard A; Kumanyika, Shiriki K; Stettler, Nicolas et al. (2006) Trends in the association of poverty with overweight among US adolescents, 1971-2004. JAMA 295:2385-93
Phelan, Jo C (2005) Geneticization of deviant behavior and consequences for stigma: the case of mental illness. J Health Soc Behav 46:307-22
Ritsher, Jennifer Boyd; Phelan, Jo C (2004) Internalized stigma predicts erosion of morale among psychiatric outpatients. Psychiatry Res 129:257-65
Link, Bruce G; Yang, Lawrence H; Phelan, Jo C et al. (2004) Measuring mental illness stigma. Schizophr Bull 30:511-41