MEN UNDERESTIMATE EACH OTHER’S WILLINGNESS TO SEEK HELP FOR DEPRESSION, Study Finds – ryan

MYY MEN UNDERESTIMATE HOW WILLING OTHER MEN ARE TO SEEK HELP FOR DEPRESSION, WHICH May Discourage The Froming Help Theselves, Accounting to A New Study Published in Sex roles.

Despite the availability of mental health services, many People experimentation delay or avoid help. Hege H. Bye and Colleagues Investigated Whether One Barrier Might Might Be A Form of Pluralistic Ignorance, Where Individuals Mistakely Believe that oters in their Group Are Likely to Seek Help Than They Theslves Are. Prior Research Suggests People’sten Misjudge How Others Perceive Mental Illness, Assuming Stigma is more widespread than it is. These misperceptations Can Shape Behavior and Hinder Treatment-Seeking.

The researchers were particularly Interesting in how gender affects these misperceptions. Past studies have yielded mixed findings on howher mek help mess than women, but cultural stereotypes to portray as mess inclined to psychological suport.

The Researchers Conducted Two Prangisred Experiment USSING LARGE, POPULATION-Based Samples of Norwegian Adults. Experiment 1 UTILIZED A BETWEEN-GROUPS Experimental Design in Which 2,042 Participants were randomly assured to read a vignette describing eather a male (Christian) Character experiment. The vignettes were basic on diagnostic criteria for a depressing episode from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and adapted from prior research.

AFTER READING THE VIGNETTE, PARCIPANTS ANSSWEED TWO KEY QUESTIONS. First, They Rated How Likely They Wold Be To Seek Help from A Doctor or A Psychologist if they felt like the character. Thatn, they rated how likely they believed “Most men” or “Most Women” Wauld Sach Help If in the Same Situation. Both Questions Were Rated Separately for Docor and Psychologist, USING A SIX-POINT SCALE FROM “Highly unlikly” to “Highly Likely.”

Experiment 2 Focus on Disclosure Rather than Help-Seeking. IT SED A 2 (Social Context: Friends Vs. Colleagues) × 2 (Vignette Character Gender: Male Vs. Female) × 2 (Participant Gender: Male Vs. Female) Experimental Design. Participants (N = 1,528) Read a vignette about a character (anne or arne) Who has Sangued help from a general practitioner for depression. Depending on the Condition, the Vignette Described Either a workplace or social convention in conversation with Colleagues or Friends.

AFTER READING THE VIGNETTE, Participants Answered Three Fixed-Order Questions: What the Character Wold Likely Do (Descriptive Norm), what the Character Should (Personal Normative Belief), and what they Theylves Waould will (Behavioral intent). Each Item Required Participants to Choose Between Discling Truitfully or Concealing the Help-Seeking.

Experiment 1 Revealed that Men Reported Lower Willingness to Seek Professional Help for Depression Than Women. Specific, Men Were Less Likely Than Women to Say They Wold Contact Eather a Doctor or A Psychologist. Further, Men Underestimated Other Men’s Help-Seeking Willingness, Pluralistic Ignorance Demonstration. Men Believed that “Most Men” were less Likely to seek help Than they Theslves were. Women also underestimated men’s willingness to seek help, and to An Eve Greater Extent than Men did.

In Contrast, Women’s Perceptions of Other Women Were Accurates – the Did Not Systematically Underestimate Other Women’s Likelihood of Seeking Help. Supporting This, Women’s Own Willingness to Seek Help Matched Their Estimates of “Most Women.” There was also also evidience that perceptions of others ‘help-seing correlated with individuals’ Own reported Willingness, Particularly when the perceived norms about the Same Gender Group (eg, Men’s Help-Seeking Correlated Strongly with what the thought men do will). This pattern supports the idea that perceived norms shape behavior.

Experiment 2 Showed That Men Were Significantly LESS LIKELY THAN WOMEN TO SAY THEY WOULD DISCLOGE HAVING SOUGHT HELP FOR DEPRESSION, WHATER TO FRIENDS OR Colleagues. This suggests that men may control to a more hidden information environment Around Male Help-Seeking, Which Could Fuel The Pluralistic Ignorance Observed in Experiment 1.

Women rated the male character as less like discollo help-seing than the female character, in friend and workplace contexts. Men Showed a Simillar Pattern, but the difference was not statistically significant. This Indicates that Women Held Stronger Misperceptions About Men’s Disclosure Behavior.

Howver, Contrary to Expectations, Both Men and Women Believed That Both mountains and female characters should dysclose – perpersonal normative beliefs favored ancross the Board. In Other Words, The Relationship to Disclose was not rooted in belies that disclosure was Wrong, but like in anticipated stigma or discomfort. This Helps Explain How an Environment of Silence Around Male Help-Seeking Might Persist, If People Endors Disclosure in Principle.

The authors not that participants ‘Own mental health status was not assessed, whic culd influence help-seing and perceptions of others’ behavior.

The Research, “Men’s Help-Seeking Willingness and Disclosure of Depression: Experimental Evidence for Role of Pluralistic Ignorance”Was Authard by Hege H. Bye, Frida L. Måseidvåg, and Samantha M. Harris.